If Hungary didn’t waste the last 10 years, no one would now think about what they’ll be doing in November « Mérce
Habitat for Humanity Hungary 11 was published. Annual housing reportThe first chapter of the song, which deals with nature conservation, is recorded jointly with WWF Hungary. On this occasion Back to the firewood? – Challenges, opportunities and contradictions of residential solid fuel On Thursday evening at 5:00 p.m. at the Magnet Community Hall in Budapest, the two organizations presented their studies on residential solid burning and held a round table discussion, where the audience could hear from experts with direct experience about problems related to wood burning and forestry.
The Habitat report, which combines field programs and research and advocacy work, as well as Thursday’s event, received special attention due to several controversial measures taken by the government recently.
The first to be mentioned among them is the so-called change of the “utility reduction” rules valid from August 1, the price of electricity and gas is discounted only up to a certain amount. The effects of this can already be felt, the September rapid report of the Central Statistical Office (KSH) published the other day reveals that household energy has risen in price by 62.1%, including the price of piped gas by 121% and the price of electricity by 28.9% increased, which further drove up inflation. The firewood and brown coal program launched on September 1 can also be evaluated, which should, in principle, help all those who are looking for an alternative to heat their house.
Thus, although the relevant research by Habitat and WWF began earlier than the government allowed, and then – in response to the indignation – it hastily “corrected” the decree on the clearing of forests, as well as the announcement of the firewood program and the demand for stoves impetuous its increase was also preceded by the work of the researchers, the presented report proves to be the most timely right now, when the energy poverty, which has been present until now, and the housing and livelihood crisis are deepening.
Who doesn’t even get a tree
In Habitat’s work, “success is if we succeed in a major disaster”, Zsolt Szegfalvi, the executive director of Habitat, outlined the current possibilities of a Hungarian NGO dealing with housing issues. In his speech introducing the presentation of Habitat’s report, he says that housing conditions in the country have not changed in the last 30 years. He reminded him that “housing poverty affected 2-3 million people in the 90s as well”, and now that the need would rather require it, “for the time being, the government’s vision, the lifeline” for housing problems is not visible.
This is supported by the NGO’s report Back to the firewood? chapter, which was presented to the audience by Nóra Feldmár, Habitat’s policy officer and co-author of the report. According to this, even today four million people heat their homes partially or only with firewood, to a lesser extent with economic by-products (straw, cobs), or perhaps with coal. We are talking about people living in villages with a much poorer fate.
More than 40 percent of the bottom fifth of society create heat exclusively with solid fuels. However, their care is not provided by the state.
Nóra Feldmár explained that the increase in the price of gas has always been followed by an increase in the demand for firewood, so the current situation is not unique. In the second half of the 2000s, natural gas increased significantly twice, and therefore the use of firewood increased continuously from 2006 to 2014, which was only due to the introduction of the overhead reduction in 2013. It is noteworthy that, although the burning of firewood (so-called primary solid biomass) accounts for only a tenth of all energy used at the national level, it provides seventy percent of renewable energy sources, and therefore plays an important role in achieving Hungary’s climate goals.
Therefore, the inefficient and seriously air-polluting heating method used by low-income households is the one with which Hungary has so far failed to achieve one of the most important objectives of the fight against climate change. It is no coincidence that last year 500 scientists wrote an open letter turned to the European Commission that biomass is not created as a renewable energy source.
Of course, the fact that the price of gas and people are again looking for the possibility of heating with wood, at the same time they tried to increase the price of wood. Thus, “in this situation, the already energy-poor households that only used solid fuels became even more exposed”, warned Nóra Feldmár.
Renewal – precisely through the needy
A solution to this could be offered if the government multiplied the amount spent on the social fuel program and accompanied it with a building and heating modernization program. The numbers speak for themselves: while only HUF 5 billion is allocated to the social heating system that can be applied for by local governments, HUF 201 billion is allocated to the solar panel program that does not target the poorest, and HUF 128 billion to home renovation subsidies that do not require increasing energy efficiency. territorial disparities are also evident: counties in western Hungary receive twice as much support as counties in the east.
In addition to air pollution, increased extraction also increases carbon dioxide emissions. “Despite this, absurdly, we will see in the statistics that the proportion of renewable energy sources has increased due to the greater use of firewood. And the firewood decree will strengthen the further deterioration of the state of natural and near-natural forests”. Ádám Harmat, WWF Hungary’s climate change and energy program manager, talks about this in his presentation. Harmat also drew attention to an interesting phenomenon related to the use of firewood.
For years, he and his fellow researchers have been trying to find out how it is possible that, according to energy statistics, twice as much biomass is used in Hungary as is available. According to the researcher, in order to assess where 40 percent of the burned biomass comes from, government forces would be needed. This would perhaps also resolve the contradiction that Hungary simultaneously wants to rely more heavily on the energy source of forest biomass, which would increase the carbon absorption capacity of forests, even though the two work against each other. “In order to be able to increase the amount of carbon stored in forests, we should not only increase, but also reduce logging,” said the researcher.
+Originally published in English report can be read here. The summary in Hungarian can be found here. worth it all read to it the author’s writing on the energy emergency action plan.
The gap and the gap
Thursday’s presentation of joint research by Habitat and WWF ended with a round table discussion, where experts with field experience, social workers and local government leaders were given a chance to speak. During the discussion, the position was outlined that wood burning will remain, so the crucial question is how to make it sustainable.
Anita Lukácsné Lembach, the mayor of the Varga settlement in Baranya, immediately drew attention to an urgent problem in her speech. He said that although the social firewood program is still active this year, the municipality has not even heard of the wood, even though in previous years the amount won was already delivered in October. The mayor of the 80-person settlement also drew attention to the fact that by awarding the firewood to the government, the settlement is still a little ahead. It is becoming more and more expensive to bring it from the wood farms, and the municipality must also take over the distribution of the wood.
Aranka Rostás, who works as a community program organizer in Bakson, Csongrád county, talked about similar experiences. He sees that only “difficulty and poverty intensify”. The poor people of the settlement are unable to pay for wood at the official price, and the 10 cubic meters of wood in the forest can only be obtained once. Those who do not apply will be left with the timber yard, where the price of wood has doubled in one year. In addition, there is no panic among the poorest.
The disadvantaged have experienced what is now threatening millions. To “survive the day”, however bitter it may be.
Károly Kohán, a stove construction specialist, reported that the demand for stoves and ovens has increased in recent months. He also said that the wood you can access now is not suitable for heating. He tried to dissuade everyone from trying the cheaply available stoves, even though it must be recognized that most of the society does not have enough money for a one-million-forint furnace.
“The current situation caught everyone by surprise,” said Pál Bódis, head of WWF Hungary’s forest program, at the interview. The only thing WWF can do now in the midst of uncertainty is to look for a good answer from the point of view of forests. While in the spring they were confident that they would finally succeed in improving the condition of the Hungarian forests, in the summer they only tried to maintain the condition of the aged forests at least in their current state.
All actors drew attention to the need to increase the efficiency of burning firewood. Because in the case of a significant part of the houses, the heat escapes through the chimney.
“Where the heat escapes through the airy ceiling, where the heat escapes under the door gap, heating is like heating the yard,” said Aranka Rostás, who, as one of the leaders of the Fényhozók program, strives to ensure that those in need have access to solar panels. Rostás emphasized that the best solution would be for energy communities to be established, and for local governments to have their own energy forest, from which they can harvest firewood. Károly Kohán added that it would also help a lot if the firewood program were announced in March, so that the delivered wood could dry out in the summer, and its heating value would eventually increase. Even a quarter of the firewood used now would be enough to heat the houses, if those in need had access to quality firewood, they would light it in a suitable stove, and the government would pay attention to the insulation of houses.
The conversation was summed up by Pál Bódis, who said: Fewer houses are properly insulated in Hungary than, for example, in Bulgaria or Romania. And the problems seem to start here: with the gaps in the window, the gaps in the door. “Hungary has wasted the last 10 years,” stated the WWF employee.
Featured Image: Árpád Kocsis / Mérce