In Greece, the coalition government has pushed the price of heating oil to about 1.50 euros per litre by raising the tax on heating oil by 40 percent. That has caused a drop of a reported 80 percent in demand and forced
many Greeks to move away from buying oil and find other means to keep warm. Some are even chopping down trees in the woods and city parks. The concern is to cut back on expenses, households are turning from oil to wood
to heat their homes, but in turn are filling the night air with
potentially hazardous pollutants. Burning wood in the home releases 30 times more air pollution than using a well-maintained heating oil or gas-burning boiler, resulting in an increase in air pollution which can lead to respiratory problems as well as
aggravating allergies and disturb the neurological and reproductive
systems. The problem has become so bad that the wood smog has been detected
outside the main cities, including the western city of Patras and in
northern suburbs of Athens. The wood smog phenomenon emphasizes the needs to move away from both oil and wood as fuel and heat sources, but then do they have other choices?
Source: http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2013/01/18/feature-03
5 comments:
While many Greeks are substituting wood for oil, some are simply not heating their homes. You have to feel bad for the Greek people here. Foreign lenders have already forced the Greeks to take wage and pension cuts that, with the rise in oil prices, have simply made heating their homes unaffordable. Also, much of the logging these people are doing in order to heat their homes is illegal, and thus many are risking jail time in an effort to provide for their families.
This is an awesome example of a current-visible externality. European countries have typically had higher taxes on energy. This 40% tax that is being implemented by the government for oil is not a new thing; however, with Greece's current economic outlook people are struggling or unable to pay the high price. It is really sad that this is happening not only for the people and government of Greece, but also for the environment. The Greek government needs to find a way to either lower the burden of the tax on oil or a way to tax the pollution released from the wood burning. The citizens are choosing to use the less expensive good because they are not having to pay for the externality that it is causing to the country and environment.
There is a serious problem with wood-burning in households in third world countries as well. When I was studying abroad in Kenya last semester, I was surprised to learn that many Kenyans were not aware that burning charcoal or wood in their clay stoves, for heat and for cooking, was detrimental to their health. There are pollution research initiatives that are working to spread this awareness and develop a stove that is safe, effective, easy to use and most importantly, affordable. The spread of knowledge of basic health hazards, as well as necessary commodities that are affordable are two elementary things that we take for granted here, but are major inhibiting factors in third world development.
I don't think there is any other practical solutions to the problem in Greek right now. Because of the economic condition in Greek, there is not enough funds and technologies to support neither oil price nor substitutes. Is it necessary, or is it possible for the government to seek for international help? I doubt the possibility of that.
I find this article really interesting as it shows the sheer desperation that the Greeks are facing with the economic crisis. While not totally similar, this, in fact, brings to mind instances of hyperinflation in post-World War I Germany where people used to burn money because it had virtually no value. I think this is a sign that more effective reform is needed immediately.
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