Emissions from households make up a considerable percentage, but experts came up with good news: What has changed compared to last year?

The share of households in Slovakia with individual heating, which use wood for this purpose, reached 87 % last year. This was a slight decrease compared to 2019, when there were 89 %. This results from a statistical survey in households with individual heating, which was carried out in 2022 by the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ) in cooperation with the Statistical Office (ŠÚ) of the Slovak Republic. Its results were presented on Wednesday by the representatives of SHMÚ. According to them, it turned out that instead of wood, the use of alternative fuels increased slightly. Wood accounted for 79 % of the total volume of procured fuel in these households, which represented a decrease of 5 percentage points (pb) compared to 2019. The average consumption of wood also decreased, from 7.8 to 7.3 tons per year. "The number of households that use wood as fuel has decreased, at the expense of the fact that they started using alternative low-emission fuels, such as natural gas, electric energy, wood pellets and briquettes," explained SHMÚ environment specialist Roman Mach. The survey showed that compared to 2019, the use of electricity for heating households increased from 13.9 % to 14.6 % and wood briquettes and pellets from 8.7 % to 11.4 %. On the contrary, the use of natural gas decreased slightly, from 16.6 % to 14.8 %. "These data indicate and confirm to us that the transition to more modern and greener fuels is continuing," stated Mach. Since 2010, 58 % family houses have been renovated in Slovakia. Compared to the statistical survey in 2019, this was an increase of 8 percentage points The largest share of renovated houses was in the Prešov and Košice regions, but according to Mach, the results were similar in all regions. "If the houses were reconstructed, they most often had replaced windows (82 %), improved insulation of the perimeter walls (42 %), insulated roofs (31 %)," explained the SHMÚ specialist. Most households heat the entire family house to a temperature between 20 and 24 degrees Celsius. These results are very similar to the previous survey. "When we look at the energy sector, where the largest amount of emissions of not only greenhouse gases but also pollutants is created, the total emissions from households make up almost 13 %, which is not an insignificant amount. And these are mainly emissions from individual household heating, which are currently not regulated by any legislation, as is the case with industrial processes", explained Janka Szemesová, Head of the Emissions and Biofuels Department of SHMÚ. The office repeatedly finds out information about heating methods in households, last year it did so for the third time and on the largest scale so far. According to her, the problem is mainly emissions of solid dust particles. "These are produced by households with individual heating of more than 62 %. We know that these emissions threaten people's health", pointed out Szemesová. Emissions of volatile organic substances are also a problem. The share of households in this area is 37 % and they are mainly caused by the use of low-quality fuels and poor heating methods. Individual heating of households and the air pollution caused by it causes emissions according to the SHMÚ expert, especially in the winter months smog situations, health complications of residents and reduces air quality. At the same time, it makes it impossible to fulfill the climate goals to which the Slovak Republic has committed itself, she pointed out.

Nový ČAS, SHMU, ŠU SR