Polish rural communities largely depend on low-cost but dirty coal for their heating, but under pressure from Brussels to provide cleaner energy, Warsaw is proposing controversial shale gas wells as an alternative. “In small villages, each house has its own individual heating system – mostly based on coal – because access to other [heating sources] [...]

It was inevitable that as the prospect of shale gas extraction in Europe, and especially Poland, becomes more realistic, so the voices of protest would emerge. On Marek Matraszek’s FromtheFront.net, he writes that shale has the consequence of undermining Gazprom’s entire business model, which is indeed dependent on being the dominant supplier of natural gas [...]

Many question the legitimacy of German trepidation regarding the building of an energy terminal in northwest Poland as further proof positive of heavy Russian influence in both Berlin and throughout the European Union. Although at face value, Germany’s concerns centre on the environmental impact, CEC Government Relations Founder Marek Matraszek believes, (as excerpted from Business New [...]