New
About clean air on Ekotopfilm
10. 10. 2022
Air
As part of its activities, the Ekotopfilm festival does not only offer its visitors films with an environmental focus, as the name might suggest. It is an event that also provides space for fruitful discussions, where experts from various fields bring interesting topics closer to the public. Air quality, proper principles of heating, monitoring of pollutants and emissions from transport were discussed last week in Banská Bystrica and in Bratislava, and the LIFE IP project - Improving air quality was there.
The discussion took place in Banská Bystrica on 9/26/2022 and was moderated by the brilliant and funny Ján Gordulič, who has been working on environmental issues for a long time.
We learned how the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute monitors air quality and what the situation is in Banská Bystrica and its surroundings. It has been true for several years that the most significant air polluters are not industrial enterprises and energy, but local heating plants. Households are not subject to strict controls and limits. People often heat with unsuitable fuel and do not follow the principles of proper heating. Heating is the main source of air pollution with fine dust particles that can cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Incomplete combustion also produces carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene. At the end of the discussion, possible solutions and appropriate measures to improve air quality were presented, including financing options, e.g. also from the Recovery Plan.
Panelists: Doc. Emília Hroncová (SHMÚ), Ing. Jana Pavlíková (SAŽP – air quality manager, LIFE IP), Ing. Martin Tršo, PhD. (SAŽP – LIFE IP), Ing. Matej Kerestúr (SAŽP – Renewal Plan), Ing. Milan Lichý (Vice Mayor of Banská Bystrica)
A discussion was held in Bratislava on 9/27/2022 on the topic "Breathtaking Bratislava?" We have the right to breathe clean air!", moderated by Diana Hágerová.
What we breathe significantly affects the quality of our life. Polluted air, the so-called silent killer, costing us health and money. Air quality is negatively affected mainly by households that burn unsuitable fuel or take care of their heating equipment incorrectly. If the boiler or stove is not properly serviced, larger amounts of dust particles are released into the air, which have a negative impact on our health and the environment. However, the industry that burns fossil fuels is not without blame either, and exhaust gases from traffic also contribute to pollution. In Bratislava, traffic is the biggest air polluter.
You had the opportunity to learn more about the current state and monitoring of air in Bratislava, action plans, solutions to improve air quality and pedestrian zone projects in the discussion. Our colleague Jozef Wallner joined this discussion together with air experts from various institutions from the Bratislava region and brought the issue of air quality in Bratislava closer to the public. Among the discussants you could see:
Ing. arch. Tatiana Kratochvílová (Capital of SR Bratislava), Ing. arch. Mgr. art. Elena Pätoprstá (BSK), RNDr. Martin Kremler (SHMÚ), Mgr. Ján Horváth (SHMÚ), Ing. Jozef Wallner (MOE SR – air quality manager, LIFE IP)
