Geothermal Energy as Near-Ground Emissions Reduction Potential in the Energy and Climate Security Policy Strategy as Illustrated by the Podhale Region

The aim of the article is to show how and to what extent geothermal energy can be used to reduce or even eliminate the phenomenon of near-ground emissions from households as part of the energy and climate security policy. This goal has its source in several justifications. The first is the need to meet the social and housing needs of households. The second is fuel poverty (energy poverty), including heat (thermal) poverty in Polish households, the natural result of which is the phenomenon of near-ground emissions, being a measure of the level of energy and climate security in local and national terms. The third is the impact of near-ground emissions on the standard of climate safety, as expressed in environmental pollution (of air, soil and water). The fourth is the use of geothermal energy as a significant thermal energy potential which makes it possible to significantly reduce the phenomenon of near-ground emissions and their consequences in terms of energy and climate security. The topics of research addressed in the article will focus on three issues: defining near-ground emissions and their constituent factors; explaining the impact of near-ground emissions on the quality of the natural environment and infrastructure, and showing to what extent geothermal energy can be an important source of heat in combating near-ground emissions as well as responding to the energy and climate security strategy policy. The research problem addressed in the article is theoretical and empirical. The methods used include analysis, definition, synthesis as well as generalization and inference. Such an approach aims to identify the essence and analyse the concepts of the research subject while also defining and demonstrating the dynamics of the phenomena, along with the processes and relations indicated in previous Polish and international literature on the subject. The empirical part of the work uses quantitative and qualitative research methods in order to examine (determine) the magnitude of household heat poverty which leads to near-ground emissions, as well as to determine the temporal and spatial characteristics of atmospheric air pollution. These studies make it possible to determine the distribution and intensity of the phenomena studied, as well as to make inferences and indicate the cause and effect relationships between these phenomena.