Polish taxi driver Grzegorz says his phone is ringing all the time because there is so much demand for his services, but people aren’t asking him for taxi rides, Bloomberg reports.

At a time when Poland is experiencing an energy crisis, Grzegorz gave up the taxi business in favor of a much more lucrative occupation: illegal coal mining.

Around his house, located in the Polish city of Walbrzych in Lower Silesia, there is a one-meter-deep layer of coal in fields, parks and gardens. A crew of four can mine a ton of coal an hour and earn 1,000 zlotys ($220) each in half a day, equivalent to 60% of an average person’s weekly earnings.

“My wife doesn’t agree and worries about me, but as a taxi driver I couldn’t earn that money,” Grzegorz says, taking a bucket of coal from a harrow dug at the edge of a housing estate. while the two boys continue to dig with their picks.

Around the world, coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, is experiencing a resurgence as Russia curbs supplies of natural gas needed to generate electricity. In Poland, the crisis is even more acute, as a very large number of households still depend on coal for heating and the government is struggling to cover supply problems.

The war turned the energy market upside down

The invasion of Ukraine has upended the energy market, and European Union sanctions against Russia have led to a sharp drop in coal imports to Poland, a country where 37% of households use coal for heating.

With the exhaustion of coal reserves and a drop in temperature, the Poles began to take measures. Some have begun burning trash, worsening air quality in a country where its three largest cities, Warsaw, Krakow and Wroclaw, are among the world’s ten most polluted cities.

Near Walbrzych, Poles began to travel to the neighboring Czech Republic for coal, or began to pick up a pickaxe and dig for coal. Mayor Roman Shelemey accuses the Warsaw government of creating a national dependence on coal. “The current crisis shows us that this was a mistake,” says Mayor Walbrzych.

With a population of around 100,000, the Walbrzych region’s economy was based on coal mining for two centuries, until the last legally mined mine closed in 2000. But the legacy of mining is still present after thousands of miners have been laid off.

Illegal mining is returned

Illegal mining is nothing new, it’s just making a comeback. The unemployment rate in the nearby villages is 12%, almost three times higher than in the city of Walbrzych, so the opportunity to make money is tempting for those who know the mining business. Under these conditions, artificial wells in forests and fields multiplied.

There are also artisanal wells on the outskirts of Walbrzych, an area where several private gardens are located. A resident of the district says that people need money, and others need coal. City officials began sending out patrols to check areas notorious for illegal mining.

However, Grzegorz, who did not want to give his last name, says he is tempted by the opportunity to make good money, as well as the fact that he is helping to solve the worst energy crisis Poland has faced in decades. His team is managed by Bartosz, who has three years of experience as a miner. The well in which they are working is almost three meters deep, and two men descend into the pit on a wooden ladder. Grzegorz fills bags with coal, which he then carries to a car hidden behind trees.

“We will continue to dig here until we can extract coal. After that, we will dig a new well,” says Grzegorz. (Source Agerpres)