Squandering energy in the East

BERLIN In the days when Eastern Europe was controlled by the Soviet Union, the cities and large provincial towns throughout this part of the divided Europe had a distinctive odor.

During the long winters you could smell the sulfur and feel the grit from the brown coal emissions that hung over East Berlin, Prague, or the Polish industrial centers of Katowice and Wroclaw.

In the ministries and public buildings, heating levels were controlled by opening the windows. There were no thermostats, no appliances on radiators to check the temperature, no means of switching off the heating system. The waste took place regardless of whether the energy came from domestic coal production or from natural gas and oil imported from Russia.

“There was no need to care about energy savings or efficiency,” said Peter Kaderjak, director of the energy department at the Corvinus University in Budapest. “The cost of energy was highly subsidized by the Soviet Union. In Eastern Europe, energy supplies were safe, secure, guaranteed and cheap.”

International Herald Tribune