The campaign “More heat, less smoke” was kicked off by information seminars for secondary school students from Zilina region.

First seminar was held on 28th March 2023 in Zilina in cooperation with Zilina self-governing region. More than 110 students from 9 secondary schools from Zilina region participated.

Photo by Frantisek Dokoupil, ZSK

The program began with a lecture on air quality and the most significant sources of air pollution. Did you know that households, especially their heating, are the biggest air polluters in Slovakia? The pollutants in the air represent invisible risks to our health, and it is necessary to seek sustainable solutions for all residents. Another lecture presented to students the possibilities of heating and cooling households using renewable energy sources, along with their advantages and disadvantages in the context of climate change.

In the second part of the program, we introduced students to innovative and environmental ideas in the field of renewable energy utilization, specifically the Biomass Logistics Center for Slovakia. We invited them to the Bioclimatic Park in Drienová and introduced the KLIMA BEST project.

Two more seminars took place in the showroom of the Biomass Logistics Center in Kysucký Lieskovec, and they were also combined with a tour of wood pellet production. On April 4th and 5th, 2023, nearly 70 students from Žilina, Kysucké Nové Mesto, Námestovo, and Krásno nad Kysucou participated in these seminars.

At the end of this program, we invited them for a tour of the wood pellet production, where they had the opportunity to see the entire logistics chain from collecting wood waste, its processing in the production line, packaging, and storing the resulting eco-friendly product – wood pellets. We believe that we have inspired and motivated them to be more environmentally conscious.

These seminars were organized in collaboration with the Žilina Self-Governing Region, Žilina University – Department of Energy Technology, and the Slovak Environmental Agency.