First discusses the cumulative and time-delayed effects of acid deposition, which began in Europe two centuries ago with the industrial revolution, then considers future energy use and acidification patterns at both regional, and national scales, using the examples of the Netherlands and Poland in the latter case. The author demonstrates that in the longer term, current and planned levels of European energy consumption are not ecologically sustainable in terms of landscape acidification, even with existing policy commitments to emission control of SO2 and NOx.