• Energy Research

In many circles, including in Poland, lignite is still viewed as a cheap source of energy, which is only possible if the external costs associated with mining and burning coal are not taken into account. In Poland, this is reflected in plans to open new Złoczew opencast lignite mines. In previous studies, the analysis of external costs has focused on the external costs of coal combustion and related pollutant emissions. This paper focuses on the extraction phase. The aim of the work here described was to estimate the external costs that agriculture may incur due to the formation of a depression funnel for the projected lignite mine in the Złoczew deposit. This paper discusses factors causing uncertainty in calculated estimates of external costs in agriculture, and characterizes the Bełchatów and Złoczew opencast mines. In the paper, a methodology for calculating external costs in livestock production is then proposed. In the next part of the study, the decrease in cereal and potato yields and in the number of cattle and pigs in the area of the cone of depression of the Bełchatów opencast mine, which has been in operation for 40 years, were estimated. The estimates obtained formed the basis for estimating external costs for the planned Złoczew lignite opencast. The analyses showed high external costs for plant production and much lower for animal production. The inclusion of the estimated external costs of 12.2 € × kWh−1 in the costs of electricity production will significantly worsen the profitability of launching this opencast. The paper discusses factors causing uncertainty in calculated estimates of external costs in agriculture, and characterizes the Bełchatów and Złoczew opencast mines. The discussion also shows that the level of losses incurred in crop production due to opencast coal mining is similar to the losses incurred in crop production in extremely dry years.

The energy crisis in Europe and Poland caused by the conflict in Ukraine has renewed the debate in some countries about the wisdom of abandoning the use of local fossil fuels. The rise in gas and oil prices with little change in the cost of extracting lignite from open pit mines has led to a renewed consideration of lignite as the cheapest source of energy. This is not entirely true, as the level of costs at power plants ignores many external costs that are not included in the costs of energy producers, but are borne by the general public or other parties. One such cost is the external costs incurred by agriculture as a result of open pit lignite mining and the associated depression funnels. The Bełchatów lignite open pit is the deepest open pit in Europe and is expected to be in operation by 2038. The aim of the study was to assess the external costs that farmers will incur as a result of further open pit mining of brown call from the Bełchatów deposit, i.e., between 2023 and 2038 as well as in the 16-year extended period of restoration of water relations around the open pit. The decrease in crop yields and animal numbers was estimated in a comparative analysis, which compared changes in the yields of selected plants and animals in the area affected by the open pit to those in neighboring areas that were not affected. The analysis showed that the external costs to be borne by agriculture as a result of the further exploitation of the Bełchatów deposit will amount to an average of EUR 2.90 billion, and, depending on the calculation variant, from EUR 2.51 billion to EUR 3.14 billion. Including this amount in the cost of electricity production would result in an increase of EUR 9.11·MWh−1, which is 18.8% of the average wholesale price of electricity in Poland in 2017–2021. On the one hand, the increased consumption of lignite in electricity production, which is currently observed and may last for several years, may shorten the life of the open pit by up to 2 years. Shortening the mining period by one year, assuming that all the coal in the deposit is mined, will reduce the external costs for agriculture by about EUR 185 million, i.e., EUR 0.58·MWh−1. On the other hand, the increase in European Emissions Trading System (ETS) prices, the decrease in gas prices and the increase in energy production from renewable energy source (RES) will make lignite power generation profitable only during the periods with the highest prices, so that by 2038 lignite will not be mined in its entirety. Every 10 Gg of coal that will not be mined by 2038 will result in an increase in external costs in agriculture per MWh of EUR 0.23·MWh−1.

The main aim of this paper was to assess the impact of socioeconomic and agricultural factors on cow and pig density in suburban areas located up to 50 km from the 11 biggest cities in Poland. This study relied on data retrieved from all municipalities located within 50 km from central cities. The impact of the previously mentioned socioeconomic and agricultural factors was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and regression analysis. This study shows that the lowest cow and pig density was recorded in the two inner rings. From 1996 to 2010, the gap between them and the levels recorded in other rings became much more pronounced. The analysis only corroborated the high correlation between livestock (cow and pig) density and the share of corresponding livestock farms in the total number of farms as well as the average herd size. Regarding other agricultural and socioeconomic factors, the correlation was weak or low except for a moderate correlation between the entrepreneurship indicator and pig density. The regression analysis demonstrated that the share of cow and pig farms in the total number of farms, average herd size, residential housing density, and unemployment rate had a significant impact on the density of animal groups considered.

This study was an analysis of the input of human labour, tractive force and energy consumption in the model technologies of production of winter wheat, winter triticale, winter rye and sugar beets grown for bioethanol as well as reed canary grass, Virginia mallow, sorgo and maize grown for biogas in farms of different area, soil quality and intensity levels of production.

The aim of the paper was to determine the influence of the fertilization level on the energy and economics efficiency of the production technologies of selected crops processed into bioethanol or biogas. There were investigated the following crops: rye, triticale, wheat, sugar beets, maize, sorghum, reed canarygrass and Virginia fanpetals. In the energetic efficiency the Energy Return on Energy Investment index (EroEI) was used. Apart from the ERoEI ratio, the Net Energy Value (NEV) ratio was also used. In the economics efficiency attitude, the Gross Margin (GM) was determined.The investigations proved that in general, the production technologies of crops where the lowest levels of nitrogen fertilization were applied proved to have the highest energetic efficiency. The highest economic efficiency was characterized by the production of corn for biogas. In the case of the production of bioethanol (all plants), ratios were on the verge of profitability or the lack of it showed.The analysis proved that the efficiency of the technologies of production of the crops to be processed into biogas is several times higher than the energetic efficiency of the technologies of production of the crops to be processed into bioethanol.

This article reviews the production capacity of Polish agriculture with respect to biomass used for energy production. The forecast production potential of agricultural biomass in Poland in 2020 includes three key areas: the expected consumption of renewable energy according to energy type, the energy potential of agriculture and barriers to the use of biomass. Studies have shown that in Poland, total energy consumption will significantly increase (over 10% by 2020). Growth of demand for renewable energy will primarily result from strong growth of demand for transport biofuels and electricity. In 2020, approximately 80% of final energy from renewable sources will come from biomass. More than three-quarters of the biomass will be generated from agriculture. In Poland, crops from 1.0 to 4.3 million ha can be used for energy production. The study shows changes in the structure of biomass use, and the analysis confirms the declining share of biomass for heat production and the increasing share of biomass for electricity and biofuels. The main obstacles to the continued use of agricultural biomass are a lack of local markets for biomass energy and poor financial support for energy crop production.

In many circles, brown coal continues to be viewed as a cheap source of energy, resulting in numerous investments in new opencast brown coal mines. Such a perception of brown coal energy is only possible if the external costs associated with mining and burning coal are not considered. In past studies, external cost analysis has focused on the external costs of coal burning and associated emissions. This paper focuses on the extraction phase and assesses the external costs to agriculture associated with the resulting depression cone. This paper discusses the difficulties researchers face in estimating agricultural losses resulting from the development of a depression cone due to opencast mineral extraction. In the case of brown coal, the impacts are of a geological, natural-climatic, agricultural-productive, temporal, and spatial nature and result from a multiplicity of interacting factors. Then, a methodology for counting external costs in crop production was proposed. The next section estimates the external costs of crop production arising from the operation of opencast mines in the Konin-Turek brown coal field, which is located in central Poland. The analyses conducted showed a large decrease in grain and potato yields and no effect of the depression cone on sugar beet levels. Including the estimated external costs in the cost of producing electricity from mined brown coal would significantly worsen the profitability of that production.