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Abstract Worldwide the search for new raw materials that are suitable for the production of energy pellets is increasing. Each new raw material undergoes evaluation through various analytical processes and quality assessments before being considered for use as energy pellet. In recent times, the raw materials such as agricultural, forestry, and food waste, as well as the surpluses originating from the agri-food production have become very popular for the production of energy pellets. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of using lignocellulosic raw materials such as chamomile waste, birch sawdust, pea waste, and soybean waste for the production of pellets. In this study, we focused on the production of thermal energy from pellets by assessing the pellets in accordance with the required standards. The results have shown that lignocellulosic raw materials can be used to produce good quality energy pellets. The proportion of individual raw materials determines the individual strength characteristics of pellets and the suitability of pellets to produce thermal energy.

Development and implementation of the agri-environmental program is mandatory for each member state of the European Union. Polish agri-environmental program focuses not only on extensification of agricultural production but also at sustaining of existing Europe’s largest biodiversity in the rural areas. The agri-environmental program is an alternative to the conventional agriculture and is designed to encourage farmers to adopt practices that lead to the greening of agricultural production and is contributes to the retardation of intensive transforming of habitats in rural areas. Agricultural producers in the Podkarpackie voivodeship are seeking new opportunities and they see a chance for the development of their farms also in agri-environmental program. Survey research has shown that the majority of the farmers decided to participate in the agri-environmental actions for economic reasons and in the extent of their knowledge and the way in which they perceive environmental issues do not differ much from the surveyed parties who do not carry out agrienvironmental program. Even thought they composted organic waste, do not dispose them in the illegal dumpsites and they claim (98%) that they comply with the Code of Good Agricultural Practice (while in the group who do not realize the program that answer was provided only by 20% of the respondents), they did not recognize the threat to the environment due to the deterioration of biodiversity.

The CO2 storage capacity estimated at the regional scale provides a preliminary recognition of as far as the possible uses of CO2 sequestration as an option of emission reduction. There has been presented the estimation of CO2 storage capacity for aquifers of Lower Cretaceous, Lower Jurassic and Lower Triassic of Polish Lowland. The Lower Jurassic deposits exhibit the greatest CO2 storage capacity of all the horizons, storage capacity of the Lower Triassic deposits is lower, the smallest capacity was estimated for the Lower Cretaceous deposits. The use of specific capacity maps for carbon dioxide in aquifers has been suggested in order to estimate the potential on national and basin scale as well as the search for prospective areas for CO2 storage.

This paper aims to indicate the linkages between crude oil prices and selected food price indexes (dairy, meat, oils, cereals, and sugar) and provide an empirical specification of the direction of the impact. This paper reviews the fuel–food price linkage models with consideration to the time series literature. This study adopts several methods, namely the Augmented Dickey–Fuller test, Granger causality test, the cointegration test, the vector autoregression model, and the vector error correction model, for studying the price transmission among the crude oil and five selected food groups. The data series covers the period between January 1990 and September 2020. The empirical results from the paper indicate that there are long-term relationships between crude oil and meat prices. The linkage of crude oil prices occurred with food, cereal, and oil prices in the short term. Furthermore, the linkages between the analyzed variables increased in 2006–2020.

Bioenergy production from animal waste can be a key driver to achieving bio-economy goals. Developing a bio-economy sector could help to create opportunities for a circular system where not only people and the planet will be benefited, but it will also provide economic profitability to farmers, especially in the post-Covid period. To this end, manure production, its nutrient content, and bioenergy potential were estimated, along with their spatial distribution in the Lubelskie province, Poland. Farm-level data were processed and aggregated at the municipality level. Material balance equations were used to calculate the theoretical potential of livestock manure and bioenergy for different use scenarios: (1) Baseline (BC): direct manure application to land, which was compared against (2) Anaerobic Digestion (AD): anaerobic digestion to biogas with digestate returned to the fields (3) AD + Separation (AD + Sep): mechanical separation followed by anaerobic digestion, and (4) Surplus + AD: surplus manure (after application to the fields) is sent to anaerobic digestion. Manure, biogas, electricity, and thermal energy production of the AD scenario were estimated to be 7.5 Mt y−1, 378 Mm3 y−1, 907 GWe y−1, and 997.8 GWth y−1, respectively. The scenario, including mechanical separation followed by anaerobic digestion (AD + Sep), contributed to avoiding emissions to the largest extent (1 Mt CO2 eq), whereas AD outperformed the others in avoiding costs of fertilization. According to the estimated potential and the environmental cost-effectiveness of AD, new plants can be established that will recycle manure through bioenergy production, and, subsequently, the digestate can be applied as organic fertilizer, closing the nutrients cycle.

The purpose of this research was to fill the identified gap on financial data of Sida hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby (Sida) and Silphium perfoliatum L. (Silphium), two perennial bioenergy crops that potentially provide a more sustainable alternative/complement to other bioenergy crops. Using discounted cash flow analysis, the Net Present Values of Sida and Silphium were compared to a rotation of other arable crops including maize, and the two energy crops of short rotation coppice and Miscanthus. The analysis was completed using the SidaTim analysis tool for the UK, Italy, Germany and Poland, producing a total of four independent models. The results showed that with no subsidies, cultivating Sida was unattractive in all four countries relative to other crop options. However, Silphium, was an economically viable option in each country. Both Sida and Silphium can offer greater environmental benefits than other arable crops, and the profitability of each crop would be further enhanced if additional payments for such public services were made to farmers, and if there were secure markets for the sale of the biomass. This study is the first comparative economic analysis in West and Central Europe of the two novel energy crops in comparison to more common energy crops and an arable rotation.

Abstract Under conditions of low funding for the production of “green energy” in Poland, it became necessary to search for other – cheaper sources of biomass and the development of more efficient technologies. The maize straw is waste material arising in the production of grain. Therefore currently has no wider application and the cost of acquisition is several times lower than in case of maize silage. This paper presents the results of research on biogas efficiency of the maize straw silage, the dynamics of the fermentation process and the decomposition time of biomass under the meso- and thermophilic conditions. Moreover, the exploitation costs of a biogas plant working on this substrate and maize silage have been compared. It has been proved that thermophilic fermentation is significantly shorter (17%) than mesophilic and permits to increase biogas production (8.6%) and methane content (9.3%). In turn, mesophilic fermentation has more stable pH changes in comparison with the thermophilic technology. However, it is related to inhibition of the propionic acid, which can be of great importance in case of continuous fermentation. On the basis of energetic calculations it was shown that the substitution of the maize silage with the maize straw silage allows for nearly three-fold costs reduction and thus increase of the biogas plant profitability.

Pneumatic separation is one of the available methods for cleaning seed mixtures. Variously shaped seeds, including spherical (vetch), elongated (wheat), and pyramid-shaped seeds (buckwheat), were analyzed in this study. A seed mixture containing 80% of main crop seeds and 20% of other crop seeds imitating impurities was separated in a pneumatic separator with the shape of an inverted cone in a stream of air. The regression equations describing the separation efficiency of the main crop seeds and other crop seeds imitating impurities (η) and the separation efficiency index (ε) were characterized by high and very high fit to empirical data. The coefficient of determination for the analyzed seed mixtures ranged from 0.71 to 0.99. The conical separator supported effective separation of seed mixture components in a stream of air.

Abstract This literature review was built upon recently published articles on Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) of agricultural biogas plants, to: enhance understanding of the relevant literature in the field and the related question by readers worldwide. It was designed to highlight methodological issues and impact indicators, which best represent this research field; consequently, they should be considered in performing environmental assessments of agro-biogas derived energy systems. The literature review highlighted the wide variability of environmental results due to the ways the feedstock mixtures were produced, managed, and supplied; and due to the regions in which the anaerobic digesters were located and operated. Differences were found to be related to the aim and function of the study and to the methodological approach used, especially for the development of the environmental impact assessments. Other differences resulted from the ways the energy produced was utilised, whether it was used as an input to the natural gas national grid, and/or if it was used within the production system. The authors of this review concluded that, although much progress has been made, many unsolved challenges and methodological choices must be addressed to further improve the robustness of LCA in relation to AD and to related approaches.

Silphium perfoliatum is a perennial crop native to North America that has been the subject of increased scientific interest in recent years, especially in Europe. It is drought- and frost-resistant, which makes it suitable for cultivation in Europe on marginal lands that are not used for growing other crops. This review analyzed the distribution and purposes of the cultivation of Silphium perfoliatum worldwide, as well as its biomass yields and characteristics as a feedstock for biogas production and other purposes. A total of 121 scientific publications on Silphium perfoliatum were identified, with the highest number (20 papers) published in 2019. It was found that higher biomass yields can be obtained at higher precipitation levels, with the use of fertilizers and an adequate type of plantation. The mean dry matter yield of Silphium perfoliatum was 13.3 Mg ha−1 DM (dry matter), and it ranged from 2 to over 32 Mg ha−1 DM. In some countries, Silphium is used as a forage crop mainly due to its high crude protein content (from 4.9% to 15% DM), depending on the vegetation phase. Silphium perfoliatum is a promising perennial crop in terms of energy and other benefits for biodiversity, soil quality and applications in medicine and pharmacology.