Development of energy crops cultivation for biomass production in Poland

Abstract

As a member of the European Union, Poland pledged to increase the share of energy generated from renewable resources up to 7.5% by 2010 and to 14% by 2020. These goals can be achieved through the production of biomass. Poland׳s biomass potential is among the highest in Europe and is 895 PJ. A major role in the production of biomass for energy purposes in Poland is played by the cultivation of fast-growing annual and perennial energy plants. The main objective of this research was the spatial analysis and evaluation of the development of energy crops in Poland based on historical, urbanisation and natural conditions.The studies showed that in 2010 the surface area taken by energy crops in Poland was 154,100ha, which accounted for 0.9% of the total agricultural land. The structure of energy crops is dominated by energy trees and shrubs; on forest land their share accounted for 88.9%. The share of energy crops on arable land accounted for 11.1%. The largest surface area taken by energy crops occurred in the poviats with medium environmental conditions. This is due to the need to use the best arable land for the cultivation for alimentation purposes. However, an intensive use of poor soils for the cultivation of energy crops was not noticed, although they are the first to be used for this purpose. In the structure of energy crops it is noted that the largest areas taken by perennial crops occurred in the poviats in the heavily urbanised areas, which is related to the profitability of production, and predominantly to the market demand. The analysis has shown that Poland has good natural conditions for the development of energy crops, but they are not yet fully utilised.