Rape is an important oil crop with a wide range of uses. Harvested rapeseed must be cleaned and dried before processing. The process of drying rapeseed as a small-seeded crop has its own specifics. One of the new drying methods is the use of microwave radiation, the disadvantage of which is uneven heating of the product. The purpose of this work was to study the modes of drying rapeseed by electromagnetic radiation in the ultra-high frequency range in combination with filtration. The indicators of the intensity of oilseed drying by infrared irradiation on the experimental stand were determined. The analysis of the conducted studies showed that the temperature of seeds at the maximum microwave power rises in general 1.5 to 1.8 times faster than at half the power. The higher the seed moisture content is, the higher the rate of temperature increase. After each blowing cycle, which lasted for five seconds, the temperature of the rapeseeds was set higher than the previous temperature, and after increasing the blowing time up to fifteen seconds, the temperature decreased by 8–12°C and cyclically stabilized. The applications of microwave drying represented in the paper are environmentally friendly, since the seeds do not come into direct contact with the products of gas combustion, which deteriorate its quality due to the possible penetration of carcinogenic components into the products. Experimental data was taken into account when developing the design of a small-sized grain dryer for farms, in which the drying process takes place without heating the air as a heat carrier.

Direct applications in agriculture are among the most prospective development lines of geothermal water and energy. In many countries such uses have already been ongoing. Poland also has suitable natural conditions and geothermal waters’ potential for agricultural development as well as for applications related to agriculture. Moreover, such applications in agriculture – if taking place after earlier use of geothermal waters e.g. for energetic or other purposes – would be the realization of the idea of the closed cycle economy. The first research and development works on geothermal waters and energy applications in agriculture in Poland were carried out in the early 1990s. In recent years this subject has once again sparked a growing interest. The paper presents geothermal water resources potential as well as circumstances, rationale, selected relevant estimations and proposed zones in the country for their uses (as raw material and heat source) in the agricultural sector of the country. The use of geothermal waters in agriculture would be an important element in the chain of agricultural production and agri-food processing, contributing to the increase in the use of locally available natural resources, as well as reducing emissions when using these resources for energetic purposes. The topic is presented against the background of a brief review of the state of geothermal water applications in agriculture in the world and in Europe, which convinces the legitimacy and need for the development of such use of geothermal water as a raw material for agriculture also in Poland.

Human-induced climate change is caused by the emission of pollutants into the environment. One of the sources of the formation of harmful compounds is the combustion of solid fuels in heating boilers. These contribute to the occurrence of respiratory and circulatory system diseases, allergies, cancer and developmental disorders in children. In this research, the concentrations of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and hydrocarbons in samples obtained from the combustion of hard coal intended for fuel in household furnaces were measured using an exhaust-gas analyzer equipped with electrochemical sensors. The combustion of test samples was performed using an up-draft research furnace. The results show that the average total concentration of the tested pollutants emitted from the combustion of type 32 and type 33 coal is over 20% lower compared to the emission from the combustion of type 31 coal. Moreover, the concentration of carbon monoxide, the permissible levels of which are regulated by the chimney emission standards, is significantly lower during the combustion of type 32 and type 33 coal compared to the combustion of type 31 coal. Therefore, one of the ways to locally reduce pollutant emission from the combustion of solid fuels in home heating boilers might be the accurate choice of the type of hard coal used for heating. Before the use of coal stoves in households is completely dismissed, local regulations can be introduced to limit emissions in places where air quality indicators are exceeded and improve the health of the population.

Walter Charleton, a physician and a Christian believer, was on the first advocates of physico-theology that started on a large scale at the end of the 17 ^th century and flourished in the 18th century. In his battle with the English deism and atheism, he used the arguments of the orderliness of nature to prove the existence of God. He was one of few authors trying to reconcile atomism with Christian theology. He also grappled with the problem of the immortality of the soul supporting at one point Gassendi’s idea that humans have two souls, sensitive and rational.