In spite of technological, logistic and economic difficulties, interest in renewable energy sources in the world is consistently increasing. This trend is also observed in Poland, mainly due to the urgent need to tackle the problem of climate change, which is caused by the increasing concentration of gaseous pollutants in the atmosphere. The paper presents a short script of the issue of estimating renewable energy resources in Poland in the context of creating local low carbon economy plans at the level of municipalities/counties where RES sources should be taken into account. The author proposed an individual approach to estimate the potential of RES, taking the local conditions and the short characteristics of the small and medium companies sector in Poland into account. These companies have a great application potential to increase the share of renewable energies and to improve energy efficiency in their business. The actions, which are taken by the Ministry of Energy in the field of civil energy development, enhancing local energy security and the sustainable development of renewable energy resources support the development of energy clusters covering one district or five municipalities. In the article, the author presents data on the number of companies possessing a concession for generating electricity in RES installations in the power range from 40 kW to 200 kW. These companies can largely be the nucleus for creating a local cluster in which microgrids will be a key element.
Low emission has a significant impact on air quality in Poland. Low sources are found which lead to high concentrations of pollutants in the area inhabited by humans. The effects of low emissions on health and life in the polluted areas (Małopolska, Silesia) are conducive to radical decisions regarding the quality of solid fuels and their combustion facilities. At present, local anti-smuggling laws have been introduced in the two provinces banning the burning of the most emitting fuels such as mules, flotoconcentrates and lignite. Regional EU-funded programs for the use of renewable energy sources (RES) and energy efficiency improvement will transition to the implementation phase of the approved projects as of 2017. This is expected to significantly reduce energy consumption for heating buildings and replacing old boilers and automatic furnaces with low-emission heating devices. In the case of households, proving that the residential building has adequate energy efficiency characteristics is necessary in order to receive co-financing for replacing an old solid fuel boiler with a new low-emission boiler,. The paper will present the current situation on the regulation of the fuel market in the household and small–scale consumer sector and the proposal for changes to the law on monitoring and control of solid fuel quality. Another important issue will be significant changes in heating up to 500 kW, proposed by the Ministry of Development in October 2016. The proposed regulation precedes the implementation of the Ecodesign Directive, which will come into effect as of 2022 for room heaters and heating furnaces up to 500 kW for solid fuels. All these actions will help reduce low emissions and improve energy efficiency.
The changes in the domestic solid fuel market (including forecasted increases in the fuel prices) and the growing requirements related to actual environmental standards, result in increased interest in renewable energy sources, such as biomass, wind and solar energy. These sources will allow to achieve reduction in the CO2 emission, and consequently – avoid environmental costs after 2020. Therefore, the development of distributed energy systems, based on the use of biomass boilers, gas boilers and high efficiency combined heat and power units, will enable the fulfillment of current standards in the field of energy efficiency and emission of pollutants to the atmosphere. It should be emphasized that the actions taken to reduce emissions (e.g. anti-smog act) will contribute to reducing coal consumption in the municipal and housing sector (households, agriculture and other customers) in favor of biomass and other renewable energy sources. The article reviews selected biomass technologies:
- fluidized, dust and grate boilers,
- straw-fired boilers,
- cogeneration systems powered by biomass,
- torrefaction and biomass carbonisation.
The mentioned technologies are characterized by a high potential of in the field of dynamic development and practical application in the coming years. Thus, they can improve difficult situation in the distributed energy sector with a capacity up to 50 MW.
The energy obtained from biomass in the global balance of energy carriers is the largest source among all RES. It should be borne in mind that the share of biomass as an energy carrier in the total balance is as much as 14%. The basic sources of renewable energy used in Poland are the wind power industry and biomass. Organic chemical compounds are the source of chemical energy for biomass. The biomass can be used in a solid form (wood, straw) or after being converted to liquid (alcohol, bio-oil) or gas (biogas) form.
Pellets, meaning, the type of fuel of natural origin created from biomass compressed under high pressure without the participation of any chemical adhesive substances are recognized as the most common and available grades of biomass. Wood pellets manufactured from sawdust, shaving, or woodchips are the most popular type of pellets on the market. Fuel created in the form of granules is very dense and can be manufactured with low humidity content, which translates into an exceptionally high burn efficiency.
The authors of this article burned agro pellets from Miscanthus giganteus without additives and with solid catalyst and conducted a series of tests that determine the impact of boiler settings (blast power, time of feeding, chimney draft) on the process of burning fuel in real conditions. A solid catalyst was used to improve combustion conditions in one of the fuels. The catalyst burns carbon monoxide and reduces nitrogen oxides. The results in the form of observation of selected parameters are summarized in the table.
Polska od lat zmaga się ze złą jakością powietrza, co bezpośrednio przekłada się na zdrowie ludzkie. Badania wskazują, że największy wpływ na przekraczanie poziomów dopuszczalnych i docelowych stężeń zanieczyszczeń, szczególnie pyłów oraz bezno(a)pirenu, ma niska emisja, w szczególności z sektora gospodarstw domowych. Powodem takiego stanu jest spalanie złej jakości paliwa w starych, mało efektywnych i wysokoemisyjnych paleniskach. Mając na uwadze powyższe zagrożenia, idąc śladem Krakowa i Małopolski, kolejne województwa, miasta i gminy wprowadzają lub rozważają wprowadzenie ograniczenia spalania paliw stałych na swoim terenie oraz całkowitą likwidację kotłów na paliwa stałe niespełniające wymogów ekoprojektu lub ewentualnie normy 5 klasy emisji spalin.
Określenie wielkości emitowanych zanieczyszczeń do atmosfery ma kluczowe znaczenie w przypadku podejmowania wysiłków i określania działań zmierzających do poprawy jakości powietrza. W Polsce ruszyły ambitne programy zarówno na poziomie rządowym, jak i regionalnym, które mają na celu wymianę kotłów i pieców w kilku milionach domów. Na przykład szacuje się, że prawie pół miliona kotłów należy wymienić w ramach realizacji uchwały antysmogowej w województwie małopolskim. W artykule zostały przedstawione opracowane współczynniki emisji zanieczyszczeń mających bezpośredni wpływ na lokalną jakość powietrza tj.: współczynniki emisji pyłów, bezno(a)pirenu, tlenków siarki i azotu, tlenku węgla. Zostały wskazane zakresy stosowanych i prezentowanych współczynników emisji dla różnych technologii oraz różnych paliw. Wskazane zostały również standardy emisji obowiązujące dla nowych kotłów oraz ilości zużywanych paliw w gospodarstwach domowych w Polsce.
Przedstawiono możliwe zmiany wielkości emisji w przypadku likwidacji starych kotłów i używania nowoczesnych urządzeń do spalania biomasy oraz węgla w gospodarstwach domowych oraz przeprowadzenia termomodernizacji.
Wood pellets, commonly referred to as biomass fuel, are increasingly used in heating and district heating in the European Union countries, including Poland. Their use in class 5 and/or Ecodesign boilers enables an individual consumer to use energy from renewable sources, reduce the environmental burden by reducing the emission of harmful compounds, and provides a sense of comfort by automating the boiler system. The article presents the current situation in the global wood pellet market, describes the basic quality standards applicable to this fuel during production, and indicates the difficulties in the implementation of programs co-financing the replacement of obsolete coal-fired boilers with automatic class 5 biomass-fired boilers. The research presented in this article is focused on the presence of contaminants in the DIN Plus, EN Plus, and A1 pellets, as well as in non-certified pellets. The analysis has shown that the use of wood pellets containing prohibited substances negatively affects boiler operation and contributes to the formation of slag and the emission of harmful compounds, making the discussed fuel non-ecological.