The Ukrainian energy sector’s crucial problems, in particular, the outmoded equipment, the power

infrastructure shortcoming and a significant backlog in the energy supply quality from the European

one, based on the SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) indicator comparison,

has been disclosed in this article. A considerable break in the energy supply quality in both

rural and urban settlements has been also revealed. The current state of the alternative energy development

has been described, the energy generation structure, as well as the rates of development

of the renewable energy sources’ usage have been analyzed. Some challenges in the imbalance of

the renewable energy sources’ usage and their analyzed consequences have been identified, among

others, the generation volume abruptness by both SPP and WPP, requiring maneuvering with the

traditional sources’ employer. The negative effect of the “green” tariff as the main priming stimulus

for the renewable energy facilities’ construction has been proven. Generally and particularly, the

financial influence level on the state has been analyzed, being manifested in the debts’ accumulation

to energy producers. The residual capability of solving the problems of alternative energy

development has been considered, in particular, the “green” auctions announced by the state, the

formation of the optimal predicted level of energy generation by SPP and WPP in order to prevent

sharp disparities in both electricity demand and supply. The biogas plants’ facilities as a ponderable

choice to both solar and wind generation have been analyzed.

Associate Professor Paweł Kowalczyk of the PAS Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition explains how research on animal feed can – perhaps surprisingly – improve our health and help bolster Poland’s energy security.

The potential of organic wastes in Ukraine for biogas production and the prospects of using the family-type biogas plants for this purpose are shown. In the biogas laboratory of the Ukrainian National Forestry University the efficiency of the anaerobic mesophilic digestion of chicken manure of Poltava poultry farm, Kamianets-Podilsky poultry farm and sewage sludge from Lviv wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was investigated. Different integral indicators of the biogas production and significantly different dynamics of its formation over time were obtained for three investigated substrates. The value of average specific biogas production from the sewage sludge of Lviv WWTP is 0.494 dm3∙(day∙kg FM)–1, which is 5.1 times more comparing the chicken manure of Kamianets-Podilsky poultry farm and 8.0 times more than for the chicken manure of Poltava poultry farm. Strong negative effect of antibiotic treatment of chickens on methane contentin the obtained biogas was established experimentally.

The aim of the article is to present the issue of risk and related management methods, with a particular emphasis on the conditions of investment in energy infrastructure. The work consists of two main parts; the first one is the theoretical analysis of the issue, while the second discusses the application of analysis methods on the example of the investment in an agricultural biogas plant. The article presents the definitions related to the investment risk and its management, with a particular emphasis on the distinction between the risk and uncertainty. In addition, the main risk groups of the energy sector were subjected to an analysis. Then, the basic systematics and the division into particular risk groups were presented and the impact of the diversification of investments in the portfolio on the general level of risk was determined. The sources of uncertainty were discussed with particular attention to the categories of energy investments. The next part of the article presents risk mitigation methods that are part of the integrated risk management process and describes the basic methods supporting the quantification of the risk level and its effects – including the Monte Carlo (MC), Value at risk (VaR), and other methods. Finally, the paper presents the possible application of the methods presented in the theoretical part. The investment in agricultural biogas plant, due to the predictable operation accompanied by an extremely complicated and long-term investment process, was the subject of the analysis. An example of “large drawing analysis” was presented, followed by a Monte Carlo simulation and a VaR value determination. The presented study allows for determining the risk in the case of deviation of financial flows from the assumed values in particular periods and helps in determining the effects of such deviations. The conducted analysis indicates a low investment risk and suggests the ease of similar calculations for other investments.

Biogas plants processing municipal waste are very important investments from the point of view of waste management and also the sustainable development of urban infrastructures. They may also have a potentially negative impact on the environment in the form of odour emission. Olfactometry is the main method for odour impact assessment. Field olfactometry allows for performing a wide range of tests, the results of which are practically instantaneous. The purpose of this work is to provide a tool for assessing the odour impacts of municipal management facilities, including biogas plants processing municipal waste and evaluating the correctness of processes carried out in these plants, namely the method of field olfactometry. In order to compare obtained olfactometric results with the concentration of chemical compounds, chromatographic tests were also carried out using the Photovac Voyager portable chromatograph (hydrogen sulphide – H2S and dimethyl sulphide – (CH3)2S. The results of the odour concentration tests are in line with the results of odorant concentration tests and indicate that cod is strongly related to the concentration of hydrogen sulphide. Thanks to this method, it is possible to find a relationship between odour nuisance, technological processes used in the plant and the type of treated waste.

Energy production from renewable sources is one of the main ways to fight against global warming. Anaerobic digestion process can be used to produce biogas containing methane. In the light of the growing demand for substrates, a variety of raw materials are required. These substrates should be suitable for anaerobic digestion, and processing them need to provide the desired amount of energy.
This paper aims to discuss the agricultural biogas market in Poland, its current state, and the possibility of development during energy transformation, in particular in terms of using waste as a substrate for energy production. In February 2022, there were 130 agricultural biogas plants registered in Poland. On the other hand, in 2020, 4,409,054.898 Mg of raw materials were used to produce agricultural biogas in Poland. Among all the substrates used, waste played a special role.
With the right amount of raw materials and proper management of a biogas plant, it is possible to produce electricity and provide stable and predictable heat supply. Bearing in mind the development of the Polish and European biogas markets, attention should be paid to ensure access to raw materials from which chemical energy in the form of biogas can be generated. Due to limited access to farmland and the increasing demand for food production, one should expect that waste will be increasingly often used for biogas production, especially that with high energy potential, such as waste related to animal production and the meat industry.

Biogas plants are one of the most stable sources of renewable energy. Currently, there is a noticeable increase in the amount of post-production residues from agricultural production and agri-food processing (fruit and vegetable processing, fermentation, beet pulp, or lignocellulosic waste), which, can be used for biogas production after appropriate pretreatment. The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of using the biomass produced during the cultivation of grapes on a selected farm as a substrate for a biogas plant, taking into account the production process. The research was carried out in 2018–2020 in a vineyard located in the Sandomierz Upland in the south-eastern part of Poland. Own rooted vines were grown as a single continuous string with a trunk height of 40 cm and a length of one fixed arm approx. 0.9 m, on which six pivots were left every year after applying a short cut, from which 12–16 fruit shoots were derived, the so-called grapevines. Leaves were collected at random from three locations on the fruiting shoot, a total of 30 leaves in each replicate. Each sample consisted of 1/3 of the leaves collected at the bottom, 1/3 in the middle, and 1/3 at the top of the canopy. Leaf area was estimated with a model 3100 area meter on a sample of 30 leaves from each replicate. Both the quantity and quality of the obtained material as a substrate for methane fermentation were evaluated. Biogas yield tests in optimal conditions for mesophilic bacteria were conducted on three substrate samples referred to as ‘Regent’, ‘Seyval Blanc’, and ‘Solaris’. The yields of the tested material ranged from 51.0 to 59.0 Nm ³ biogas per Mg of biomass.