Conditions of Development of The Agricultural Biogas Industry in Poland in The Context of Historical Experiences and Challenges of The European Green Deal

The aim of the study was to assess the current development of the agricultural biogas industry in Poland and to indicate the key factors determining the possibility of popularizing this category of renewable energy in the coming years. The article is based on secondary data. The study uses statistical data on agricultural biogas production from the statistics of Eurostat, the Energy Regulatory Office, and the National Center for Agricultural Support. The S-C-P (Structure-Conduct-Performance) analysis was used to synthetically present the collected material and assess the situation of the Polish agricultural biogas industry. The agricultural biogas plants operating in Poland produced only about 325 million3 biogas in 2020, from which 689 GWh of electricity was generated. This constitutes a small part of the biogas potential of Polish agriculture (various studies indicate the potential in the range of 1.6-4.2 billion m3 of agricultural biogas from organic fertilizers produced on farms). Electricity obtained from agricultural biogas covers less than 0.4% of the domestic demand. Despite the ambitious plans created several years ago, the development of the agricultural biogas industry has been practically halted. The main reason for this is great dependence on the system of support with public funds. Further development of the biogas industry requires stable financial support. Despite negative historical experiences, it can be expected that the development of the industry will accelerate in the coming years. This is because agricultural biogas has many advantages relevant to the challenges of the European Green Deal. However, there is a need for raising the awareness among policymakers of the environmental and economic benefits resulting from the dissemination of agricultural biogas production.