In this work a novel crowd simulation framework that incorporates information of the dynamic environment is introduced. It supports knowledge spreading and allows the simulated agents to behave according to their personal needs that are affected by the surroundings. Each agent has their own personal interests and needs, which affects its goals and interactions with the environment. Genetic algorithms are used to simulate the dynamic behaviour of the environment and the knowledge spreading. As a result more accurate and realistic simulations are obtained improving a wide range of industrial and research applications that require accurate crowd simulation and modelling.

The study used the accounting data collected on 22 individual farms which at the  same time cultivated winter wheat and winter rape in 2011 and 2013. The aim of the study was to determine the impact on the income from the cultivation of wheat and rape, predicted in prospect of 2020, taking into account the rate of change in yield and prices of wheat and rape and prices of means of agricultural production. Moreover, an attempt was made to determine the strength of influence of fluctuations in crop and sale price on deviations of income from the  projection for 2020. The  calculations showed that, compared to the average of the studied years, in 2020 income from the cultivation of wheat will increase by 23.4%, and that of rape by 58.4%. However, increase in costs of cultivating wheat, faster than increase in outputs, will affect the profitability of production – by 2.0 percentage points, while for rape profitability it will increase by 7.7 pp. After taking into account the variability of the yield, income from cultivating wheat may vary by ±22.5%, and in the case of rape by as much as ±41.5%. Wheat and rape show much greater sensitivity to the variability of the sale price, and, as a result, income may vary by ±72.5 and ±69.2%, respectively. The study contributes to the development of research meth­ods and can be used by farmers and decision-making centres.

This chapter aims to analyse sources of innovations for bio-energy at the firm level and to assess which policies have supported or impeded company innovations and business development. Our analyses are based on 14 firm-level cases from eight European countries. The case study data were collected in 2008 and 2009 using common interview guidelines. The cases represent companies engaged in activities that range from wood pellet and chip production to district heating, large-scale electricity production at a pulp mill site and other bio-energy business applications in Europe. As one might expect, the contents of the cases were diverse. Although the innovations analysed had different sources, in the majority of the cases the innovations were prompted either by emerging new market situations (e.g. rising fossil fuel prices) or new available woody biomass sources, or were driven by changes in company strategies or introduced and led by visionary managers. The case studies often stress the important roles of innovation champions, with their innovative charisma and excellent interpersonal skills. Also, policy and policy measures played an important role in many of the analysed cases. Based on the analysed results, we found that determined national policies and programmes supporting and providing favourable financial conditions for investments in the area of renewables boosted innovative activities in the use of woody biomass for energy purposes.

Main aim of this paper was to demonstrate the impact of cultivation intensity on economic of selected activities of crop production in Poland. The projection of income of these activities in mid-term perspective, i.e. in 2016, has also been developed. Studies have shown that for cultivation technology of low intensity, as compared to high, the economic results of examined activities were more favourable. The profitability of production, expressed as a ratio of the value of production to economic costs, was higher by 10.0 to 52.7%. According to the projection results, in the highly intensive cultivation, high costs and dynamics of growth, stronger than growth of income, had a negative impact on the level of income. It is expected, even with an exceptionally high yield, income level will be lower than in the cultivation of low intensity. The results show that the use of technological progress can reduce a negative impact of chemicals on the environment while maintaining the high economic efficiency of production.

Wśród działań zmierzających do złagodzenia zmian klimatycznych ważną rolę odgrywają lasy oraz aktywnie prowadzona gospodarka leśna. Lasy pełnią rolę nie tylko pochłaniacza dwutlenku węgla, ale stanowią ważne źródło surowca drzewnego i biomasy leśnej, dostarczając substytutów materiałów niedrzewnych oraz paliw kopalnych. Obecnie, informacje o działaniach w zakresie zalesień, wylesień oraz gospodarki leśnej stanowią część corocznych raportów, przygotowywanych na mocy ramowej konwencji klimatycznej oraz protokołu z Kioto. Wśród sektorów objętych sprawozdawczością tylko kategoria "Użytkowanie gruntów, zmiany użytkowania gruntów i leśnictwo" (LULUCF) stanowi pochłaniacz emisji gazów cieplarnianych netto. W Polsce w sektorze LULUCF lasy cechują się największym pochłanianiem dwutlenku węgla w przeliczeniu na jednostkę powierzchni, osiąga-jąc wartość 4,42 t CO 2 na ha. Gospodarka leśna przyczynia się do pochłaniania dwutlenku węgla znacznie bardziej niż zalesianie netto. Średnio, w ostatnich latach wielkość pochłaniania dwutlenku węgla z tytułu prowadzenia gospodarki leśnej w Polsce wynosiła blisko 38 mln ton rocznie, zaś zalesiania netto rocznie pochła-niały średnio nieco ponad 2 mln ton dwutlenku węgla. Obliczenia wskazują, że wprowadzenie jednostek pochłaniania dwutlenku węgla z tytułu prowadzenia gospodarki leśnej i zalesień do handlu emisjami, przy obecnych cenach dwutlenku węgla, mogłoby być źródłem przychodu na poziomie ok. 70 mln Euro rocznie. Nie tylko sam fakt istnienia lasów jako ekosystemu, ale aktywne prowadzenie gospodarki leśnej przyczynia się do sekwestracji dwutlenku węgla, co stawia leśnictwo w roli ważnego czynnika przeciwdziałającego zmianom klimatycznym i wzywa do rychłego włączenia sektora LULUCF do celu redukcyjnego emisji.Słowa kluczowe: gospodarka leśna, sekwestracja węgla, pochłaniacz CO 2 , substytucja WprowadzenieProblematyka związana z ochroną klimatu od kilkudziesięciu lat stanowi przedmiot zainteresowania społeczności naukowej i polityków. Lasy na świecie stanowią istotny zbiornik węgla, zawierają bowiem ponad 80% węgla zmagazynowanego w roślinach lądowych i około 70% węgla zmagazynowanego w glebach [3]. Na terenie Europy lasy zajmują powierzchnię 159 mln ha, co odpowiada 37% powierzchni kontynentu. Średnio pozyskuje się 75% przyrostu surowca na pniu, co prowadzi do średniorocznej akumulacji wę-gla na poziomie 435 Mt CO 2 [4]. W Polsce, w najpowszechniej występujących borach sosnowych, ogólna pula węgla w ekosystemie wynosi 148 t/ha [5], z czego 91 t przypada na fitomasę a 57 t na węgiel zgromadzony w glebie. Ocena bilansu węgla wskazuje, że w ciągu roku 1,3 t C/ha jest wiązane przez ekosystem w dendromasie i glebie mineralnej, co stanowi 13% produkcji pierwotnej brutto [5]. Oznacza to, że zdecydowana większość dwutlenku węgla pobieranego przez las z atmosfery jest do niej zwracana w trakcie procesów oddychania. W naturalnych lasach tropikalnych wartości te są znacznie większe i sięgają 150-250 t/ha [6].Lasy stanowią one nie tylko zbiorniki węgla wbudowanego w biomasę czy pochłaniacze CO 2...

is wood in the form of logging residues. The majority of firewood is harvested in northern regions. The simulation of the demand for forest biomass for energy production showed that though the used of forest biomass will be limited, the demand will most probable far exceed the present supply of that type of wood.

In Europe, more than 70% of milk production falls on the European Unioncountries. Among the largest milk producers in the EU, Poland ranks fourth. Theabolition of quotas for milk production and increase in supply to the marketcontributed to the decline in milk prices. The aim of the study is to determine theimpact of the rate of change in prices of agricultural inputs and changes in milkyield of cows and milk prices on the profitability of milk production in Polandprojected for 2020. The sample consisted of 169 farms which in 2014-2015 kept anaverage of 27 cows. In 2015, the index of the profitability of milk productionamounted to 130.7%, and in comparison to 2014 it decreased by 18.4 percentagepoint. The results projection for 2020 show an improvement in milk yield of cows(by 12.4%) and milk prices (by 15.4%). Stronger growth in the revenues (by29.1%) than the cost of keeping cows (by 15.5%) will stimulate the improvementof economic results. The index of the profitability of milk production will increaseby 15.4 percentage points, and income per cow by 73.3%. This means that it willbe at a level similar to 2014. Research shows that fluctuations in selling prices ofmilk are possible (+/-8.7%). Despite this, the milk production will continue to beprofitable. Results of this study are consistent with the projection of the EuropeanCommission, which provides for an increase in milk prices and milk production inthe EU.

The main aim of the paper is analysis of production and economic results of sugar beets, cow milk and live cattle in 2014 for farms having different production scale of these products. Research was held at commercial farms, which have greater development opportunities. The results of the researched products were affected by the production potential of farms, i.e. resources of land, labour and capital, their quality and manner of use, but they were also dependent on the external conditions of operation, e.g. weather or market conditions. This impact resulted in different level of changes in production volume, unit costs and implementation prices of respective products.A consequence of differences in selected production scale sections, production and price results and incurred costs was differentiation of profitability of production, understood as a difference between the production value and costs corresponding thereto and as a quotient of production value and costs in percentages. The research showed that benefits following from a growth in production scale are clear. Greater production volume allows for generation of higher income and due to a higher level of specialisation and mechanisation of conducted works it is connected with much lower labour inputs. This results in higher labour productivity. Thus, one might expect coverage of alternative costs of land and capital.