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Although cow manure is a valuable natural fertilizer, it is also a source of extreme greenhouse gas emissions, mainly methane. For this reason, this study aims to determine the impact of investments in a biogas plant on the energy and economic aspects of the operation of a dairy farm. A farm with a breeding size of 600 livestock units (LSU) was adopted for the analysis. In order to reach the paper’s aim, the analysis of two different scenarios of dairy farm functioning (conventional–only milk production, and modern–with biogas plant exploitation) was conducted. The analysis showed that the investment in biogas plant operations at a dairy farm and in using cow manure as one of the main substrates is a more profitable scenario compared to traditional dairy farming. Taking into account the actual Polish subsidies for electricity produced by small biogas plants, the scenario with a functioning biogas plant with a capacity of 500 kW brings €332,000/a more profit compared to the conventional scenario, even when taking into account additional costs, including the purchase of straw to ensure a continuous operation of the installation. Besides, in the traditional scenario, building a biogas plant allows for an almost complete reduction of greenhouse gas emissions during manure storage.

Maize has great potential, especially as a substrate for biofuels production. The aim of this paper is to analyze the possibility of usage in methane fermentation maize straw harvested in different weather conditions, which had an influence on different physical parameters, mainly the dry mass content. The research has shown that maize straw harvested in Central-Eastern Europe can have a broad spectrum of dry mass content, which is related to diverse weather conditions during autumn. However, independently from moisture content, maize straw can be a good (for more wet material) or very good (for more dried straw) substrate for the biogas plant. With the methane productivity reaching 201–207 m3/Mg of fresh mass, this material is a significantly better substrate than that typically used in Europe maize silage (approximately 105 m3/Mg FM). It was noted that the retention time for maize straw (36–42 days) is longer than in the case of maize silage (less than 30 days). However, this difference is quite small and can be accepted by the biogas plant operators.

and Sosnowica. The present paper uses the data from the surveys conducted in these communes in 2016. On average, 88% of the population used the water supply system in the communes surveyed, while 48% of the inhabitants were connected to a sewerage system. Parczew District had 12 collective mechanical and biological wastewater treatment plants with a capacity exceeding 5 m 3 /d. The households which were not connected to the sewerage network discharged the wastewater mainly to non-return tanks. In the communes surveyed, 1,115 households had domestic wastewater treatment plants. All of them were systems with infiltration drainage, which do not ensure high efficiency of removing pollutions and may even contribute to the degradation of the groundwater quality. In order to solve the existing problems of sewage and water management in the communes of Parczew District, it is necessary to further develop the collective sewerage systems and equip the areas which have a dispersed development layout with highly efficient domestic treatment plants, such as constructed wetlands.

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The paper estimates the possibility of obtaining solid biomass for energy purposes in the Biała Podlaska County (Lublin Voivodeship, Poland). The estimates were based on data on: forest area, orchards and tree stands, land use, crop structure, animal population, and marginal land area in the County. It was found that in most communes, there are great possibilities of obtaining biomass for energy purposes. The largest resource is straw (243,501 Mg per year), which should first be used in agriculture as animal litter and organic fertilizer. Only its surplus can be intended for the combustion and production of pellets and briquettes. In the County, large areas of poor quality land were inventoried, on which perennial energy plants with low requirements can be grown. Up to 113,595 Mg of biomass can be obtained there. The basic condition for the development of targeted energy crops is the emergence of a biomass market: installations that convert biomass into fuels or produce energy on a local scale and sell it to power plants. Currently, a commonly used resource is wood biomass from forests and wood processing, which is used as fuel in domestic boilers, as well as for the production of pellets and briquettes.

The aim of the work is to present the current state of water and wastewater management in the municipalities where the Polesie National Park (PNP) is located. The PNP is situated in Lublin Voivodeship, in the area of six municipalities: Sosnowica, Hańsk, Urszulin, Stary Brus, Wierzbica and Ludwin. The data used in this paper, were obtained on the basis of the surveys conducted in these municipalities in 2016 by the Department of Environmental Engineering and Geodesy of the University of Life Sciences in Lublin. In the analyzed communes, there was a very large disproportion between the usage of sewerage and the water supply network. It has been shown that 79.1% of the inhabitants living in the afore-mentioned communes used the water supply network and only 22.5% of them used sewerage. In the discussed communities there are 9 collective, mechanical and biological wastewater treatment plants with a capacity of over 5 m . On the farms located in the scattered areas, which are not connected to the sewerage, wastewater is discharged mainly to the septic tanks. In four out of the six analyzed municipalities, there were 2345 septic tanks registered. Domestic sewage from some farms is purified in household wastewater treatment plants (395 pieces). The plants with the drainage systems are prevalent (84.9%), which may contribute to the groundwater quality degradation. In order to protect the natural environment within the communes that form the PNP, it is necessary to undertake the actions that will contribute to the improvement of the current state of water and wastewater management. While solving the existing problems related to water supply and wastewater treatment, it is strongly required to adhere to the principle of sustainable development and use highly effective systems in order to ensure that the ecological effects are appropriate.

Animal biomass is an important substrate in the anaerobic digestion process. The implementation of a waste technology for energy production, such as the production of biogas from animal waste, has been recognized in many countries as one of the best ways to achieve the Sustainable Energy Development Goals. Without a systematic review of resources and accurate estimation of available sources in terms of the amount of potential electricity, it is impossible to manage biomass rationally. The main aim of the article was to present a new tool for assessing the biomass of animal origin and estimating its potential energy through a computer database, which will be widely available in the end of 2020 to show results from the calculation using the database. This tool is configured to enter the data on the developed and undeveloped biomass resources in production of farm animals in rural areas in Poland. Calculations from the database show the biogas potential of swine and cattle manure and slurry in Poland, which is approximately 5.04 billion m 3 , with a 60% share of methane in biogas. It is the value of approximately 3.03 billion m 3 of methane. It is worth underlining that slurry and manure are not high-energy substrates; therefore, it is necessary to introduce more energetic substrate streams to improve the biogas plant efficiency.