Concept for Biomass and Organic Waste Refinery Plants Based on the Locally Available Organic Materials in Rural Areas of Poland

Abstract

The importance of developing efficient and environmentally friendly means of biomass conversion into bioenergy, biofuels, and valuable products is currently high in Poland. Accordingly, herein, two new energy and biofuel units are proposed, namely, POLpec and POLbp, which are used as reference sources for comparing energy consumption and biofuel production in other countries or regions in the world. One POLpec equals 4400 PJ (195.1 Mtoe), reflecting the annual primary energy consumption of Poland in 2020. Meanwhile, one POLbp equals 42 PJ (1.0 Mtoe), referring to the annual production of biofuels in Poland in 2020. Additionally, a new import–export coefficient β is proposed in the current study, which indicates the relationship between the import and export of an energy carrier. More specifically, the potential of biomass and organic waste to be converted into energy, biofuels, and valuable products has been analysed for the rural areas of Poland. Results show that the annual biomass and organic waste potential is approximately 245 PJ (5.9 Mtoe). Finally, the concept of a biomass and organic waste refinery plant is proposed based on the locally available organic materials in rural areas. In particular, two models of biomass refinery plants are defined, namely, the Input/Output and Modular models. A four-module model is presented as a concept for building a refinery plant at the Institute of Technology and Life Sciences—National Research Institute in Poznan, Poland. The four modules include anaerobic digestion, gasification, transesterification, and alcoholic fermentation. The primary reason for combining different biomass conversion technologies is to reduce the cost of biomass products, which, currently, are more expensive than those obtained from oil and natural gas.

Renewable Energy Investments in Poland: Goals, Socio-Economic Benefits, and Development Directions

“…From an economic point of view, the most advantageous use of biomass is in places of its high availability. The potential annual biomass and organic waste in Poland is estimated at approximately 245 PJ (5.9 Mtoe) [54]. From the perspective of 2030, the consumption of biomass for heat production must increase almost ten times [17].…”

Determination of Energy Parameters and Their Variability between Varieties of Fodder and Turf Grasses

“…Bioenergy is defined as one of the key environmental factors, as it provides sustainable energy from renewable biomass. Additionally, by being efficiently converted into energy, it can enable the production of other materials such as chemicals, fertilizers and plastics [1,2]. In 2019, bioenergy accounted for approximately 55% of renewable energy in the European Union (EU), the vast majority (75%) of which was the result of using wood biomass [3].…”