Law on agricultural biogas plants and biofuels

A law on agricultural biogas plants and biofuels, prepared at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, was unanimously approved at a recent session of the Polish Parliament. It is expected to contribute, among other things. to lower the cost of agricultural and processing operations, reduce air pollution, and increase energy independence in rural areas.

The Law on Agricultural Biogas Plants and Biofuels provides, among other things:

• Accelerating the process of building agricultural biogas plants;
• facilitating the issuance of conditions for connecting an agricultural biogas plant to the grid;
• No need to change the use of agricultural land occupied by an agricultural biogas plant;
• freeing certain safe types of biomass from restrictive waste regulations;
• easier management of the digestate product as fertilizer.

Law on agricultural biogas plants and biofuels – changes in biofuels and biocomponents

The Law on Agricultural Biogas Plants and Biofuels, which was just passed, also introduces changes to biofuels and biocomponents:

• as of January 1, 2024. the European e10 gasoline standard will be introduced into widespread use – an opportunity that offers farmers a real and concrete prospect of managing grain production surpluses, primarily corn, of more than 500,000. t per year;
• Permanent determination of the level of the reduction factor – strengthening Poland’s energy security while fully respecting the principles of sustainable development. Up to 3.5 million tons of agricultural raw materials will be able to be developed with the prepared regulations.

Possibilities of using agricultural biogas plants in Poland

As of April 19, 2023. The register of agricultural biogas producers, maintained by the National Center for Agricultural Support, includes 125 agricultural biogas producers, operating 150 installations with a total installed capacity of 144.8 MW.

The prepared Law on Agricultural Biogas Plants and Biofuels responds to the urgent need to increase the number of stable, controllable and resilient to changing meteorological conditions and external factors renewable energy installations. It is assumed that agricultural biogas plants can produce energy for up to 8,000. hours per year (90% of the time), in contrast to other RES installations, whose energy efficiency ranges from 10% to 30%.

In light of the current geopolitical situation and in the era of the energy crisis, increasing the share of stable and independent from external energy suppliers is particularly important. The development of agricultural biogas plants is a tool for the efficient use of available resources on farms. The draft law on facilitating the preparation and implementation of investments in agricultural biogas plants, as well as their operation, along with the justification, adopted by the Polish Parliament, can be found on the website of the Polish Parliament.

For more on rural measures, read the article: On-farm investments in RES and energy efficiency improvements under CAP 2023 – 2027.