On 5 June I went to Płońsk to attend a conference devoted to the production of energy crops for use by the energy sector. The conference officially launched the PKPP Lewiatan project on the development of the biomass market in Poland.
The 150 participants included farmers, agricultural advisors from local branches of the Mazovia Agricultural Advisory Centre and local authorities. Business was represented by Vattenfall Heat Poland S.A., who presented the results of a feasibility study of an energy willow plantation. I learned from the presentation that willow is a perennial plant, which is grown for 15-20 years, and is harvested every 3 years. In Poland it may be best grown on class III-VI soil and the size of a plantation recommended by Vattenfall Heat is 10-20 hectares.
As far as I know, the climate and energy package, adopted in December 2008, assumes that by 2020, the European Union will have reduced the CO2 emissions by 20%. In case of Poland, in order to reach this objective, the proportion of renewable energy, including biomass, in the energy mix should be 15%. However, experts say, that there is little awareness of the role farmers can play in fulfilling the EU commitments. In order to address this challenge, PKPP Lewiatan has prepared a practical guide for farmers, “Growing crops for the energy sector”. It contains information about where, when and what plants to grow. The guide is available at the website of PKPP Lewiatan as well as in the seat of the organisation.
In my view, the meeting in Płońsk provided a good opportunity for dialogue between business and farmers. The former have presented an offer of cooperation, while the farmers shared their concerns whether biomass production would be sufficient for them to make a living. We have not seen a lot of meetings like that in Poland so far. Therefore I think that the Płońsk seminar was an important event. I wonder if and how this cooperation will develop.
Posted at 16:23 29 June 2009 by Agnieszka Tomaszewska | Comments[0]
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