Analysis of the Potential of Methane Emission and Energy Power from Excrement of Livestock in Poland

The emission of methane has a share of 12% of the total emission of greenhouse gases in Poland. In Poland, methane is primarily emitted by such industries as transport, agriculture and waste management. Agriculture, in particular excrement from the animal production, has a share of 31% of the total emission of methane in Poland. The key sources of the gas emission are livestock’s enteric fermentation and the decomposition of animal excrement. Depending on the type of the livestock breeding system, its excrement may be classified into manure and liquid manure (bedding system) and slurry (non-bedding system). That excrement may be processed on an agricultural basis as manure according to the requirements of the Act on Fertilisers and Fertilisation. Manure permanently needs to be kept on sealed boards, whereas liquid manure needs to be stored in sealed tanks. One of the methods for restricting the emission of methane into the environment is to control the production and incinerate biogas that enables processing the animal excrement in a safe and energy effective manner. Therefore, the objective of the study is to analyse the potential of animal excrement and the potential of biogas energy power in Poland. For this purpose, the estimated quantity of electric energy and thermal energy that may be produced in biogas plants was calculated with respect to the potential of animal excrement. Research was conducted on the basis of the data obtained from the Chief Veterinary Inspectorate and from the Agency for the Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture. The livestock population (cattle, pigs and hens) was used for the calculations. The emission of methane from the animal excrement in Poland in the years 2013–2016 is stable and equals to 41,096 Mg per annum, whereas the energy power in 2016 was 37,625–85,180 MW of electric energy and 33,080–75,126 MW of thermal energy.