Spatial and social conditions for the location of agricultural biogas plants in Poland (case study)

Biogas production in Poland is controversial. There is a lot of interest in the construction of installations of various scale, and protests of local communities take place at the same time. Residents do not agree to the construction of biogas plants due to the fear of nuisance related to its functioning. This work is a case study of the area of Kamionka – the rural commune in Poland, in terms of the possibility of locating an agricultural biogas plant. The main sources of substrates for biogas production in the commune were determined. When selecting the appropriate location for an agricultural biogas plant, the focus was on the areas designated in the “Study of conditions and directions for spatial development” as areas with the approval of locating devices generating energy from renewable sources. These properties were analyzed in terms of substrate availability (which are waste from animal production, fruit pomace, waste from processing, biomass of plants grown intentionally), plot size, infrastructure status and distance from protected areas. On this basis, one location was chosen that meets all those criteria. Surveys have shown that residents are afraid of unpleasant smell, noise, emerging waste and explosion risk. Nevertheless, the majority of respondents declared willingness to cooperate with the biogas plant.