Energy and Environmental Potential of Grasslands in Poland

Grasslands are crucial in the surrounding ecosystem. Over the last five years a share of grasslands in agriculture decreased from 3.32 m ha in 2010 to 3.00 m ha in 2015, contrary to the number of cattle—from 5.86 m LSU in 2013 to 5.96 m LSU in 2015. The cultivation of grasses, legumes or mixtures of grasses positively affects the reproduction of the soil organic matter, where a reproduction coefficient ranges from +0.95 to +2.10. Just to illustrate, the cultivation of cereals—about 0.5; corn—1.1; and roots—1.2. In the carbon dioxide balance the reduction of CO2 in grasslands is estimated to be 7 kg ha−1 h−1. Considering the diminishing area of grasslands, the objective of research was to estimate the quantity of carbon dioxide reduced by grasslands, the potential of unused biomass and the energy potential of grasslands. Those calculations have been conducted for Polish provinces over the last four years. Research estimates that the reduction of CO2 in meadows of grasslands in Poland amounted to 103.3 m Mg in 2016 with an upward trend over the last four years, whereas the potential of unused biomass equalled to 18.3 m Mg with a downward trend. The energy potential of grasslands was estimated for fuels such as briquette (82.4 PJ), torrefied biomass (62.5 PJ), and biogas (10.5 PJ) in 2016 with a downward trend over the last four years.