ENERGY AGRICULTURE AS AN EXAMPLE OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AREAS IN POLAND

The paper aims at analyzing agricultural production for energy generation purposes, including the production of agricultural biogas, as an opportunity for functional diversification of agriculture and for multifunctional rural development in Poland. There have been many changes observed in Polish agriculture. New directions of crop production and of the use of agricultural products have emerged. One of the changes is the increasing significance of the production of agricultural biogas and energy from biogas. There have been built both small-scale and large-scale biogas plants. Most of the agricultural biogas plants are located in northern, western and south-western Poland, i.e. in the areas where there are relatively large farms which can provide a supply of substrates necessary for the production of agricultural biogas. The formation of biogas plants and the use of agricultural production for generating energy, are an eagerly anticipated trend contributing to the dissemination of renewable energy sources, the functional diversification of agriculture, the development of additional economic activities in rural areas, and the increase in the energy security of particular regions and the entire country.