# Agricultural Residue Management for Sustainable Power Generation: The Poland Case Study
## 5 Conclusions  
Power generation in Poland is based on the use of hard coal and lignite. Their burning results in significant carbon dioxide emissions. To reduce harmful emissions and to increase energy security, agricultural residues should be used. One significant result is the evaluation of two types of energy potentials (straw and biogas). Poland agriculture generates abundant organic residue (crop and livestock), which an energy potential is around 279.94 PJ. This energy potential is a significant reserve for power generation. The share of livestock residues exceeds 39%. The use of livestock waste could increase the total energy potential of agricultural residues by 50-60%. The second contribution is the identification of areas with considerable renewable energy potential. Masovian, Greater Poland, and Podlaskie vovodships are the best locations for biogas plants. Their biogas energy potential is 53.1 PJ. The total power generation potential may be estimated at 26.6 TWh or 15.7% of the national electricity production. According to the cluster analysis, large-scale straw co-firing with coal is possible in the following vovodships: Lesser Poland, Lower Silesian, Opole, West Pomeranian, Lodz, Masovian, Silesian, Holy Cross, and Greater Poland. Their total energy potential was 89 PJ. It allows power plants to generate 8.9 TWh of electricity. The first four vovodships (Lesser Poland, Lower Silesian, Opole, and West Pomeranian) can produce 55.22% of the above energy. The rest of the vovodships (except Podlaskie) should develop autonomous power supply systems. The third significant result is the evaluation of carbon dioxide emission saving, taking into account carbon dioxide emission associated with straw formation. The use of agricultural residues for power generation ensures the saving potential in the range from 25.75 to 33.52 Mt per year. The share of biogas plants could vary from 45 to 53%. The greatest reduction in carbon dioxide emissions occurs when straw and biogas substitute low-quality fossil solid fuels such as lignite. Biogas-based cogeneration plants have higher carbon dioxide saving potential. The obtained results provide a scientific foundation for the transition of agriculture from a food producer to an energy supplier. They may be used for creating green power generation zones. Authorities and investors can use the above results when making decisions concerning environmentally clean power generation policy. For now, there are many risks caused by significant fluctuations in agricultural residue production, transportation costs, and energy prices, which negatively affect the attractiveness of environmentally clean power generation. The forecast of the above indicators will be carried out by application of the Polynomial Canonical Expansion of Random Sequences [100; 101]. Conceptualization, V.H. and A.K. ; methodology, V.H., A.K., A.B., J.S. ; software, A.B. validation, V.H. ; formal analysis, A.K. ; investigation, V.H., A.K. ; resources, A.K. ; writing--original draft preparation, V.H., A.K., A.B., J.S. ; writing--review and editing, A.K., J.S. ; funding acquisition, A.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research received no external funding. Not applicable.