Emergy analysis of energy transition from coal to renewable at chicken farm

The paper presents an emergy analysis of the poultry farm regarding shifting energy sources from fossil fuels to biomass generated onsite in broilers and hen eggs rearing systems. It has been found that the manure produced on the farm has sufficient energy potential to replace the currently used energy carriers, both for heating and electricity supply. Replacing the currently used conventional energy resources with chicken manure will increase the emission charges. However, implementation of low-emission combustion techniques can help with reducing the emissions. Emergy analysis showed that for the conventional energy mix used in the farm, the Renewability Index (REN) is 0.5797, the Environmental Loading Ratio (ELR) is 171.49 and the Emergy Yield Ratio (EYR) has a value of about 1. If energy carriers are replaced by chicken manure, the REN may increase by 6.19% and the ELR may decrease by 6.11%. These relatively small changes should be considered in the context of the large scale of chicken production in Poland.