Where AD plants wildly grow: The spatio-temporal diffusion of agricultural biogas production in the Czech Republic

0461209 - ÚGN 2017 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Martinát, Stanislav - Navrátil, J. - Dvořák, Petr - Van der Horst, D. - Klusáček, Petr - Kunc, Josef - Frantál, Bohumil
Where AD plants wildly grow: The spatio-temporal diffusion of agricultural biogas production in the Czech Republic.
Renewable Energy. Roč. 95, September 2016 (2016), s. 85-97. ISSN 0960-1481. E-ISSN 1879-0682
Institutional support: RVO:68145535
Keywords : agricultural anaerobic digestion plants * Czech Republic * spatial determinants * Spatial analysis
Subject RIV: DE - Earth Magnetism, Geodesy, Geography
Impact factor: 4.357, year: 2016
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148116302610

There is fundamental agreement about the environmental benefits of renewable energy technologies, but unintended consequences arising from their deployment are frequent sources of conflicts. The Czech Republic has committed itself to supply 13.5% of its electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2020. High state incentives for renewable energies have been provided to achieve this target, however critical questions can be asked about the appropriateness of the design of the supporting frameworkswhich caused a boom in photo-voltaic (PV) installations on agricultural land, as well as a boom in the installation of agricultural anaerobic digestion (AD) plants fuelled by dedicated energy crops. This paper analyses the diffusion of agricultural AD plants in the Czech Republic, focusing especially on locational characteristics in relation to the quality of agricultural land, agricultural and population census data. Statistical analysis of those spatial atasets show that agricultural AD plants are mostly located in less favourable agricultural areas, in regions having recently experienced a reduction in cattle breeding, and in regions with significant increases of sowing areas of green maize. These findings suggests shortcomings in the supporting policy for AD plants in the Czech Republic, resulting in unintended environmental consequences, and missed opportunities to enhance energy self-sufficiency and resilience in the countryside.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0260874