Economic and environmental aspects of generating energy from renewable sources in various forms: thermal, electric and mechanical have been presented in this article. Utilization of those resources and their promotion has been imposed on us by the climate convention but substantial level of pollution in large cities of our country contributed to that as well. RES share in the production of electricity and heating in Poland is regulated centrally by the directive of Minister of Economy. RES utilization is gradually becoming more rational in our country. It levels the prices of biomass for energy sector which has a visible impact on the level of round wood prices in Poland.
The presented paper discusses utilisation of glyceride compounds as well as glyceride compounds in mixtures with silico-organic compounds as a potential active constituent of biocide-free systems enhancing biological wood durability. Experiments were carried out on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) wood with respect to wood decaying fungi. In addition, biological tests were conducted taking into consideration aging processes. The applied system turned out to have potential possibilities of competing with biocidal systems that are being withdrawn for ecotoxicological reasons.
The paper aims to examine the influence of selected animal welfare aspects on the net farm income. Data used in the study were collected under the EDF (European Dairy Farmers) program in 280 farms representing 22 European countries. It was analyzed using the variance and covariance analysis. Following animal welfare aspects were taken into consideration: access to pasture, frequency of milking, culling rate, period between calvings and milk yield. Combinations of each two aspects were also taken into account. Milk production is one of the most important branches in Polish agriculture. Net farm income obtained by milk producers are influenced by factors related to animal welfare. It was found, that farms providing animals with access to pasture are characterized by lower culling rate and milk yield than farms not providing animals with access to pasture. At the same time farms providing animals with access to pasture obtain higher net farm income. The limitation in revenue causes by decreased in milk yield is recompensed by savings in costs. It might be supposed, that this result is related both, to improved health status of animals, and lower costs of feeding. That confirms, that access pasture is a very important determinant of net farm income. Another important factor determining net farm income in milk production is culling rate. Farms characterized by higher culling rate obtain lower net farm income.
Quality management has to consider a lot of new aspects regarding the latest trends in the field. The authors of the proposed paper will point at the interconnection of three major aspects: technical, communication and economical aspect. The authors propose, based on these aspects, a Triad of Quality. The main aim of quality management is essentially to increase effectiveness indicators in the organisation, rather than satisfying customers by certain product properties or focusing on increasing the market share. The authors propose their indicators of profitability of quality- Return on Quality, ROQ. The Triad of Quality is proposed as a new way of perceiving the economical aspects of quality. The paper will present a proposal of a system of indicators based on the communication aspect and the economical aspect of quality.
Systematic increase of demand for wooden biomass and fuels generated from it is the result of the need to fulfill European Union obligations. For those sawmills which very often operate on the verge of profitability it creates a chance for improving their efficiency. Those having a sufficient amount of raw material at their disposal should consider launching production of wooden briquettes, as such initiative does not require any significant investment and may be complementary to company primary activities. Profitability of such venture depends on numerous variables. The aim of this article was to determine the value of sawmill residue when processed further into briquettes taking into account the impact of various factors. The research took account of: material intensity ratio depending on the material used, sales price per unit of final product, the entrepreneur’s target margin, briquettes production cost as well as the cost of transport in case of those enterprises which do not possess their own raw material.
The paper presents results of mycological tests and accelerated ageing tests for 13 commercially available decorative coatings in relation to costs of their purchase. Mycological tests with the use of A. niger showed that only four preparations protect spruce wood against attack of the test fungus. None of the coatings was resistant to the destructive effect of UV radiation. Testing results of resistance against A. niger attack and accelerated ageing were compared relative to purchase costs of the applied preparations. It was found that the most advantageous preparations were those with medium efficacy and of low prices. However, for the comprehensive economic analysis of the application of tested decorative coatings it is required to consider costs of coating application and surface renovation.
The article contains data concerning the production and economic aspects of producing starch from three starch potato cultivars, such as Adam, Pasja Pomorska and Ślęza. The considerations are based on an experiment conducted in 2008–2010 at the Experimental Station of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, situated in Bałcyny (N = 53°35’49’’; E = 19°51’20,3’’). The study has shown that the cultivar Adam is the least economically useful starch potato, as it gives low starch yields, generates very high unit costs and presents the least favourable response to modifications in foliar fertilization that do not lead to the improvement of yielding. The lowest unit costs of producing starch occurred in the production of the potato cultivar Ślęza. Depending on the applied foliar fertilization treatments, the starch production unit costs decreased the most for the cultivar Pasja Pomorska, reaching the highest cost reduction level in the variant consisting of soil dressing A – 280 kg ha⁻¹ NPK (80 N, 80 P, 120 K) and foliar fertilization variant a – Basfoliar 12-4-6 [8 dm ha⁻¹].
The problem of allocating round wood to meet the needs of fragmented (approximately 8200 business entities), and mostly very diversified (2200 recipients – buy 1% of wood; 50 recipients – use 50% of wood that comes from National Forests) Polish wood industry and commercial energy sector – in order to generate „green” energy and heat, in accordance with the EU requirements and the Ministry of Economy Directives concerning the amount of electric energy generated from renewable energy sources (RES) has been analysed.
The experiment was conducted in the years 2001–2003 at the Experimental Station in Złotniki. The aim of the performed investigations was to evaluate economic effectiveness of different fungicidal protection programs in winter wheat. Winter wheat of cv. Sakwa was cultivated using the following two variants of seed treatment: 1) Raxil 060 FS at the dose of 60 ml/100 kg grain, 2) Raxil 060 FS + Latitude 125 FS at the doses of 60 and 200 ml/100 kg, and five variants of fungicidal foliar protection: 1) Vista 228 SE, 2) Sportak Alpha 380 EC, 3) Sportak Alpha 380 EC + Vista 228 SE, 4) Sportak Alpha 380 EC + Vista 228 SE + Juwel 250 SC, 5) control – without protection. The use of the above plant protection products contributed to the increase of winter wheat grain yield from 0.60 t/ha to 2.07 t/ha. This increase of yield covered costs of performed chemical control. The economic analysis showed that most effective variant of winter wheat chemical protection was seed treatment with Latitude 125 FS with additional two foliar treatments with the following fungicides: Sportak Alpha 380 EC and Vista 228 SE. Irrespective of the applied seed dressing, additional application of Juwel 250 SC at the stage of early milk maturity turned out to be economically not justified.
The aim of this work was to provide some economic and technological aspects of using adhesion promoters in furniture industry. The specific surface of wood and plastics as materials for gluing, activation methods of the substrate with particular consult the adhesion promoters, emphasizing economic issues were characterized. It was stated, that physical activation methods require the highest investment costs incurred, but which are quickly compensate by the greater line efficiency and minimum waste. Alternative meriting the attention solution is the preparation of the substrate for gluing by the use of adhesion promoters, and then conducting connecting process with the use of conventional adhesive for the lower prices.
In Poland the percentage of disabled individuals aged 0-14 years is 3.1%, while in the age group over 70 years it is as high as 45%. The article presents an attempt of a variant estimation of purchase costs of kitchen equipment for the disabled. Three hypothetical types of kitchen designs were investigated: low-budget, medium-budget and high-budget, respectively. Based on literature guidelines and a review of market prices it was established that the costs of the three kitchen design variants are approx. 6000 PLN (1240 €), 42 500 PLN (9870 €) and over 225 000 PLN (52 530 €). A high percentage of the total cost of kitchen equipment may be connected with specialised mechatronic equipment (up to 40% total kitchen cost). In the case of the cheapest kitchen variant a lack of expensive specialised equipment may be compensated by an appropriate layout of typical kitchen components.
Subject and purpose of work: This article is a continuation of ongoing research; whose primary aim was to show ceramic waste as a full-value substrate for the production of mineral-asphalt mixtures. The authors, basing on the examined characteristics of aggregate obtained in the process of crushing the socalled “ceramic cullet”, present the thesis that this material can be a full-fledged aggregate for concretes used in road construction. The authors emphasize ecological advantages of such a solution. The purpose of this research was to analyse whether such measures as those described above are economically justifiable. Materials and methods: In the article, based on business data, the costs were estimated and compared to the prices of the aggregates used by companies producing asphalt mixtures. Results: Economic comparisons have shown that the costs of described recycling were not satisfactory. Conclusions: Taking into account the ecological effect, it is recommended that ceramic waste is recycled by using it for the production of mineral-asphalt mixes for general use.