In 2008, the European Union adopted the climate and energy package. It foresees the three most important goals to achieve by 2020 in the field of energy: 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, 20% share of energy from renewable sources in total energy consumption in the EU, 20% increase in EU energy efficiency. Therefore, individual countries were obliged to move away from fossil fuels for renewable energy production. Depending on the capabilities of each country and the development of renewable energy, various goals have been set for individual countries. For Poland, the share of RES energy in total energy consumption has been set at 15% (Directive 2009). The Polish energy policy until 2030 includes state strategies in the field of implementation of tasks and objectives in the area of energy resulting from the need to build national security and EU regulation. The challenges of the current national energy industry include increasing demand for energy and implementation of international commitments in the area of environmental and climate protection (Policy 2009). Contemporary domestic energy is characterized by a high share of fossil fuels, mainly coal, in the production of electricity and heat, and the different share of RES energy in individual technologies and energy sectors. Poland has significant natural resources, which are a source of biomass for energy purposes. Large energy units dominate in the national consumption of biomass while the share of heating plants is still insignificant (Olsztyńska 2018). The aim of the article is to analyze, based on available data and own observations of the author, the share of biomass in the national energy and heat, as well as defining factors affecting the level of biomass use in the area of Polish power industry.

The paper aims to consider the available policies for biomass output as a feedstock for further bioenergy production in post-war Ukraine in order to draw conclusions and learn lessons for the further deployment of bioenergy in Ukraine, and to define the number of jobs that bioenergy has enabled and could contribute in both Poland and Ukraine in the future. Poland has significant biomass potential, the lion’s share of which is agricultural crop waste, corn, and dedicated energy crops. Ukraine has a significant potential for the production and use of biogas and biomethane due to available feedstock and a developed gas supply system. The employment factor method was used to estimate the number of jobs in bioenergy in Poland and Ukraine. Assessments, which are the main result of the work, indicate that the number of jobs in agriculture for feedstock production for energy purposes may reach thirty-three thousand by 2030 in Poland and thirteen thousand in Ukraine. Agribiomass crop production for energy purposes in Poland is supported by the Common Agriculture Policy of the EU. Energy producers from biomass have priority access to the grid and qualify for feed-in tariffs, premiums and auctions, and special financial programs. In Ukraine, biomass energy producers may have a feed-in tariff for biomass and biogas and a 10% lower tariff for heat from biomass than the tariff for heat from natural gas. Despite the benefits of biomass, the installed capacities for its utilization remain insufficient due to the existing barriers in both countries.
In the future, Ukraine will need to develop its agricultural biomass sector more actively than before in order to substitute natural gas and other energy carriers.

This paper discusses the issue of just transition and presents the general directions of Poland’s energy transition until 2040. The just transition plays an important role in the process of Poland’s green energy transition and not without reason – it is the first pillar of Poland’s Energy Policy until 2040. Therefore, the paper attempts to discuss the legal, economic and social aspects of the planned changes. The next part of the paper describes the just transition from the level of the European Union. It points out what challenges member states are facing and what actions they will have to take to meet the transition requirements set by the European goal of climate neutrality by 2050. Particular attention was paid to the activities of the European Commission, which is particularly involved in the process of transforming the European Union’s energy mix. This issue is extremely important for our country as it is going to be the major beneficiary of the EU transition fund.
The penultimate section discusses research performed from 15 to 20 February 2022 on a group of 120 people living in different regions of Poland. The respondents answered a series of questions about general aspects of the energy transition, a just transition as well as the risks resulting from following the European Union’s climate and energy trends. Based on the answers provided, pie charts and bar graphs have been produced in order to make the analysis of the issues discussed clear and understandable. The whole study was concluded with a summary.