Chodkowska-Miszczuk, J. and Szymańska, D. 2011: Update of the review: Cultivation of energy crops in Poland against socio-demographic factors. In: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 15, 9, Elsevier Ltd, pp. 4242- 4247; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2011.07.126 Update of the review: Cultivation of energy crops in Poland against socio-demographic factors Justyna Chodkowska-Miszczuk, Daniela Szymańska, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Gagarina 9; 87-100 Toruń, Poland Abstract The article presents some of the socio-demographic factors conditioning the production of biomass in Poland. It considers urban-rural and rural gminas that grew energy crops for biomass production in the years 2007-2009 (836 gminas in 2007, 756 in 2008 and 618 in 2009). The article tries to answer the question whether there is a relation between the age of the inhabitants, their opinion on Poland's accession to the European Union and the education level of the local authorities and the area of energy crops in a given gmina. The research uses the correlation coefficient and the analysis of segmented regression. Keywords: Poland, biomass, energy crops, human capital, age structure 1. Introduction Since earliest times biomass was used by humans as a basic source of energy. In many parts of the world, including Poland, energy crops, alongside wind energy, are presently seen as the prospective source of renewable energy. Amongst a number of types of biomass, such as wood, farm products and animal substances, energy crops are most important. This is mainly conditioned by low investment costs connected with both processing and burning them. Moreover, energy crops are easily stored and converted into diverse energy sources (Machan, 2001; Sims et al., 2006). It is also crucial that growing energy crops favours further multifunctional development of rural areas and increases competitiveness of the farming sector (Grzybek, 2003; Kościk et al., 2005; Jasiulewicz, 2007). In Poland interest in plant biomass intensified due to the state policy regarding the development of alternative sources of energy. In the years 2007-2009 farmers could increase their income through subsidies on energy crops. Initially these funds