The paper aims, above all, at assessment of the effects of allocating straw surplus from the Polish agriculture to energy purposes or as a source of additional organic matter in the soil. Consequently, the authors discuss the issue of significance of straw as an alternative energy source and draw attention to the role of organic matter in improving the production potential of soils and carbon dioxide (CO 2) sequestration. Additionally, the paper analyses economic effects and development possibilities of farms having non-negative balance of CO 2 sequestration at the backdrop other farms. The study used literature data from 2,069 farms specialising in cereal, oilseed crop and high protein crop farming and running accountancy for the Polish FADN in 2015.