The Potential of Agricultural Biogas Production in Ukraine—Impact on GHG Emissions and Energy Production

Adam Wąs, Piotr Sulewski, Vitaliy Krupin, Nazariy Popadynets, Agata Malak-Rawlikowska, Magdalena Szymańska, Iryna Skorokhod and Marcin Wysokiński
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Adam Wąs: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, Nowoursynowska 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Piotr Sulewski: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, Nowoursynowska 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Nazariy Popadynets: M. I. Dolishniy Institute of Regional Research of NAS of Ukraine, Kozelnytska 4, 79026 Lviv, Ukraine
Agata Malak-Rawlikowska: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, Nowoursynowska 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Magdalena Szymańska: Agricultural Institute, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Iryna Skorokhod: Lesya Ukrainka Eastern European National University, Volia Ave. 13, 43025 Lutsk, Ukraine
Marcin Wysokiński: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, Nowoursynowska 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-20

Abstract: Renewable energy production is gaining importance in the context of global climate changes. However, in some countries other aspects increasing the role of renewable energy production are also present. Such a country is Ukraine, which is not self-sufficient in energy supply and whose dependency on poorly diversified import of energy carriers regularly leads to political tensions and has socio-economic implications. Production of agricultural biogas seems to be a way to both slow down climatic changes and increase energy self-sufficiency by replacing or complementing conventional sources of energy. One of the most substantial barriers to agricultural biogas production is the low level of agricultural concentration and significant economies of scale in constructing biogas plants. The aim of the paper was thus to assess the potential of agricultural biogas production in Ukraine, including its impact on energy self-sufficiency, mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the economic performance of biogas plants. The results show that due to the prevailing fragmentation of farms, most manure cannot be processed in an economically viable way. However, in some regions utilization of technically available manure for agricultural biogas production could cover up to 11% of natural gas or up to 19% of electricity demand. While the theoretical potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions could reach 5% to 6.14%, the achievable technical potential varies between 2.3% and 2.8% of total emissions. The economic performance of agricultural biogas plants correlates closely with their size and bioenergy generation potential.

Keywords: agricultural biogas; bioenergy; biomethane; GHG emission; economic performance; regional analysis; Ukraine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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