There have been many discussions in Lithuania about a strategy for reducing the impact of climate change. Members of the international community agree that reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere is necessary to avoid dangerous climate change. The main greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is mainly produced by combustion of fossil fuels, which are currently used: natural gas, coal, oil, peat, etc. Fossil fuels are still the main source of energy. The amount of energy produced and consumption from renewable energy sources (RES) is increasing both in Lithuania and in Europe. According to the Directive (2009/28/EU) Lithuania has a legally binding target in the year 2020. The share of renewable energy would account for at least 23% of the total final energy consumption of the country. The share of renewable energy would account for at least 10% of the final energy consumption in the transport sector. Lithuania achieved its target and this indicator was 23.9% in 2014. According to the Eurostat data, the share of RES produced from renewable energy sources in the total energy balance is increasing annually. In 2007 this indicator was only 4.7% and it has grown 4 times in 2016. The production of electricity from renewable energy sources satisfied the country’s energy demand by 18.9% in Lithuania. This is the best index so far. Wind energy is the most popular type of green energy, which has been growing at a rate of 5 times in this period. Promotion of the use of renewable resources is provided in the Republic of Lithuania Law on Renewable Energy and the long-term development of the use of renewable resources is provided for in the National Energy Strategy. At this moment Lithuania is a fuel importing country, but in the future Lithuania should produce about 70% of electricity itself. It is forecasted that in 2020 electricity generation in the country should make up 35% of the demand, in 2030 it should be 70%, and in 2050 it should reach 100%. From renewables we should receive a large, almost 80% share of energy. And gas will be a transitional fuel by 2050. The project of strategy states that energy from renewable sources will become a major component of all sectors: electricity, heat, cooling and transport. The objective is to achieve a 30% share of renewables in the final energy consumption balance in 2020, 45% in 2030, and 80% in 2050. The renewables should produce all heat energy and the share of green energy in transport should reach 50% at the end of 2050. The article focuses on the use of the potential of renewable energy sources from agricultural raw materials and their waste. The surplus of agricultural production makes it necessary to look for opportunities to reduce environmental pollution. The aim of the article is to assess the use of potential of renewable energy sources in Lithuania. The results of the analysis showed that increasing energy production is possible not only using wind, solar, water or geothermal energy, but by processing traditional agricultural and animal products and their waste: straw, grain crops, livestock or bird’s excrement, etc. It is recommended to look at the unconventional potential of raw materials, such as sewage sludge, spirits, molasses, etc. The use of biomass has potentially revealed alternatives to biofuels that underpin the use of different generations of biofuels. The use of biofuels in the long term should contribute to the slowdown in climate change.
Paper is characterized by scientific novelty as it involves a very scarce research problem in Lithuanian‘s energy sector, assessing the impact of renewable energy resources on the energy economy. Renewable energy sources have a multiplier effect in spurring the economy and the development of not only the energy sector but also all the supporting activities related to such industry. The impact of the development of renewable energy is one of the factors that develop the quality of technology innovation development. This study includes the impact of renewable energy on the energy economy, using multiple linear regression models. The results of the study have shown that renewable energy resources: wind, sun, water, geothermal and biomass can not always be used together because they compete with each other and therefore reduce the efficiency of the energy economy. In this context, three combinations of renewable energy resources have been developed, which have been adapted to assess the impact of the energy economy on energy productivity and energy intensity. It has been found that the combination of resources of the second model (M2) RE is significant for the efficiency of the energy economy.Keywords: Renewable energy resources; Energy economy; Impact of efficiency
The increasing production of renewable gases has been driving attention to perennial energy crop production, particularly the problem of choosing an attractive and effective way to produce the supply chain from the farmer to the biogas plant. The production of perennial energy crops for renewable gases may provide an excellent chance for a sustained bioeconomy and help to minimize the total environmental effect of the section. This study aims to demonstrate the scenarios associated with the production of five perennial energy crops, namely, Miscanthus, Switchgrass, Perennial Ryegrass, Common Sainfoin, and Lucerne, for renewable gases in the supply chain. The investigation was carried out utilizing cost–benefit methodology, during which a net benefit identification was executed by comparing the internal rate of return (IRR), payback period (PBT), and net present value (NPV), in addition to the benefit-cost ratio (RBC). According to the results, the best and most attractive perennial energy crops for biogas production include Miscanthus and Switchgrass. Perennial Ryegrass, Common Sainfoin, and Lucerne are not attractive crops for the supply chain of renewable gases. The earned revenue is too small to cover the costs of cultivation.
This study discusses biomass potential utilization for energy production from primary and secondary agriculture residue assessment. The purpose of the researchto carry out an assessment of the biomass utilization potential from agricultural residue. The methodology based on analysing statistical data of Lithuania, to estimate the biomass utilization possibilities from agriculture residue. The research methods involve the methodology for the assessment using the mathematics equations and also based on methods of analysis, synthesis and others to achieve to solve the problem of competition between the food industry and agriculture sectors for the food gap in the near future. The authors determined that the potential energy yield from primary agriculture residue is higher than secondary agriculture residue and primary residue utilization for energy production is more useful than secondary residue. The problem with these results discloses that secondary agriculture residue utilization for bioenergy production needs more support with the development of knowledge and skills in Lithuania, especially should apply to attention to researches of non-traditional bioenergy plants. The results of the paper will be useful for further research in energy and agricultural development.
Biogas production plays an important role in the clean energy economy and is reducing the problems of the energy crisis. The main objective of the current study is to analyze environmental performance by using perennial energy crops in the agricultural sector. Perennial energy crops are neutral for carbon and can be used for electricity and heating, which may mitigate climate change as well. The purpose of this work was to investigate and compare the energy–economy effectiveness and environmental performance of the suitability of four perennial crops for biogas production. Environmental performance was analyzed using the method of the life cycle assessment. To identify the most environmentally sustainable perennial crops for biogas production, a comparative analysis was conducted on four different crops: Lucerne, Miscanthus, Switchgrass, and Reed canary grass. The results of the analysis showed that Lucerne and Miscanthus, during the first–sixth years period, have lower indirect energy input (from 15.2 to 3.2 GJ/ha and 15.6 to 3.2 GJ/ha) than Switchgrass (from 20.9 to 3.2 GJ/ha) and Reed canary grass (from 16.7 to 3.2 GJ/ha). However, the highest direct energy input was determined by Lucerne (from 15.7 to 1.6 GJ/ha), and Miscanthus (from 11.9 to 0.9 GJ/ha) compared to Switchgrass (from 7.4 to 1.8 GJ/ha) and Reed canary grass (from 8.1 to 1.6 GJ/ha). Additionally, the lowest result of the direct economy and indirect economy costs was determined by Lucerne (from 3.9 to 3.7 kEUR/ha (direct) and 9.9 to 2.1 kEUR/ha (indirect)) and by Miscanthus (from 2.4 to 4.9 kEUR/ha (direct) and 11.8 to 1.9 kEUR/ha (indirect)) compared to Switchgrass (5.9 to 5.7 kEUR/ha (direct) and 17.5 to 2.1 kEUR/ha (indirect)), and reed canary grass (from 5.3 to 4.9 kEUR/ha (direct) and 13.7 to 1.9 kEUR/ha (indirect), respectively. The assessment of environmental performance revealed that Reed canary grass and Miscanthus had a more pronounced impact on Acidification. In contrast, Lucerne and Switchgrass had a more significant impact on Eutrophication indicators. The crop cultivation of four perennial crops impacted the environment in various significant ways. Despite the varying environmental impacts of the four perennial crops, the analysis revealed that all of them have the potential to increase biogas production.
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