Utilization of Crop Residue for Power Generation: The Case of Ukraine

Abstract

Renewable energy is expected to play a significant role in power generation. The European Union, the USA, China, and others, are striving to limit the use of energy crop for energy production and to increase the use of crop residue both on the field and for energy generation processes. Therefore, crop residue may become a major energy source, with Ukraine following this course. Currently in Ukraine, renewable power generation does not exceed 10% of total electricity production. Despite a highly developed agriculture sector, there are only a small number of biomass power plants which burn crop residues. To identify possibilities for renewable power generation, the quantity of crop residues, their energy potential, and potential electricity generation were appraised. Cluster analysis was used to identify regions with the highest electricity consumption and crop residue energy potential. The major crops (wheat, barley, rapeseed, sunflower, and soybean) were considered in this study. A national production of crop residue for energy production of 48.66 million tons was estimated for 2018. The availability of crop residues was analyzed taking into account the harvest, residue-to-crop ratio, and residue removal rate. The crop residue energy potential of Ukraine has been estimated at 774.46 PJ. Power generation technologies have been analyzed. This study clearly shows that crop residue may generate between 27 and 108 billion kWh of power. We have selected preferable regions for setting up crop residue power plants. The results may be useful for the development of energy policy and helpful for investors in considering power generation projects.

Crop Residue Removal: Assessment of Future Bioenergy Generation Potential and Agro-Environmental Limitations Based on a Case Study of Ukraine

“…The Ukrainian expert community has formed an opinion about the possibility of extracting a significant proportion of agricultural residues for energy generation purposes [4,31,32]. Typically, such conclusions for Ukraine are based on the application of a scientifically established 0.25 coefficient for crop residues' utilization for energy purposes [30].…”

“…Ukraine is one example, boasting 41.5 million ha [28] of agricultural land and intensifying its crop specialization in its constantly growing agricultural production. This explains the considerable interest in researching crop residues' potential in Ukraine [4,6,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Nevertheless, the variety of approaches implemented in the cited studies exemplify the complexity of the issue and the existence of different methods to estimate both crop residues' availability and the bioenergy generation potential of the withdrawn biomass.…”

Ecosystem-Based Approaches to Bioenergy and the Need for Regenerative Supply Options for Africa

“…The use of crop residues for energy generation has often generated controversy among agricultural experts as it leads to exporting of nutrients from the farm [32,67]. However, in Africa, even if residues remain on the farm before the rainy season begins, farmers burn the fields to get rid of pests and obstructions from the previous year's farming.…”

“…Thus, there is a critical need for alternative sources of energy, proactive interventions that increase woody biomass, and technologies that enhance the conversion efficiency of energy raw materials. Residues from crops allow energy generation in forms such as biodiesel, ethanol, biowaste electricity and biogas energy to supplement the available resources [32,33] and reduce the pressure on ecosystems.…”

Valorization of Rapeseed Waste Biomass in Sorption Processes for Wastewater Treatment

“…Besides meal, other solid residues result from RS harvesting (stems and leaves). They are primarily used to obtain energy by combustion or fermentation [7] and soil amendment and fertilizer [8]. Currently at EU level, lignocellulosic and agricultural biomass (including rapeseed wastes) are the subject of some Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking projects [9].…”