Opportunities for sustainable biomass in Ukraine
Ukraine is discovering the potential of biomass, thanks in part to the three-year biomass development project Pellets for Power. Carried out by Wageningen UR together with several private partners and with support from NL agency’s Sustainable Biomass Import programme, Pellets for Power has paved the way for The Netherlands as well as for other EU members to import sustainably produced biomass from this Eastern European country.
Wageningen UR was involved in research of fuel pellets from biomass in the years 2011 to 2013. Working closely with private partners Control Union (The Netherlands), Phytofuels (Ukraine), Tuzetka (Belgium), knowledge partner Poltava State Agrarian Academy (Ukraine) and local farmers, the research revolved around straw, reeds and switchgrass. The research team wanted to know if it is possible to arrive at an economically viable and sustainable production of pellets from these biomass varieties. Results now show significant promise, especially for reeds and for switchgrass.
Reeds and switchgrass
Project managers Wolter Elbersen and Ronald Poppens of Wageningen UR are both optimistic about the chances for reeds. Elbersen: “Ukraine boasts more than 1,2 million hectares of swamp land, and huge patches of reeds. The quality of this crop appears high enough for pellets and a sustainable harvest is possible under certain conditions.” Poppens: “Harvesting the reeds leads to less carbon emissions: today they’re mostly burning the reeds to make hunting and fishing possible. The biodiversity stays intact by harvesting only when the surrounding ice is thick enough to protect wildlife and by maintaining buffer zones along the shores. It’s also worth noting that growing the reeds doesn’t cannibalise food production: there is no indirect land use change (iLUC).”
Switchgrass also has a lot to offer Ukrainian growers, Poppens says. “We’ve shown that switchgrass can grow on marginal soils.” Elbersen does note a dilemma there: “Growing this crop on less fertile soils, makes for a higher cost and the GHG balance per unit is also less favourable. Still, it does preclude iLUC.”
Permits granted
Pellets for Power has paved the way for the first Ukrainian companies to now produce reeds for local heat demand. Phytofuels for example has signed multi-year development and harvest contracts with several villages, owners of the swamplands by Ukrainian law. Based on these cooperative deals, on legislative studies generated during the project as well and on existing guidelines for sustainability, authorities have now granted permits for the harvesting of around 9,000 hectares of reeds. Similar permits are expected for switchgrass production.
Affordable alterative to natural gas
If production were to expand, biomass could mean an affordable alternative to Russia-imported natural gas for the poorer Ukrainian population. If production quality increases, and the costs per unit decrease, this kind of sustainable bioenergy may become interesting to EU countries including The Netherlands. A first batch of 10 tonnes of reeds pellets was exported in Spring 2013 to The Netherlands as a pilot. This batch was used in a trial run for energy returns in the Dutch biomass power plant of Marum. The energy was able to heat a local swimming pool for a time.
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