Strategic Potential of Agricultural Waste as a Feedstock for Biofuels Production in Ukraine

Ukraine’s agriculture is a leading sector of the national economy. Ukraine has a significant area (603628 km²), 70.9% of which are agricultural lands. Quality soil and good climatic conditions create favorable conditions for the development of crop and livestock production. The generation of a large amount of organic waste from agriculture opens wide opportunities for the development of the biogas technologies. The aim of the paper is to identify the main waste management trends in Ukraine based on data on waste generation and waste management and to calculate the strategic potential of agricultural waste as a feedstock for biofuels production. The resource potential of crop, livestock and processing waste has been considered and the necessity of its use for energy purposes has been substantiated. It has been determined that the greatest potential of agricultural waste that can be used for biogas production in Ukraine is concentrated in crop production. The livestock industry and processing enterprises also have a powerful feedstock base for biogas production. It has been determined that the agroindustrial sector of Ukraine produces significant amount of waste. As a result of the study, it has been found that the potential volume of biogas production from agricultural waste can replace 36.1% of natural gas consumption in Ukraine.