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.
