Annual volumes (the theoretical potential) of residues of wheat, barley, grain corn and sunflower production (straw, stalks, corn cobs, sunflower heads) can be assessed at over 111 Mt. Of that, the collectable quantity (the technical potential) comes to about 73 Mt, and the amount available for energy (the economic potential) is almost 41 Mt (2019). Structure of the economic potential of the main agricultural residues (nearly 11 Mtoe in total) is presented in Figure below.
Structure of the economic potential of the main agri-residues in Ukraine (2019), Mtoe
Geographical concentration of the agricultural residues is very uneven over Ukraine’s territory. Straw of wheat and barley is mostly available in the southern and eastern parts of the country; corn residues are concentrated in the central and northern regions while the biggest amounts of sunflower residues can be found in the central and eastern areas of Ukraine.
Geographical concentration of secondary agricultural residues depends on the location of respective food-processing enterprises. For example, the biggest oil-extraction plants (generation of sunflower husk) are situated in Vinnytsa, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions of Ukraine . The largest sugar mills (generation of sugar beet pulp and molasses) are located in Lviv, Ternopil, Vinnytsa, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, and Volyn regions.
The potential of energy crops depends mainly on the availability of unused agricultural land. The biggest potential is in Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kyiv, Volyn and Lviv regions, where almost a half of all the underutilized lands are concentrated. Taking into account only abandoned agricultural lands that are not suitable for production of food crops along with lower yields at these lands, the economic potential of energy crops intended for the production of solid biofuels amounts to 4-5 Mtoe for growing on up to 1 mill ha (2019). Additional 2.6 Mtoe can be obtained at the expense of growing corn for biogas on another 1 mill ha of unused agricultural land.
Potential of wheat straw available for energy in Ukraine, ktoe
(the economic potential, 2903 ktoe in total), 2019
Potential of corn residues available for energy in Ukraine, ktoe
(the economic potential, 3566 ktoe in total), 2019
Potential of sunflower residues available for energy in Ukraine, ktoe
(the economic potential, 1661 ktoe in total), 2019
Potential of energy crops available for energy in Ukraine, ktoe
(the economic potential, 4-5 Mtoe in total), 2019