Biogas in Romanian Agriculture, Present and Perspectives

In this work we have made a review of data available concerning the potential and technologies available to be applied in Romania to produce biogas in agricultural sector. Biogas application is especially interesting for medium and large farms, concentrated on specific surfaces, where a proper substrate collection can be organized. Reviewing data presenting the theoretical potential for livestock manure in Romania, we found that over 17 mil. MWh of energy from biogas can be provided in one year. It is estimated that only half of the theoretical energy potential is technically usable by biogas investments. As for the crops residues, has been shown that the theoretical biogas potential is 76,7 mil. MWh/year. However, there is a long way to be done in Romania to reach this potential, as in the present, the entire production of biogas is from industrial and municipal landfill and slurries - there are no operational on-farm biogas plants. Despite the high potential in terms of biogas production from agricultural sources, Romania has among the lowest biogas production in Europe. Although currently there are several biogas plants (not in agricultural sector) totaling an installed capacity of only 4 MW, and producing in 2010 only 19 GWh electric power, the target for 2020 in Romania is 195 MWel. installed power, with an output of 950 GW electric power. The main cause of the actual situation is the lack of economic incentives similar to those offered by countries as Germany. Without a review of relevant legislation, the progress of the biogas sector in Romania will be limited. Furthermore, the development of low-cost technologies available to Romanian farmers will contribute to the development of production of renewable energy from biogas and other biofuels.