Bio-energy production potential in Serbian agriculture

The bio-energy production potential of Serbian agriculture

Last week, the Netherlands Embassy, together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Technical Faculty of the University of Novi Sad organized a conference on the potentials of Serbian agriculture in the production of bioenergy. The increased energy prices as a result of the war in Ukraine resulted in a renewed interest in the topic throughout the country, also among farmers, who see the production of biogas as an alternative income source, turning their waste into value.   

During the conference, Mr. Aleksandar Kovacevic, a renowned energy expert in Serbia, presented the potential of agricultural side and waste streams as feedstock for the production of bioenergy after which he moderated the first panel discussion addressing both opportunities and challenges in scaling up the production of bioenergy in Serbia. The availability of feedstock, logistics and waste management were identified as challenges, as was the current absence of a incentivizing regulatory framework for biogas generation.

Panelists on the other hand agreed that there is still a lot of unused potential, considering that agricultural waste is currently often disposed of in an environmentally unfriendly way. On top of that there is a lot of unused agricultural land (about half a million ha in Vojvodina) that could play an instrumental role in the generation of bioenergy.

 During the second panel discussion, Mr. Ruud Paap from New Energy Coalition, Frans Geerts from Regazz; Robin Post van der Burg from Torrgreen  and Kees Kwant from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency  painted a picture of  the state of affairs of the Dutch  biogas industry, sharing some best practices. The panelists underlined the importance of a stable regulatory framework, underlined that waste should be seen as a resource and presented some innovative solutions that could just be right for the challenges encountered in Serbia.

Mr. Post van der Burg explained that Torrgreen has developed a has developed a containerized, low cost installation capable of torrefaction of almost any ligno-cellulosic feedstock, producing pellets with a very high energy density, which can be easily transported or stored.  Mr Geerts in turn highlighted the technology his company Regazz uses to produce biofuels from for instance manure and straw . Both panelists underlined that the application their technologies results in co-products that can be used to enhance soil fertility.

The conference paired Serbia’s opportunities with the Dutch perspective and experience, bringing together the major stakeholders in the field. It highlighted the desire for cooperation and knowledge exchange, and has paved the way for follow up events on the topic that will be subsequently announced.

70% of Serbia’s inflation caused by price rise of food and energy

Inflation in Serbia is largely driven by global cost-push pressures, states the National Bank of Serbia (NBS). This is backed by the data showing that 67-70% of y-o-y inflation in the country in 2022 and the first trimester of 2023, was constantly a consequence of rising food and energy prices.

The NBS Executive Board raised the key interest rate in order to prevent inflation from being persistent and prevent increase in food and energy prices above inflationary expectations from spilling over to the prices of other products and services to a greater extent, the NBS website stated.

“The key policy interest rate is the basic instrument of the monetary policy of the NBS, through which the central bank acts on inflation and economic growth. It is the interest rate, the price or, in other words, the conditions under which the central bank is ready to lend the money necessary to banks or to accept surplus money from the banks,” explained Ms. Mirjana Miletic, the Director of the Monetary Analysis Department of the NBS. The director added that by raising the key interest rate, excessive growth in demand is also limited, which should all contribute to slowing inflation and bringing it back within the target band of 3 ± 1.5%. She added that raising the interest rate affects inflation and economic activity, resulting in fewer loans being taken, because they became more expensive, and the amount of savings in banks increased due to higher interest rates on savings. Miletic pointed out that due to the expected decrease in demand, the business sector would not increase the prices of its products and services.

Mr. Dejan Soskic, previous Governor of NBS and a Professor of the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade, stated for Nova TV that the situation with inflation in Serbia would not have been such if there had been a good economic policy in the fields of agriculture and energy. He explained that Serbia used to have surpluses in electricity production and that now, due to inadequate management, it has a plan to increase the price of electricity, which will “further fuel inflation.”

Speaking about agriculture, Mr. Soskic stated that the rise in food prices affects those with the lowest incomes the most. “We have had agricultural surpluses for decades and hundreds of years, and the fact that in Serbia you have inflationary pressure that is greater from the sector of agricultural production than from other domains, this indicates that agriculture is neglected and insufficient,” stated Mr. Dejan Soskic for Nova TV.

Government approved purchase of 50 thousand tons of mercantile wheat

The Serbian government approved the Commodity Reserves Directorate’s move to buy up to 50 thousand tons of mercantile wheat of this year's crop, at a price of €0.24 per kilogram, plus VAT. Mercantile wheat will be purchased from owners of registered agricultural family farms in the amount of up to 100 tons per farm, according to the government’s announcement.

This measure aims to help farmers sell their grains and make room for new crop since last year, due to the export restrictions imposed by the Government, farmers could not export their grain.

Uvac declared special nature reserve

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Government of Serbia intend to expand the areas under state protection to nine percent, stated the State Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Sara Pavkov. At the promotion of Balkan travel magazine - National Parks of Serbia, Pavkov emphasized that the preservation of national parks is important not only for tourism, but also for sustainable development and protection of endangered species.

“Serbia can be proud of its exceptional natural beauties and our goal is to preserve them. The Ministry of Environmental Protection, with the support of the Government of Serbia, is working intensively on expanding the areas under state protection, and our goal is to expand those areas to nine percent” stated Ms. Sara Pavkov.

The Serbian government declared UVAC a Special Nature Reserve. This ensures the preservation of the morphological peculiarities of this area. The presence of one of the rarest species of vulture in Serbia, the griffon vulture, makes this area special, while the high cliffs of Uvac are inhabited by strictly protected plant species – orchids like Dactylorhiza Sambucina, as well as a number of other plants, fish, birds, mammals.