Since 2012, Ukraine has been a world leader in sunflower production
Did you know that this crop has significant energy potential? We offer analysis from UABIO expert Semen Dragniev.
This is the main oil crop in our country. Baseline indicators:
- In 2019/2020, the gross harvest of sunflower seeds in Ukraine amounted to 16.5 million tons, which is almost 30% of world production.
- The average yield in Ukraine exceeds the world average since 2008, and in 2019 reached 25.8 c / ha, which is higher than the average yield in the EU.
In addition to seeds, this crop provides a significant resource of biomass for energy use. Thus, during the processing of sunflower seeds about 15% of the husk is formed, which is mainly burned for energy needs and processed into fuel pellets and briquettes. Also as energy biomass can be used by-products of sunflower seed production, in particular, stems and baskets of sunflower. On average, the output coefficient of sunflower by-products to seeds is 1.9. take the yield of by-products of sunflower to seed 1.9.
Assessment of energy potential of sunflower production by-products in Ukraine in 2019 was made taking into consideration methods developed by the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine. The results are the following:
- Theoretical potential (the whole amount of the generated by-products) is 28.9 Mt or 4.2 Mtoe;
Economic potential (the amount available for energy production, which is 40% of the theoretical potential) makes up 11.6 Mt or 1.7 Mtoe.
In 2019, the biggest potential of sunflower by-products was in:
- Kirovohrad region (with the economic potential of 167.8 ktoe),
- Kharkiv region (161.3 ktoe),
- Dnipropetrovsk region (157.8 ktoe).
Source: UABIO Position Paper 25 “Prospects of sunflower residues use for energy“
