{"id":1019914,"date":"2026-10-15T14:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T11:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uabio.org\/?p=19914"},"modified":"2026-11-09T21:53:46","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T19:53:46","slug":"georgij-geletuha-pro-perspektyvy-vyroshhuvannya-energetychnyh-roslyn-v-ukrayini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uabio.org\/en\/news\/19914\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgii Geletukha on the prospects for growing energy crops in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For 25 years, Europe tried to turn energy crops into a business and failed. But new EU rules are opening up four niches where Ukraine has a strong chance of success.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a new article<\/a><\/strong> for Ekonomichna Pravda<\/a><\/strong>, UABIO Chairman of the Board Georgii Geletukha continues the theme of his previous column<\/a><\/strong> on the global price reversal, in which grain is getting cheaper while energy is getting more expensive. He explains why energy crop plantations in Europe never became widespread and what new opportunities European regulations are creating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author also examines what Ukraine needs to take advantage of them. A key role here is played by the newly signed law on the implementation of EU legislation in the field of renewable energy (Draft Law No. 14271) and its secondary legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full article on the Ekonomichna Pravda website (in Ukrainian)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did Europe stall?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the EU, energy crops occupy 6\u20137 million hectares, or roughly 6\u20137% of arable land. However, more than 90% of this area is taken up by annual food crops: rapeseed for biodiesel, cereals and sugar beet for ethanol, and maize for biogas. Over 25 years, perennial energy crops (miscanthus, energy willow, poplar, silphium) have covered less than 0.1 million hectares. In Germany, the largest biogas market, the area under energy crops for biogas shrank from 1.55 million hectares in 2019 to 1.19 million hectares in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reasons for this are not agronomic. The first is political: since 2018, the Renewable Energy Directive has capped fuels made from food crops. The second lies in field economics. A plantation costs EUR 2,000\u20134,000 per hectare, takes 5\u20138 years to pay back, and ties up the land for 20 years, yet there is usually no long-term buyer. So the key question is not how to grow the biomass, but how to sell a tonne of it profitably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four niches for Ukraine<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Intermediate crops for biomethane<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Ukraine, this is the most natural niche. The government programme sets a target of 1 bcm of biomethane in 2030 and 2.1 bcm in 2035. UABIO estimates the potential of waste alone (manure, straw, stalks, processing by-products) at more than 7 bcm of biomethane per year. Another 0.5\u20131 million hectares of intermediate crops would yield an additional 0.75\u20133 bcm of biomethane per year. Three conditions are needed for this. First, the European definition of intermediate crops must be adopted in secondary legislation. Second, Ukraine must avoid silage maize, which was Germany\u2019s mistake. Third, the EU market must be opened through sustainability certification and by connecting the Ukrainian registry to the Union Database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crops on degraded land<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, Ukraine\u2019s scale exceeds Europe\u2019s. The EU has only 2.9 million hectares of severely degraded land under the Directive\u2019s criteria, and 90% of it is already cultivated. In Ukraine, even before the war, 10\u201312 million hectares were considered degraded. The war has added more than 2 million hectares of former combat zones and around 0.5 million hectares that lost irrigation after the destruction of the Kakhovka hydropower plant. Realistically, 1\u20132.5 million hectares could be brought under energy crops, two to three times the European reserve. Biomass from such land qualifies as advanced feedstock for aviation fuel. This requires a registry of such land and permission to use perennial crops as a form of soil conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buffer strips<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strip of willow, poplar or miscanthus along a river reduces nitrate leaching by 5\u201310 times within two years and stops 90% of soil erosion. It also sequesters 0.3\u20131 tonne of carbon per hectare annually and yields 8\u201315 tonnes of biomass. Ukraine has about 440,000 hectares of field shelterbelts, with shelterbelt forest cover at 1.3% against the required 2.5\u20133.5%. Without using a single hectare of chernozem, 0.4\u20131 million hectares of \u201cenergy eco-strips\u201d could be created. That means 1.5\u20134 bcm of substituted gas and 3\u20137.5 million tonnes of CO\u2082 emission reductions per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Materials and biochar<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tonne of miscanthus is worth EUR 40\u201390 as fuel, EUR 120\u2013350 as feedstock for materials and chemicals, and EUR 250\u2013450 as biochar with certified carbon removal units. The number of biochar plants in Europe grew from around twenty in 2015 to more than 200 in 2025. Pyrolysis of a tonne of miscanthus yields about 300 kg of biochar, 0.8 tonnes of permanently removed CO\u2082, and 5\u20137 GJ of heat. This is the only value chain in which a perennial crop pays for itself without agricultural subsidies. Ukraine still lacks the necessary regulations: biochar cannot be registered as a fertiliser, and there are no national standards (DSTU) for hempcrete or miscanthus blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should be done?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The barriers are common to all four niches, so the solutions must come as a package:<\/p>\n\n\n\n