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Abstract: In this study, the policy, market conditions and food security of biomass energy sources are assessed for supplying the future needs of Vojvodina. The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province in Serbia, containing about 27% of its total population according to the 2002 Census. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonia plain, in southeastern Europe. Vojvodina is an energy-deficient province. Vojvodina also has a large potential for renewable energy, especially energy from biomass (biodiesel and bio-ethanol). The lack of knowledge about renewable energy technologies by most policy-makers, potential consumers, and energy firm managers has played against renewable energy developments. The environmental impacts of programs that encourage biofuel production, farmland land requirements and the impacts on food production are also discussed, considering the life cycle analysis (LCA) as a tool. It is concluded that the rise in the use of biofuels is inevitable and that international cooperation, regulations and certification mechanisms must be established regarding the use of land, the mitigation of environmental and social impacts caused by biofuel production. It is also mandatory to establish appropriate working conditions and decent remuneration for workers of the biofuels production chain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province in Serbia. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonia plain. Vojvodina is an energy-deficient province. Energy plays a pivotal role in socio-economic development by raising the standard of living. Biomass has been used by mankind as an energy source for thousands of years. Traditional fuels like firewood, dung and crop residues currently contribute a major share in meeting the everyday energy requirements of rural and low-income urban households in Vojvodina. Contribution of the renewable energy sources in the total consumption of energy in Vojvidina is less than 1%, i.e. it amounts to 280 KWh/year. Production of biodiesel in the year 2008 was 0.07million tons, what is for 133% higher with respect to the production in the year 2007 (0.03million tons). In Vojvodina, as the raw materials for bioethanol production are seen primarily sugar beet, corn, wheat surpluses, potato surpluses and waste potato, as well as the raw materials intended for these purposes grown on the uncultivated soils, such as hybrid broomcorn, Jerusalem artichoke and triticale. With introduction of new technologies for cultivation and collecting of biomass production of the electrical energy could be raised to 6.4GWh/m2 year, what, with retention of the contemporary consumption, would represent the significant 9% of the total consumption in the province. According to programme of realisation of energy strategy of Vojvodina/Serbia in the field of the renewable energy sources for to period till the year 2010 and its completion, till the year 2015, in Vojvodina could be created conditions for the employment of about 24,000 workers, i.e. 4000 employed for maintenance of the newly constructed plants, 17,000 employed on designing and manufacturing of plants and 3000 employed in auxiliary activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an Autonomous Province in Serbia, containing about 27% of its total population according to the 2002 Census. Contribution of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption of Vojvodina contemporary amounts to less than 1%, apropos 280GWh/year. By combining of methods of introduction of new and renewable sources, systematic application of methods for increasing of energetic efficacy, as well as of introduction of the new technologies, percentage of contribution of the non-conventional energy sources in Vojvodina could be increased to as much as 20%. This paper presents the potential of development of bioethanol production in Vojvodina. Production of bioethanol on small farms can be successfully applied for processing of only 30kg of corn per day, with obtaining of crude ethanol in the so-called “brandy ladle” and use of lygnocellulosic agricultural wastes as an energy source. In a case of construction of a larger number of such plants, the only possible solution is seen in the principle of construction of the so-called “satellite plants”, which will on small farm produce crude ethanol, with obtaining and consumption of stillage for animal feeding, and consumption of agricultural wastes as energetic fuels. If stillage is to be used as feed in wet feeding, it is estimated that, because of restrictions established by the magnitude of animal farm, the upper limit of capacity of such enterprises that process is at some 10–15tons of corn per day, and production of 3000–3500hL of absolute ethanol per day. In such a case, for animal feeding necessary is to have herd with 1300–1700 of milking cows or 5000–25,000 heads of sheep and/or pigs. Technological model of separate grain processing ad bioethanol production from dextrose hydrolysates of starch is interesting for countries possessing plants for bioethanol production from molasses and plants for cereals processing into starch and dextrose hydrolysates of starch. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an Autonomous Province in Serbia and it is an energy-deficient country. The indigenous reserves of oil and gas are limited and the country is heavily dependent on the import of oil. The oil import bill is a serious strain on the country''s economy and has been deteriorating the balance of payments situation. The country has become increasingly more dependent on fossil fuels and its energy security hangs on the fragile supply of imported oil that is subject to disruptions and price volatility. The transport sector has a 26% share in the total commercial energy consumption in Vojvodina. About 0.62 million tons of gasoline were consumed by this sector in 2008. Gasoline consumption in the transport sector is also a major source of environmental degradation especially in urban areas. Consequently, Vojvodina needs to develop indigenous, environment-friendly energy resources, such as bioethanol, to meet its transport sector''s energy needs. Vojvodina produces about 3 million tons of sugar beet every year. There is a vast potential for bioethanol production from molasses of sugar beet in the country. Bioethanol can be used in transport sector after blending with gasoline, in order to minimize gasoline consumption and associated economical and environmental impacts. This paper presents the assessment of the potential contribution of bioethanol in the transport sector of Vojvodina. It is concluded that 20% of annual gasoline consumption in transport sector could be met from ethanol by the year 2026. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this study, the policy, market conditions and food security of biomass energy sources are assessed for supplying the future needs of Vojvodina. The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province in Serbia, containing about 27% of its total population according to the 2002 Census. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonia plain, in southeastern Europe. Vojvodina is an energy-deficient province. The incentives to invest human and financial resources in the research and development of cleaner bioprocesses are high, considering the benefits which might be achieved in terms of environment protection and manufacturing costs. In the near and medium tenu, the development of bioprocesses for waste recycling and resource recovery might be one of the most viable options, considering much research work has already been done. In Vojvodina, there are technological solutions that biofuels produced in a closed cycle, so that the quantity of waste reduced to a minimum. These solutions include the stillage (remainder after distillation) used for fattening cattle, and cattle excrement to produce biogas and manure as fertilizer. The energy required for the production of bioethanol is obtained combustion lignocelullose residual waste from the production of basic raw materials starch, or biogas. Ash from the burned biomass returned to soil as a source of minerals for plants and replacement of mineral fertilizer. Such a closed cycle is economical for small farms in Vojvodina. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province in Serbia, containing about 27% of its total population according to the 2002 Census. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonia plain. The importance of sector of the environment protection becomes even larger and observable, especially with respect of the strategic determination of Government of the AP of Vojvodina, the Republic of Serbia on the association with the European economic area (EEA) and joining with the states – members of the European Union (EU). Restitution of the concept of the cleaner production (CP) significantly helps to companies and the responsible persons (especially in the domain of industry) to harmonize their business activities with law demands concerning the environment protection, as well as to improve their processes and the process sequences. This makes a starting base for the obtaining of the integrated license for the installations that are included in a list of installations that have to obtain an integrated licenses (some 250 installations), on the basis of the Law on the integrated prevention and control of pollution of Vojvodina, the Republic of Serbia, for which the dead point is the year 2015. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province in Serbia, containing about 27% of its total population according to the 2002 Census. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonian plain. Fruska Gora is a lonely island mountain in the Pannonian plain. The research presented in this paper highlights the potential of significant contributing to waste wood biomass in the Park “Fruska Gora (Vojvodina, Serbia) and points to the possibility of using biomass for briquettes production—the final product that can be used for energy purposes. The amount of woody biomass per hectare can be calculated if the data about the average number of trees per hectare are known. For the analyzed case, the value found in 1ha was 383.1m3/ha or 272±14tons, and practically measured value was 402m3/ha, or 289tons. The relative deviation of calculated and obtained values of Canadian poplar wood biomass per hectare was 5.88%. Quantities of planned wood waste biomass can be used to produce high-quality briquettes for thermal energy generation purposes in the equivalent of 4.8 millionkWh. The large energy potentials, in Vojvodina are still substantially unused, and besides of using waste wood from forestry, it is necessary to consider the sustainable use of available waste biomass from the timber industry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The autonomous province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province in the Republic of Serbia. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonia plain. Vojvodina is an energy-deficient province. Assessment of the effects of energetic use wheat straw is performed for certain types of systems for storing straw and straw stored specifically in the form of small square bales, and especially for the cylinder-shaped straw bales. The method of evaluation of economic effects is based on the total cost of collecting, transportation, handling and storing, with corrections for the difference in the cost of the energy conversion and combustion. With comparison of the costs of energy production from baled straw to the costs of energy production from hard coal, it was found that the energy obtained from the straw from own farm is cheaper than energy from hard coal by 28%, in the case of the using small square bales and by 34% in the case of the using cylinder-shaped bales. Through sensitivity analysis it was concluded that the two systems of collecting straw, economically, are relatively resistant to changes in prices of the most important inputs. However, there is a relatively high sensitivity to changes in performances of machines with a larger percentage increase of costs for the system with cylinder-shaped bales. However, this system is generally more resistant to changes of influencing factors due to lower basic costs per ton of the pretreated straw. Differential costs analysis, i.e., the development of differential calculations, shows that the energy from straw in the form of small square bales is cheaper than the energy from hard coal by 51%, while the energy from the straw in the form cylinder-shaped bales is cheaper by 60%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province in the Republic of Serbia. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonia plain. Vojvodina is an energy-deficient province. The average yearly quantity of the cellulose wastes in Vojvodina amounts to about 9 millions tons barely in the agriculture, and the same potential on the level of Serbia estimates to almost 13 million tons. This study gives the analysis of energetic exploitation of straws from stubble cereals processed in different forms. Costs for the equipment that uses biomass in the EU are approximately two times higher with respect to those for the equipment for combustion of natural gas or of fuel oil. Costs of investments for combustion of biomass in Vojvodina if compared with the cited data are approximately for 40–50% lower. The difference of the investment costs for the construction of such units is because units for straw combustion designed and constructed in our country, have neither the complicated devices for manipulation of fuels, nor the devices for the waste gasses processing. The definite conclusions about the economic justification of the energetic exploitation of stubble straws can be obtained only by comparison of costs of the so obtained energy, with the costs of energy obtained through the combustion of classical fuels. Previous comparisons were the most often based on the comparisons of value of prices of the equivalent straw quantity with the process of fuel oil of other classical fuels. Such the comparisons leaded to the very positive evaluations of the economical effects of straws, without taking into account the realizability of the named method. Namely, comparisons of straw and fuel oil hardly could lead to the conclusion that these two fuels are mutually substitutable. According to its physical properties, straw is most similar to firewood, but the preciousness and lacking of this the very resource excludes it from the comparative analysis, so that comparisons were performed with respect to coal. The basic reason for the application of coal as the alternative energent is the circumstance that coal represents very often-used energent whose technology of combustion is the most similar to those used for straw, and at the same time, it has not any other application. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province in the Republic of Serbia. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonia plain. Vojvodina is an energy-deficient province. The average yearly quantity of the cellulose wastes in Vojvodina amounts to about 9 millions tons barely in the agriculture, and the same potential on the level of Serbia is estimated to almost 13 million tons. Only minor part of straw is utilized, and almost two-thirds are incinerated on fields owing to the problems during plowing under. The large sector in Serbia utilizes only about 15% of straw, while the individual one utilizes about 50% of straw and 20% of cornstalks. Environment pollutions, abandonment of the utilization of at least of one-third of the yield and extermination of the natural resources, primarily of humus, represent very adverse results of such procedures. Main problems with respect to the profitable usage of straw and other post-harvest residues are high expenses of their collection (collecting, balling or some other manner of compression), transportation from production- to the usage cites, as well as their handling and storaging. The agricultural production in Serbia should be based on the system of farms. For the efficient farming, it is obvious to organize life of producer and of his family immediately close to the production capacities. For the agriculture development, it is obvious to create a system of premiums, efficient crediting and the elaborated tax system that could create a basis for the certitude of work, confidence and constant growth of production, together with the mentioned and other measures. As the result of the activities oriented to substitution of the classical energents with energy obtained from biomass, farm that is in a higher degree energetically independent should be created. In such case, farms should apply the basic principles of the cleaner manufacturing, as an integral part of the concept of the sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]