Total Energy Potential of Forest and Agricultural Biomass in Hungary

The biomass for energetic utilization can be divided into three categories. The first category is the primary biomass, which includes natural vegetations (forests, arable land, etc). The second category is the secondary biomass is related to the main and by products of animal husbandry, while the third category is called the tertiary biomass. It consists of wastes from the different fields of industry (food, settlements, etc.)

The greatest portion of primary biomass is the main and by products of forestry. There are 1.9 million ha of forest in Hungary of which energetic yield is about 160 PJ (it equals to 84 GJ/ha/year). 86% of the forests in Hungary consist of deciduous trees, while the ratio of fir wood is only 14%. 50% of the deciduous trees can be utilized for energy production, while in case of fir wood this number is only 20%. In general it is estimated that 40% (56 PJ) of the exploitation of woods can be used for energy production. During wood processing there is about 20% by product arising, which can be partly utilized for combustion. According to estimations it is about 6 PJ/year. In this way the energy potential of forests in Hungary is 62 PJ.

The energy plantations’ yield can be between 200-350 GJ/ha/year, which is 2.4-4.2 times more than the forests’ yield per ha. If there were 300 thousand ha energy plantation instead of the agricultural cultivation the yield of this teritory would be 75 PJ, which is approx. equal to yield of the country’s forestry used for energetic purposes.

The energy content of the main products of agriculture is 410 PJ but only 10-20% of this number can be energetically utilized, which equals to 40-80 PJ/year. The agricultural’ by products’ energy content is 370 PJ and 40-60% of this number can be used for energy production, which is 92-185 PJ. The energy content of agriculture in Hungary is 780 PJ and approximately 132-265 PJ could be used for energetic reasons. Summing up; the energy content of the primary biomass is about 940 PJ, while the estimated energetic potential of it is 269-402 PJ.

Regarding biomass for biogas generation there is about 8-10 million tons annually in Hungary. This amount could be utilized to produce 7-9 PJ energy. Biogas could be primarily utilised at animal husbandry farms for cooling and heating and for electricity generation. An other possibility is to utilize the biogas generated at landfills. There is a great programme in Hungary for the modernization of landfills in which attentions is paid for the utilization of biogas generated at landfills.