Energy crop planning in Serbia with special reference to fast-growing forests

Abstract

Taking into consideration the reduction of energy dependence and the use of potentials of renewable energy sources (RES), which approximately amounts to 6Mt per year in Serbia, the paper considers the potential of using biomass or energy crops. According to the Energy Law (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, issue No. 145/2014), energy crops represent a renewable energy source produced from non-fossil renewable sources and include primarily the plantations of crops that contain a high percentage of oil or sugar (fast-growing trees, miscanthus or elephant grass, eucalyptus, green algae). The paper includes a review of the current legislative and planning framework that promotes the development of energy crops, especially fast-growing forests. Also a case study is highlighted on the level of urban planning that provides an insight into the planning framework. One of the conclusions of the paper points at the importance of establishing a suitable legislative and planning framework for planting energy crops-fast-growing forests (poplar; willow) in order to gain multiple benefits which, primarily, include the production of new energy sources and the environmental protection.

Uvažavajući neophodnost smanjenje energetske zavisnosti i iskorišćavanje potencijala obnovljivih izvora energije (OIE), koji za Srbiju iznosi oko 6Mt godišnje, rad razmatra potencijal korišćenja biomase odnosno energetskih zasada. Energetski zasadi, prema Zakonu o energetici (Sl.gl.RS broj 145/2014) predstavljaju obnovljiv izvor energije proizveden iz nefosilnih obnovljivih izvora i obuhvataju pre svega plantaže biljaka koje sadrže visok procenat ulja ili šećera (brzorastuće drveće, kineska trska, eukaliptus, zelene alge). U radu je dat pregled aktuelnog zakonskog i planskog okvira kojim se promoviše razvoj energetskih zasada, posebno brzorastućih šuma. Takođe, izdvojena je studija slučaja na nivou urbanstičkog planiranja sa ciljem uvida u planski okvir: Jedan od zaključaka rada ukazuje na značaj uspostavljanja odgovarajućeg okvira, kako zakonskog tako i planskog za podizanje energetskih zasada brzorastućih šuma (topola, vrba) sa ciljem ostvarivanja višestrukih koristi koje, pre svega, podrazumevaju stvaranje novih energetskih izvora i očuvanje životne sredine,