b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 9 9 5 e2 0 0 5

Available at www.sciencedirect.com

http://www.elsevier.com/locate/biombioe

Assessment of the availability of agricultural and forest

residues for bioenergy production in Romania

Nicolae Scarlat a,*, Viorel Blujdea b, Jean-Francois Dallemand a

a
Institute for Energy, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Via E. Fermi 2749, TP 450, 21027 Ispra (Va), Italy
b
Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Italy

article info abstract

Article history: This paper provides a resource-based assessment of availability of biomass resources for
Received 24 July 2009 energy production in Romania, at NUTS-3 level. The estimation of available biomass
Received in revised form includes the residues generated from crop production, pruning of vineyards and orchards,
24 January 2011 forestry operations and wood processing. The estimation of crop residue availability
Accepted 28 January 2011 considers several site-specific factors such as crop yields, multi-annual yield variation,
Available online 22 February 2011 environmental constraints and competitive uses. The evaluation of agricultural residues
was based on specific residue to product ratios, depending on crop type and crop yield. An
Keywords: estimate of pruning residues is proposed, based on current orchard and vineyard areas and
Assessment specific ratios of residues. Woody biomass considers forest and forestry residues (including
Agricultural residues firewood) and wood processing by-products, taking into account the type and share of the
Forest and wood processing unused part of the tree biomass and technical and economic aspects, including availability
residues and competitive use. The amount of agricultural and forest residues available for bioenergy
Biomass availability in Romania was estimated at 228.1 PJ on average, of which 137.1 PJ was from annual crop
Bioenergy residues, 17.3 PJ residues from permanent crops and 73.7 PJ/year from forestry residues,
Romania firewood and wood processing by-products. The biomass availability shows large annual
and spatial variations, between 135.6 and 320.0 PJ, due to the variation in crop production
and forestry operations. This variation, which is even larger at the NUTS-3 level, if not
properly considered may result in shortages in biomass supply in some years, when
biomass is available in a lower amount than the average.
ª 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction is a 24.0% share of energy from renewable sources in gross final

The energy from renewable sources in Romania contributed
187.5 PJ in 2005 and 195.0 PJ in 2007 [1]. The most important part
came from biomass (64% of the renewable energy), of which
biomass used for heating represented 99.5% of renewable
energy used for heating, while biomass contribution to renew-
able electricity generation was insignificant in 2005. For
Romania, the target set by the Directive 2009/28/EC on the
promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources for 2020
consumption, which is an increase of 6.2% from 17.8% in the
2005 reference year. The National Renewable Action Plan [2],
developed according to the Renewable Energy Directive, esti-
mates that the gross final energy consumption will be 1268 PJ in
2020 in the additional energy efficiency scenario. Achieving the
overall national target for 2020 implies a consumption of energy
from renewable sources of 304 PJ. Biomass will continue to play
a major role in achieving this target, although the contribution
of other renewables, such as wind, is expected to increase.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ39 (0) 332786551; fax: þ39 (0) 332789992.
E-mail address: nicolae.scarlat@ec.europa.eu (N. Scarlat).
0961-9534/$ e see front matter ª 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2011.01.057
1996 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 9 9 5 e2 0 0 5
From the point of view of existing potential, biomass repre-
sents a promising renewable energy source for Romania. Bio-
energy production represents one of the opportunities for
agriculture and rural development, providing alternative
options for using agriculture, forestry and wood processing
residues. The increasing role of biomass in future energy supply
requires the use of all available resources in a sustainable way,
without causing directly or indirectly negative impacts. The
Romanian Strategy for the valorisation of the renewable energy
sources, adopted by the Government Decision 1535/2003, esti-
mated the biomass potential at 318 PJ, of which: forest residues
and firewood (49.8 PJ/year), wood waste, such as sawdust and
other wood remains (20.4 PJ/year), agricultural wastes cereal
straw, maize stalks, trimming residues (200.9 PJ/year), biogas
(24.6 PJ/year) and municipal solid wastes (22.8 PJ/year).
The biomass from agriculture and forestry may constitute
a significant resource for bioenergy that could significantly
contribute to the total energy supply. However, the main
technical aspects of biomass residues utilisation for bioenergy
production relate to the resource availability at local level. A
better assessment of the biomass availability is therefore
needed at regional and local level, which can assist in the
identification of the most adequate locations and capacities of
biomass-based plants. Therefore, this paper provides a res-
ource-based assessment of the available agricultural and
forestry residues which can actually be used for energy
production in Romania at NUTS-3 (Nomenclature of Territo-
rial Units for Statistics) level, which corresponds to counties.
The annual variation in biomass production/availability for
bioenergy is a key factor to consider, since this can cause
shortages in supply in certain years, if not adequately taken
into account. This variability impacts on the location and
operation of bioenergy plants, transport and other logistics,
because the location of a bioenergy plant must consider the
minimum available resources in the area. Also, lower res-
ources available in the bioenergy plant area can lead to
logistical problems and decreased economics of the plant, due
to the increased collection area, longer transport routes and
increased biomass collection costs. Therefore, this paper
provides an estimate of the inter-annual variability of biomass
availability, to provide actual data on the biomass which is
available each year for energy generation.
2. Methods, data and assumptions
This paper aims to produce a resource based assessment of
biomass availability for bioenergy production, providing
conservative estimates, in compliance with agro-environ-
mental constraints and current competitive uses. The esti-
mation is made both at national and county (i.e. NUTS-3) level,
for which sound statistics are currently available. Biomass
availability depends on the supply costs, and therefore,
increased public support mechanisms improve the economics
of bioenergy production and increase resource availability.
This analysis concentrated on the estimation of the natural
capital without integrating full mobilisation costs and public
support mechanisms.
The paper considers the residues generated from agricul-
tural crop production, pruning of vineyards and orchards,
forestry operations and wood processing. The residues (straw,
stalks, stems and cobs) generated from the main agricultural
crops, which could be used for energy production, are
included in the estimation: wheat, barley, oats, rye, rice, and
maize, sunflower and oilseed rape. The assessment of the
agricultural crop residues availability considers several site-
specific factors such as crops yields, multi-annual yield vari-
ation, environmental constraints and competitive uses. The
estimation of agricultural residues is based on specific total
residue to product ratios, depending on the crop type and crop
yield. The estimates of pruning residues from fruit tree plan-
tations and vineyards are based on current orchard and
vineyard areas and specific ratios of residues. Forest residues
included in the estimates consider forestry residues, firewood
and wood processing by-products. Estimations of their annual
availability are based on the time series harvested quota,
types of operations (final cut, forest thinning and cleaning
operations) and on species/group of species (coniferous,
beech, oak.), at NUTS-3 level. The estimates took into
account their availability, forest accessibility, type and share
of the commercially unused part of the tree biomass and
technical and economic aspects of their collection. Wood
processing residues (sawdust, shavings, bark, wood remains,
etc.) estimations are based on the by-products fraction, taking
into consideration the technological process.
The estimates of the total biomass potentially available for
bioenergy production are given as the average, maximum and
minimum amounts at NUTS-3 level, thus considering their
annual variations. Key data is provided by national statistics
[1], providing complete, detailed and spatially disaggregated
time series. The period from 2000 to 2006 is selected as
a reference for the study. The availability of biomass at local
level and the distribution of the biomass resources over the
land area are essential for bioenergy production. Therefore,
the density of biomass resources per land area was estimated
as an adequate criterion for comparing available resources
between regions and counties and as a key factor in the
economics of a bioenergy plant. This provides an indication of
on the areas which are the most adequate and cost-effective
for bioenergy production and where the collection cost of
biomass is the lowest.
2.1. Agricultural land and forest land in Romania
From the total area of Romania (23.8 Mha), the utilised agri-
cultural area covers, on average, 10.3 Mha, (43.4% of the total
area) out of which arable land is 6.6 Mha (Fig. 1). Cereals have
the highest share of agricultural production, with a produc-
tion of 10.5 Mt in 2000 and 15.8 Mt in 2006, peaking at 24.4 Mt in
2004. The rapeseed production increased steadily in the last
years, from 76,100 t in 2000 to 361,500 t in 2007, due to the
increased use of rapeseed oil for biofuels production [1].
Romania is also an important producer of sunflower, with
a production ranging from 0.7 Mt in 2000 to 1.5 Mt in 2006. Fruit
production covers an area of 207,000 ha and reaches almost
1.5 Mt/year. Vineyards cover about 185,000 ha, with a grape
production of about 1.2 Mt/year [1].
Romania has an area of about 6.4 million ha covered by
forests, with 29.9% coniferous, 49.5% non-coniferous (31.5%
beech and 18.0% oak), 15.7% various hardwood species and
 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 9 9 5 e2 0 0 5 1997

Fig. 1 e Distribution of agricultural and forest land in Romania.

4.9% various softwood species. Of the total forest area, 66% are use of crop residues (i.e. for animal bedding, mushroom
in the mountain areas, 24% are in hilly areas and 10% in the farming) [4].
plains. The total standing wood volume was estimated to The crop residue yields vary even more than the crop yields
about 1350 million m3, of which 39% is coniferous, 37% beech, [5,6] and is therefore difficult to account for, as it depends on
13% oak and 11% other species. The average standing wood plant variety, location, climate conditions, farming practices
volume per hectare is 217 m3, but there are forests in the hill and other effects [7,8]. The values for residue to yield ratios,
and mountain areas with a higher wood volume per hectare, dependent on crop types, were obtained from a literature
of 900e1300 m3/ha. The average increment is about 5.6 m3/ha survey. Frequently, in different studies, a constant crop to
per year and the wood increment of the entire forest area residue production ratio is assumed [9e11], which might not
represents 35 million m3 of wood per year [3]. be valid as the ratio varies greatly across different sites/
climates, plant varieties, farming practices, annual yields, etc.
2.2. Agricultural crop residues Values of the ratio reported in the relevant literature [6e27]
were compiled for different agricultural crops and the
Significant agricultural residues are generated from agricul- average dependence of the residue to yield to crop biomass for
tural crops (e.g. wheat, barley, oats, rye, rice, maize, sunflower each type of crop was established (Figs. 2 and 3). The residue to
or oilseed rape), like straw and stover (i.e. stalks, ears, leaves, grain ratios vs. crop yield were plotted and yield to residue
cobs). The estimation of agricultural residues in this study ratios curves were produced for each type of crop, depending
takes into account: a) annual grain/seed yields for different on the crop yield. The values used in the estimation and other
types of crops; b) variation of the crop area; c) crop residue to data used in the calculations are presented in Table 1. In the
yield ratios for different types of crops; d) residue removal estimations of crop residue available for energy, a lower
rates according to the environmental and economic heating value for crop residues of 14.5 MJ/kg was considered,
constraints and agricultural technology used; e) competitive determined from a dry matter heating value of 17.5 MJ/kg.

2.0 4.0

1.8 3.5
1.6
3.0
Ratio straw:seed [-]
Ratio straw:grain [-]

1.4
oats and rye 2.5 sunflower
1.2
y = -0.2073Ln(x) + 1.3466 y = -0.9356Ln(x) + 3.152
1.0 R2 = 0.2163 2.0 R2 = 0.1931
0.8 1.5
wheat and barley
0.6 y = -0.3186Ln(x) + 1.503 rapeseed
maize 1.0
R2 = 0.2883
0.4 y = -0.1807Ln(x) + 1.3373 y = -0.452Ln(x) + 2.0475
R2 = 0.1732 0.5 R2 = 0.1669
0.2
0.0 0.0
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
Yield [t/ha] Yield [t/ha]
wheat and barley maize oats and rye rapeseed sunflower

Fig. 2 e Straw to grain ratio for cereals. Fig. 3 e Straw to grain ratio for rapeseed and sunflower.
1998 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 9 9 5 e2 0 0 5

Table 1 e Main characteristics of agricultural residues used in this study.

Crop type Residue to Availability Seed moisture Straw moisture
yield ratio [%] content [%] content [%]

Wheat and barley 1.05e1.78 40 15 15

Rye and oat 1.08e1.42 40 15 15
Maize 1.04e1.52 50 15 30
Rapeseed 1.20e1.98 50 15 50
Sunflower 2.20e3.50 50 15 40

Source: [33e35].

As a result of varying local conditions, the estimates of the small branches and biomass resulted from regular and clea-
amount of residues that may be removed vary widely and ning operations.
have a high degree of uncertainty. Several studies proposed Little data is available on pruning residues. However,
different values for sustainable removal rates of crop residues. several studies proposed some figures for the ratios of residue
Walsh et al. [9] and Van der Sluis et al. [28] suggested biomass to product yields for pruning [33e36]. These data show certain
removal rates of between 30 and 40% of the residue without scattering and must be used with caution. The available data
reducing soil productivity. Some authors proposed a sustain- was compiled and conservative data were used in the com-
able removal rate of 40e50% for wheat straw and maize stover putation of the available biomass from pruning. Based on our
[7,8,15], while Glassner [29] estimated that 20e60% of maize own survey and on the data reported in different studies
stover can be sustainably harvested. Low tillage farming with [33e36] we proposed data to be used to establish the average,
high crop yields could lead to a higher removal rate, increasing the minimum and maximum amount of annual trimming
the availability of straw for other uses [14], up to 68e75% of the residues (Table 2). Not all of the residues are available for use
maize residue [15], or even 76e82% [15,29]. In this study, and losses from the collection must be considered; an avail-
removal rates of 40% for wheat, barley and oats and 50% for ability factor of 80% was considered.
maize, sunflower and rapeseed were considered.
The estimates of the available crop residues must include 2.4. Wood residues
the consideration of competing uses. Animal breeding is the
most important competitive use of straw and stover, which The wood residues included in the assessment are: forest
are used mostly for feeding and bedding [30]. Straw is also residues, firewood and wood processing residues. The avail-
used in agriculture and gardening, for crop protection, mainly able forest biomass is determined by the types of operations
in cold climates [7]. Straw is used as substrate for mushroom (final felling, forest thinning and cleaning operations) and on
production, together with horse manure or poultry litter. The species/group of species (coniferous, beech, oaks, softwood
spent compost can be used for other activities or used as soil and hardwood) at NUTS III (county) level. The estimates are
conditioner, fertiliser and in bioremediation. based on the percentage of branches, crown tops and bark for
The amount of crop residues used for different purposes coniferous and deciduous trees depending on the forest
was calculated based on animal population (cattle, horses and operation (final felling, forest thinning or cleaning). The esti-
sheep) and mushroom production in each county. For esti- mates of the forest residues and wood industry by-products
mating the use for animals, it is important to determine the are based on current annual felling rates for the selected
amount of livestock in a specific region and how many use reference period in this study. Wood harvesting rates are
some form of a bedding system. The amount of straw used considered sustainable and reflect the accessibility and the
depends on the straw availability, on the type of farms and current potential of forests. However, total annual felling
farming systems [31]; therefore, the exact amount of residues represents only around 45% of the annual increment in forest
used is difficult to establish. In this study, a consumption of
1.5 kg of straw/day per head was considered for the use of
straw for cattle bedding (for a quarter of the cattle population),
as well as for equines (horses, mules). For sheep, an average
Table 2 e Residue to fruit yields obtained for pruning.
consumption on 0.1 kg straw/day per head was used. For the
use of straw for pigs, a consumption of 0.5 kg of straw/day per Crop Residue to Moisture Availability
head of pig, (one eight of the pigs population using straw) was fruit yields [%] [%]
considered [31,32]. Apple trees 0.2e0.5 40 80
Pear trees 0.2e0.5 40 80
2.3. Pruning residues Peach trees 0.4e0.6 40 80
Apricots 0.4e0.6 40 80
Cherry trees 0.4e0.6 40 80
Orchards and vineyards require annual pruning operations, Plum trees 0.8e1.2 40 80
which produce large amounts of biomass, which might Nut trees 0.6e1.8 40 80
potentially be available as a bioenergy source. The residues Vineyards 0.3e1.0 40 80
generated from the pruning of orchards (apples, pears, plums,
Source: [37].
peaches, apricots and cherry trees) and vineyards, consist of
 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 9 9 5 e2 0 0 5 1999

Table 3 e Forest residues from harvesting operations.

Operation/biomass included Share of forestry residues (% of stand volume)

Coniferous Beech Oak Hardwood Softwood

a
Final cuts/tree biomass (<5 cm diameter ) 4 4 5 6 6
Secondary cuts/tree biomass(<5 cm diameter) 1 13 11 19 12
Secondary cuts/firewoodb (>5 cm diameter) 20 52 55 50 63

a Trees tops, branches, usually left in the forest, never harvested.

b Firewood is part of the tree which is not usable from technological point of view (i.e. small branches, defects). It does not include trees tops
and branches under 5 cm diameter.
Source: [37]

biomass, which is amongst the lowest in Europe. Therefore,
this study provides data only on the presently available forest
residues and not the whole potential.
Under economical, social and environmental constraints,
it is considered that only a part of forest residues can be
removed from the land to be used for energy production (up to
80% in the plains and 50e70% in the mountain areas),
depending on the availability, general/local topography, forest
accessibility and technical and economic difficulties of
biomass collection. The major part of the logging residues
resulting from the main felling is currently left in the forest.
However in mountain areas, only a part of the residues can be
collected from the technical and economic point of view
(30e50%), depending on the terrain type, slope and accessi-
bility of the area. In the plain and hilly area, at least 80% of the
residues can be made available for bioenergy production.
About 50e60% of the residues are already removed from
forests and used for energy production in the plain and hilly
areas, while in mountain areas the whole amount is unused
for the moment [37,38] Table 3.
Biomass available for bioenergy is that which has no tech-
nological purposes, like: tops, branches, bark, or damaged and
imperfect wood. In the final cuts, branches, which account for
a maximum of 4% in coniferous and 19% in non-coniferous stand
volumes, are currently left in the forest, thus they are practically
available. In the final cuts, firewood amounts to about 20% in
coniferous forests and 10% in non-coniferous forests, while in
secondary cuts, it ranges from 20% in coniferous to 52e63% in
oak, beech, softwood and hardwood harvest. Firewood is
entirely harvested, and currently used for heating in households.
Wood residues are generated from roundwood processing:
sawdust, shavings, bark, wood remains, etc. The fraction of
available by-products varies depending on the processing
technology: a part of by-products (sawdust, wood remains,
etc.) are used to produce other wood based products: particle-
board, plywood, fibreboard, etc. The processing efficiency of
wood varies between 52 and 65% for timber, to 80% for veneer
production, plywood, etc., depending on the species/group of
species. On average, around three quarters of the felled
roundwood is transformed into final products [38]. The
remaining by-products (bark, sawdust, wood chips, shavings,
etc.) might be available for energy generation. A survey [38]
undertaken at companies involved in the wood processing
residues revealed that almost all the wood residues generated
in the wood processing industry are presently used for the
production of energy needed in their own technological
process. These residues are however included in the estimates
of forest biomass available for energy production. The esti-
mations of wood residues available for energy production are
based on a lower heating value (LHV) of 10.4 GJ/m3 and a density
of 570 kg/m3 for deciduous trees and a lower heating value of
7.6 GJ/m3 and a density of 400 kg/m3 for coniferous trees.

1.8
1.6
Agricultural residues [Mt dry/year]

1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Alba
Arad
Arges
Bacau
Bistrita-
Botosani
Brasov
Braila
Buzau
Caras-Severin
Calarasi
Cluj
Constanta
Covasna
Dambovita
Dolj
Galati
Giurgiu
Gorj
Harghita
Hunedoara
Ialomita
Iasi
Ilfov
Maramures
Mehedinti
Mures
Bihor

Neamt
Olt
Prahova
Satu Mare
Salaj
Sibiu
Suceava
Teleorman
Timis
Tulcea
Vaslui
Valcea
Vrancea

Min Average Max

Fig. 4 e Production of agricultural crop residues per counties.

2000 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 9 9 5 e2 0 0 5

0.500
0.450
0.400

Wood residues [Mt dry/year]

0.350
0.300

0.250
0.200
0.150
0.100
0.050
0.000
Alba
Arad
Arges
Bacau
Bistrita-
Botosani
Brasov
Braila
Buzau
Caras-Severin
Calarasi
Cluj
Constanta
Covasna
Dambovita
Dolj
Galati
Giurgiu
Gorj
Harghita
Hunedoara
Ialomita
Iasi
Ilfov
Maramures
Mehedinti
Mures
Bihor

Neamt
Olt
Prahova
Satu Mare
Salaj
Sibiu
Suceava
Teleorman
Timis
Tulcea
Vaslui
Valcea
Vrancea
Min Average Max

Fig. 5 e Available woody biomass residues from forestry and wood processing industry per counties.

mainly due to the differences in crop area, but also due to yield
3. Biomass resource availability for variation between different regions. Thus, most of the annual
bioenergy crop residues are available in the counties from the Southern
Plain (Calarasi, Constanta, Teleorman, Dolj, Ialomita, Olt,
3.1. Availability of agricultural crop residues Braila) and from the West plain (Timis), while residues from
permanent crops are only available in a few counties from
The total amount of agricultural annual and permanent crop hilly areas (Vrancea, Arges, Dambovita, Iasi). The distribution
residues is estimated at NUTS-3 level, as average amount, of agricultural residues in the country is shown in Fig. 4.
over the reference period selected for the study. Annual crop
residues production amounts on average 19.2 Mt dry/year,
3.2. Availability of woody biomass resources
ranging from 10.2 to 27.0 Mt dry/year. Only a part of these
annual residues can be collected, if considering the various
The estimation of annual woody biomass available is 3.8 Mt
agro-environmental constraints. The collectable annual crop
dry/year on average, varying within a range of 3.2e5.0 Mt dry/
residues are, on average 8.9 Mt dry/year (ranging from 4.7 to
year. The bioenergy related potential of available woody
12.6 Mt dry/year). Comparatively, the annual production of
biomass was estimated at 73.7 PJ/year, from 62.4 to
trimming residues is much lower, on average 1.1 Mt dry/year
95.8 PJ/year. This data represents the amount that can actually
(ranging from 0.6 to 1.4 Mt dry/year), of which only 80% can be
be used at the present for bioenergy and not the theoretical
collected: 0.9 Mt dry/year (varying from 0.5 Mt to 1.2 Mt dry/
potential related to the biomass increment in forests. In
year). Thus, the collectable agricultural residues from annual
comparison, the theoretical potential according to the total
and permanent crops, are 9.8 Mt dry/year on average,
biomass increment in Romanian forests is around 332 PJ. If
(between 2.2 and 13.8 Mt dry/year), with large variations from
forest harvesting will increase from the current share of 45%
one region to another (Fig. 4). The main uses of crop residues
of annual increment (thus “under harvested”), to a higher rate
amount to around 1.3 Mt/year, of which: cattle 0.4 Mt/year,
(70e80% in Nordic countries), the availability of wood residues
horses 0.5 Mt/year, sheep 0.3 Mt/year, pigs 0.1 Mt/year, while
mushroom production uses a very low amount (6000 t/year),
due to the very low production of mushrooms. 200
The available annual crop residues for energy generation 180

amount on average 137.1 PJ (ranging from 63.6 to 202.0 PJ), 160

Residues [PJ/year]

140
while trimming residues amount on average 17.3 PJ (ranging
120
from 9.6 to 22.3 PJ). The total agricultural residues available for
100
bioenergy production amount on average 154.4 PJ, but vary
80
from 73.2 to 224.2 PJ. This variation is due to the crop pro- 60
duction and especially due to the yield variation in different 40
years, while the crop area is rather constant. Better farming 20
practices and the use of new plant varieties, resistant to 0
trimming crop residues forestry firewood wood
adverse climate conditions and drought might reduce this residues residues processing
variability. A significant non-uniform regional distribution of Min Average Max
the available agricultural biomass was revealed. The large
variation of agricultural crop residues between counties is Fig. 6 e Available biomass residues in Romania.
 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 9 9 5 e2 0 0 5 2001

12

10

Average resources [PJ/year]

8

0
Alba
Arad
Arges
Bacau
Bistrita-
Botosani
Brasov
Braila
Buzau
Caras-Severin
Calarasi
Cluj
Constanta
Covasna
Dambovita
Dolj
Galati
Giurgiu
Gorj
Harghita
Hunedoara
Ialomita
Iasi
Ilfov
Maramures
Mehedinti
Mures
Bihor

Neamt
Olt
Prahova
Satu Mare
Salaj
Sibiu
Suceava
Teleorman
Timis
Tulcea
Vaslui
Valcea
Vrancea
Permanent crop residues Annual crop residues Forestry residues Firewood Wood processing residues

Fig. 7 e Total biomass available resources per counties.

might increase accordingly. This depends, however, on the
improvement in forest management techniques, improve-
ment in forest biomass mobilisation and forest accessibility.
The forest biomass distribution in the country depends on the
forest distribution and the share of forest in each NUTS 3 unit,
but also on the type and characteristics of the forests (Fig. 5).
This shows that currently, forest biomass is mainly available
in the most forested, mountain regions (counties Suceava,
Bacau, Neamt, Caras-Severin, but also in Arad, Arges, Brasov,
Maramures, Mures, Harghita, Hunedoara).
residues (7.6%) and forestry residues (4.4%) (Fig. 6). However,
the available biomass ranges from 135.6 to 320.0 PJ, depending
on the variation of crop production and forestry activities. The
following amount of biomass from the analysed sources is
available in the present for bioenergy:
 73.7 PJ (variation from 62.4 to 95.8 PJ) from forest, forestry
and wood processing;
 154.4 PJ (variation from 73.2 to 224.2 PJ) from agricultural
annual and permanent crops.

3.3. Availability of biomass for bioenergy use
This study reveals significant biomass, 228.1 PJ on average,
available for energy production, coming from agricultural and
forest residues. Overall, bioenergy potential from annual crop
residues has the highest share (60.1%), followed by firewood
(16.2%), wood processing residues (11.8%), permanent crop
The results from this study show that the estimates of
average available resources from agriculture and woody
biomass (228.1 PJ) are lower than the potential estimated in
the Romanian Strategy for the valorisation of the renewable
energy sources, adopted by the Government Decision 1535/
2003. The Romanian Strategy estimated the biomass potential
at 318 PJ for Romania, of which agricultural and wood biomass

16

14

12
Available biomass [PJ]

10

8
6

0
Alba
Arad
Arges
Bacau
Bistrita-
Botosani
Brasov
Braila
Buzau
Caras-Severin
Calarasi
Cluj
Constanta
Covasna
Dambovita
Dolj
Galati
Giurgiu
Gorj
Harghita
Hunedoara
Ialomita
Iasi
Ilfov
Maramures
Mehedinti
Mures
Bihor

Neamt
Olt
Prahova
Satu Mare
Salaj
Sibiu
Suceava
Teleorman
Timis
Tulcea
Vaslui
Valcea
Vrancea

Min Average Max

Fig. 8 e Variation of biomass available resources per counties.

2002 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 9 9 5 e2 0 0 5

3.0

2.5

Biomass density [TJ/km2 ]

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
Alba
Arad
Arges
Bacau
Bistrita-
Botosani
Brasov
Braila
Buzau
Caras-Severin
Calarasi
Cluj
Constanta
Covasna
Dambovita
Dolj
Galati
Giurgiu
Gorj
Harghita
Hunedoara
Ialomita
Iasi
Ilfov
Maramures
Mehedinti
Mures

Salaj
Sibiu
Suceava
Teleorman
Timis
Tulcea
Vaslui
Valcea
Vrancea
Bihor

Neamt
Olt
Prahova
Satu Mare
Min Average Max

Fig. 9 e Density of biomass residues available for bioenergy per counties.

potential is 271 PJ. In addition, it includes the categories of
biogas and municipal solid wastes that were not addressed in
this paper. Thus, the National Strategy indicates the following
biomass potential for Romania: 49.8 PJ from forest residues
and firewood, 20.4 PJ/year from wood waste, such as sawdust
and other wood remains, 200.9 PJ/year from agricultural
wastes, such as cereal straw, maize stalks, 24.6 PJ from trim-
ming residues and 22.8 PJ from biogas and municipal solid
wastes. Compared to this potential, in our assessment we
provide the actual available biomass, considering present
conditions, such as existing agricultural practices, current
crop production and yields, current forest fellings, as well as
various technical and environmental constraints. In the
conditions of increased agricultural production and forest
fellings, according to the forest biomass increment, coupled
with increased biomass mobilisation, it might be possible to
reach the potential indicated in the Romanian Strategy.
The current study shows a high variability of biomass
availability between different NUTS-3 areas (counties). A
higher amount of biomass resources can be made available
from agriculture in several areas, whereas in hilly and
mountain areas, less suitable for agriculture, the proportion of
wood residues is higher (Fig. 7). The counties with the highest
available biomass are Calarasi, Timis, Constanta, Dolj, Tele-
orman, Arad. The current study also revealed a high vari-
ability of biomass availability from one year to another.
Therefore, the average, minimum and maximum amount of
biomass available was established to accommodate the vari-
ation in residues availability (Fig. 8).
The density of biomass resources per land area is presented
in Fig. 9 for comparing available resources between regions and
counties. Several counties show a higher density of biomass
available for energy situated in agricultural areas (Calarasi,
Ialomita, Teleorman, Braila, Galati, Giurgiu, Constanta, Olt),
while several counties in rich forest areas, show a lower
density of biomass resources. The lowest level of biomass
resources is in Harghita, Hunedoara, Alba, Salaj, Sibiu, which
are areas with low agricultural activity.
3.4. Present use of biomass in Romania
A part of the biomass residues, mainly firewood, forestry and
wood processing residues and residues from agriculture is
currently used in Romania (Table 4), amounting to 116 PJ on
average [1]. Biomass plays an important role in the residential
sector for space heating in households, tertiary sector- hotels,
schools and other public buildings mainly in the mountain
areas and to a lesser extent for district heating and for process
heat in wood processing. Traditional wood heating is well-
developed, especially in rural areas, for direct burning
(in stoves and ovens), for space heating, cooking and hot water
preparation. Firewood is mainly used in the areas where is
easily available, especially in the mountain and hilly areas, but
also in areas with low wood resources, at large distances from
the harvesting areas. A large share of firewood (95%) is used in
the residential sector, for residential heating purposes. Other
uses of firewood (5%) are for process heat generation, space
heating in industrial and public buildings, from mountainous

Table 4 e Biomass use in energy balance in Romania.

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Final energy consumption [PJ] 942 963 963 1013 1093 1051 1034
Gross biomass consumption [PJ] 117 88 100 84 130 134 134
Biomass in gross energy consumption [%] 7.5 5.8 6.1 7.2 8.0 8.2 7.9
RES in final energy consumption [%] 18.0 14.9 16.3 16.6 17.5 19.7 19.4
Biomass in final energy consumption [%] 12.2 9.2 9.9 11.7 11.7 12.7 12.4
 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 9 9 5 e2 0 0 5 2003

12

10

Unused biomass [PJ]

6

-2

-4
Alba
Arad
Arges
Bacau

Bistrita-
Botosani
Brasov
Braila
Buzau
Caras-Severin
Calarasi
Cluj
Constanta
Covasna
Dambovita
Dolj
Galati
Giurgiu
Gorj
Harghita
Hunedoara
Ialomita
Iasi
Ilfov
Maramures
Mehedinti
Mures
Bihor

Neamt
Olt
Prahova
Satu Mare
Salaj
Sibiu
Suceava
Teleorman
Timis
Tulcea
Vaslui
Valcea
Vrancea
Min Average Max

Fig. 10 e Biomass remaining available for bioenergy in Romania.

areas. Residues from wood processing are used on a large scale
by industrial companies to generate heat; however, there is
a very limited number of cogeneration capacity. These plants
generally use a mixture of fuels: sawdust, shavings and wood
chips. They are small capacity boilers, between 0.3 and 5 MWth,
with maximum 10 MWth, and the total installed thermal power
of about 1200 MWth. Several biomass district-heating plants,
with a capacity between 1 and 7 MWth (total 45 MWth), are
located in the mountain and hilly areas, in high density forest
areas, where large quantities of wood and wood residues are
available. Five new district heating plants have been recently
commissioned in Gheorghieni, Vatra Dornei, Vlahita, Intorsura
Buzaului, Gura Humorului for using wood residues (wood
remains, wood chips, sawdust, etc.) with a capacity ranging
from 4 MWth to 12 MWth [39].
The estimates [39,40] show that, out of the total biomass
consumption for energy in Romania of 116 PJ, about 64.5 PJ is
derived from wood residues and 53.5 PJ from agricultural
residues. Thus, practically almost all the available quantity of
firewood and wood processing residues is already used. There
are some areas with higher biomass consumption than
available resources, where biomass is supplied from areas
with higher available resources (Fig. 10).
4. Conclusions and recommendations
The high amount of biomass available from agriculture and
forestry may constitute a significant resource for bioenergy
that could contribute significantly to the total energy supply in
Romania. This estimation considers various environmental
and economical constraints for making available agricultural
crop residues and wood residues and taking into account their
competitive uses.
This study revealed a relatively high degree of uncertainty
related to the biomass availability in a specific year, due to
annual variation of crop production and current annual wood
harvesting. The available annual crop residues for energy
amounts on average 137.1 PJ, ranging from 63.6 to 202.0 PJ, while
the available residues from permanent crops amounts on
average 17.3 PJ, ranging from 9.6 to 22.3 PJ. Therefore, the
available agricultural residues for bioenergy production amount
on average 154.4 PJ, ranging from 73.2 to 224.2 PJ. The total wood
residues resulting from the forest industry including forestry
residues, firewood and wood processing by-products, available
for bioenergy production was estimated at 73.7 PJ/year, from
62.4 PJ/year to a maximum of 95.8 PJ/year. This study shows the
existence of important resources potentially available for bio-
energy production: 228.1 PJ on average, ranging from 135.6 to
320.0 PJ, with agriculture being the main source for biomass.
The large annual variations in biomass production/avail-
ability for bioenergy represent a key factor to consider, since
this can cause shortages in supply in certain years, if this is
not adequately taken into account. This variability impacts on
the location and operation of bioenergy plants, transport and
other logistics. Therefore, the location of a bioenergy plant
must consider the minimum available resources in the area.
The lower available resources in the bioenergy plant area also
leads to logistical problems and reduced economic viability of
the plant, due to the increased collection area, longer trans-
port routes and increased biomass collection costs. Therefore,
this paper provides estimates of the average, minimum and
maximum amount of available biomass resources, which
could be more useful when planning a biomass plant.
Crop and wood residues are unevenly distributed over the
country, as directly correlated with crop production and forest
areas. The results showed a large variation at NUTS-3 level
under specific local conditions, types of crops, crops and forest
shares. Most of the annual crop residues are available in
counties from the Southern and Western plains. Most of the
residues from permanent crops (orchards and vineyards) are
available in a few counties in the hilly areas, which are impor-
tant fruit and grape producers. Wood resources are available in
mountain and hilly areas, where the forest share is high,
providing a predictable and stable resource. The main technical
aspects of biomass residues utilisation for bioenergy produc-
tion relate to the availability of resources in a specific region and
the density of biomass per area. The density of resources per
2004 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 9 9 5 e2 0 0 5
area is a key factor, determining the collection radius of the
biomass and the cost of collection, which is an important
limiting factor. A combination of a high plant capacity and low
density of biomass increases the transport capacity and road
traffic, which can be limited in some areas by the local road
infrastructure. A solution to solve this problem is the diversifi-
cation of biomass feedstock to reduce the collection distance
and compensate for yield variability. The setting up of a bio-
energy plant depends ultimately on the resource availability but
it should meanwhile match the energy (heat) demand in that
area. Thus, the plant location is a matter of optimisation, as the
energy demand and biomass supply issue influence the logis-
tics of the plant, the biomass collection distance and transport
costs.
A part of the biomass residues available, mainly firewood,
forestry and wood processing residues and residues from agri-
culture is currently used in Romania. Thus, it is estimated that
54% of energy production from biomass is presently derived
from wood residues and 46% is derived from agricultural wastes
and residues [38,39,41]. Almost all of the available firewood and
wood residue is already used in Romania. A large part of the
biomass is used in households, in stoves and kilns, with low fuel
efficiency. There is large amount of biomass available still
unused. Biomass could be better used in cogeneration, district
heating plants, in advanced systems, which are already avail-
able on the market, operating with high efficiency. Small
capacity plants will make better, more effective use of the local
resources and thus would limit the total biomass required and
better match supply with demand. A more detailed analysis at
the local level will decide on the exact location of the plant
based on the resources available in that area.
This study was performed as a technical input to the
preparation of the National Renewable Action Plan of
Romania within the framework of the Directive 2009/28/EC on
the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources.
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