Serbia May Start Using Biomass To Produce Energy in Bid To Cut Costs - Media

“Most of these power plans are in southern Serbia, which is rich in biomass, that is by-products of agriculture, forestry and communal waste,” b92 (www.b92.net)  quoted Dejan Stojadinovic, assistant minister for renewable energy sources, as saying.

Heat generation using biomass is three times cheaper than using crude oil or lignite and five times cheaper than gas, Stojadinovic said. Serbia lacks the mecanisation needed to use biomass while, globally, the use of biomass has been on the rise over the past 10 years, he added.

Serbia plans to invest more than 9.0 billion euro ($13.2 billion) in its energy and mining sector over the next six or seven years, using either budget funds or strategic partnerships, Energy Minister Petar Skundric said last month. The Balkan country could save about 2.7 million tonnes of crude oil by producing energy from biomass, Skundric said without elaborating.

Biomass accounts for about 60% of renewable energy resources in Serbia.

($=0.6807 euro)