OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS FOR DEVELOPMENT

The development of technologies for waste treatment, simultaneously with minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, has become a matter of great concern at global level. Biogas systems can help in the fight against global warming by avoiding to escape methane from organic waste, into the atmosphere. Biogas technology is of great benefit to the end-users and the environment by energy, compost and nutrient recovery. Romania is a country with a huge biomass potential. Implementing of biogas technology could be a proper solution for waste treatment and producing of electricity from renewable energy sources, as stipulated in EU and national legislation. This paper presents an overview on the progress of biogas technologies in Romania since 1980s and the main obstacles that have slow down the development of this technology in the context of the major political and economical changes registered in Romanian industry after 1990. There are mentioned the main benefits which biogas plants could bring to the environment and also some common problems with biogas plants which have been noticed in the developed countries in this field