POSSIBILITIES OF APPLYING BIOMASS FOR THE PURPOSES OF ENERGY PRODUCTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

The aim of the paper is to raise, direct and encourage awareness of the importance of biomass in energy production, as well as to present various possibilities of its use. Increasing demands for energy and growing environmental issues impose the need for energy production from renewable resources. Fossil fuel reserves are finite and their deficit is projected for the coming period. Biogas is one of the renewable resources. The said gas consists of a large amount of methane gas produced by fermenting organic substances from biomass, manure or any other biodegradable material in anaerobic conditions. Electricity production from renewable resources on farms needs to meet numerous conditions, such as environmental protection, bio-safety and animal welfare, as well as a series of technical, organisational, construction, manufacturing and economic requirements imposed by this kind of production. The Lazar Company Ltd. from the town of Blace owns a farm with 600 dairy cows, a dairy which processes 60 000 litres of milk per day, as well as an energy production plant based on biogas, with the capacity of 1mW/hour. In addition, special attention is paid to organic farming, where biomass is said to have multiple applications in energy production in the context of a long-term development trends of certain industries