REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY UTILIZATION

Most of the European countries favour the utilisation of renewable resources – mainly biomass – for energy purposes. Secondary products as energy resources have become more valuable, the production of energy crops has begun. Annual natural gas consumption in Hungary is about 15 billion m3; the country imports ca. 11–12 m3 of natural gas every year that costs 1000 billion HUF (3.7 billion EUR). We could save considerable sum of this money for the country, if we use local power supply to minimise gas import and modernise the buildings energetically. A possible solution to this problem can be the solid biomass-based decentralised (local, small-scale energy generation in several places) energy supply. High-efficiency wood chip burning combustion equipments are suitable for large consumers (e.g.: settlements, public institutions, industrial and agricultural buildings), while pellet or briquette burning systems are ideal for small consumers and households. The paper analyses the economic and social aspects of woodchips based district-heating on the examples of heating plants in Hungary.