Addressing the gap between Hungary’s biomass potential and its current practices

Sammanfattning: The European Union has committed to the ambitious target of increasing renewable energy sources by 27% in the energy consumption of member states by 2030. Biomass is considered as one of the most promising renewable energy resources to meet these goals. Currently, energy from biomass contributes up to two-thirds of the 28 member states primary combined renewable energy production. In Hungary, the total biomass resources amount to approximately 351-361 million tonnes, nearly two-thirds of all domestic renewable energy sources. However, only about one-sixth of these feasible biomass resources are actually used. In order to meet future energy demands and renewable targets, the sustainable production and utilization of biomass should be increased. However, there are concerns raised about the sustainability of bioenergy from an ecological, environmental and socioeconomic view. A proposed solution across literature, is the use of marginal lands to produce energy crops instead of using croplands and food-based feedstock for biomass. However, incentives for the use of marginal lands are insufficient in current Hungary’s environmental governance. This thesis investigates the failures associated with mainstreaming the use of marginal lands for biomass feedstock cultivation in Hungary. To achieve this, a systematic policy analysis was carried out on selected documents to get a better understanding about the Hungarian policy landscape on renewable energy resource management practices. Followed by interviews with representatives from multiple levels. The findings show that the main reasons behind not utilizing the available marginal lands are lack of supply chains, lack of efficient policy instruments and lack of political incentives. The concept of environmental mainstreaming was applied throughout the research results to identify the reasons for the unsuccessful practices in the bioenergy sector. The thesis puts forth the potential of using the National Rural Development Strategy for the environmental mainstreaming of marginal land use in decentralized energy systems.