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 According to the European Commission, the energy obtained from renewable energy sources in Lithuania amounts to 15 percent of the entire consumed energy. The EU Directive Regarding the Incentives for Consumption of Renewable Energy Resources has obliged Lithuania to increase this rate by 8 percent- from 15 to 23 percent until 2020.
Lithuania possesses enormous renewable energy sources that are being left to decompose without any benefit in forests, fields or communal waste dumping grounds. The available resources are not only sufficient for fulfilling the requirements provided for in the new EU directive, but also for surpassing them substantially.
In order to be able to produce energy, it is necessary to broaden the application of forest cutting residues, straw, municipal waste, to establish energetic plant plantations.
 Wood Biofuel
The wood cutting and forest cleaning residues accumulated in Lithuanian forests is one of the most promising kinds of local fuel. According to LITBIOMA, the forest cutting residue potential amounts to about 1 million m3 per year. Such resources allow an annual energy production of 2152 GWh.
Straw, Perennial Grass Biofuel
About 2.4 million tons of straw are available every year in Lithuania but only a minor part is used for energy production. The economically reasonable straw potential amounts to 0.5 million tons which can lead to production of around 1500 GWh of energy.
.jpg) Energetic Willow Biofuel
According to calculations performed by LITBIOMA, until 2013 Lithuania could establish 11 500 energetic plantations in its 400 000 ha of unused, infertile land. The biomass produced by these plantations could allow an annual energy production of 500 GWh.
Municipal Waste
Lithuania is among the few EU newcomers that are still polluting the environment with their municipal waste – leaving it to decompose on dumping grounds, instead of using it for energy production. At the moment there are more than 420 modern waste burning plants fitted for environmentally-friendly heat and energy production operating all around Europe.
By burning municipal waste, the amount of which in Lithuania reaches 1.3 million tons every year, it would make it possible to produce around 30 percent of centrally supplied thermal energy. By using the municipal waste for energy production in modern power stations, its amount on the country’s dumping grounds could be reduced by up to five times.
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