The Role of Biogas Production in Achieving Sustainable Development (original) (raw)

2023, Review of Economics and Finance

Belinska, S., Saienko, V., Omelyanenko, V., Bagirov, M.M., & Kharit, O. (2023). The role of biogas production in achieving sustainable development. Review of Economics and Finance, 21(1), 882-891. DOI:10.55365/1923.x2023.21.96 (Scopus) The growing energy consumption in the world, as well as the constantly increasing volume of organic waste of various origins determine the need to use biogas. The biogas industry has the potential to solve these problems by using organic waste to produce energy and materials. The aim of this research was studying the impact and establishing the relationship between the production and use of biogas and the achievement of sustainable development goals. The research involved the methods of economic statistical analysis, cluster analysis, and systems structural analysis. The study found that biogas production has a significant impact on achieving a number of sustainable development goals. It was established that this impact is related to the following main areas: reducing the energy deficit, developing renewable energy, reducing the harmful impact on the environment, improving waste management, creating new jobs, etc. It was determined that the EU countries can be divided into four clusters according to the biogas production volume. Separate clusters include Germany and Italy as undisputed leaders in biogas production. The Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, France, and the Netherlands are also distinguished by high production volumes. A close relationship between the energy consumption volumes and the biogas production volumes in the EU countries was proved. The assumption on the relationship between the biogas production volume and the food waste volume was not confirmed. The further research should be aimed to study bioenergy in China as the second region in the world in terms of biogas production.