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Hungary’s Bioenergy Day

Bioenergy is Europe's leading renewable energy source. According to Eurostat data and calculations made by the European Biomass Association (AEBIOM), bioenergy will be able to supply 11% of the final energy consumption in 2017. An additional 7% comes from the other renewables, while the rest (82%) still comes from fossil fuels. Within this context, for 66 days the EU can run on renewable energies, 41 days of which are supplied by bioenergy—from November 21 to the end of the year.

For Hungary, its Bioenergy Day is November 24, three days after the European average. A landlocked country in central Europe, Hungary has an area of 93,028 km2 and an exceptional share of land suitable for agricultural purposes, with about half of its territory designated as arable land whereas forests cover about 19 percent of the land area.

Renewables contribution to the energy mix started from very low level yet has steadily grown over the past decade and is one of eleven countries that has achieved its 2020 renewable energy target. Hungary has agreed upon a 2020 target at 13 percent renewable energy sources (RES) in final energy consumption, increasing this value to 14.65 percent in the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP).

Currently, the lions’ share of renewable energy, 75 percent, goes towards heat. Of this biomass has a dominant share, approximately 90 percent. For electricity, renewables account for another 15 percent, with biomass again being the dominant source, around 65 percent.

Dried distiller’s grains, an important animal feed co-product of corn ethanol production.

As an agricultural nation, so-called crop-based “first generation” biofuels represent a significant opportunity though somewhat unsure going ahead post-2020 given current EU sentiments.

Facts

About European Bioenergy Day

The European Bioenergy Day campaign is powered by the European Biomass Association (AEBIOM) and relayed across Europe by both national and international partners supporting the belief that bioenergy is more than a renewable energy source, but a reliable path that will lead Europe to achieve its renewable energy transition in the shortest span of time. The campaign will last 66 days, starting from November 21 through the end of the year. This is a symbolic date on which the European Bioenergy Day was celebrated by organizing the European Bioenergy Future Conference, that was held in Brussels, Belgium on that date.

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