Romania’s Agricultural Biogas Potential: From Waste to Energy Independence

Romania produces millions of tons of manure and crop residues each year, yet less than 5% of this biomass is currently used for energy purposes. According to the European Commission (DG ENER, 2024), the country’s agricultural biogas potential exceeds 1 billion cubic meters per year — enough to power half a million households.

In 2024, the Rural Investment Financing Agency (AFIR) launched a support scheme for micro biogas installations, offering grants between €300,000 and €2 million. The first 40 approved projects reported energy efficiency rates of 65–75%, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), while the surplus electricity is fed into the national grid under the prosumer status. Data from Eurostat (2024) show that farms using anaerobic digestion cut their carbon emissions by over 50% and operational costs by around 20%.

The resulting digestate becomes a valuable organic fertilizer, reducing dependence on synthetic inputs. Integrating biogas systems into livestock and crop farms supports both the circular economy and rural energy security. In the medium term, turning waste into energy is no longer an experimental concept — it is emerging as one of the most profitable and sustainable strategies for farms aiming at energy independence and compliance with Net Zero 2050 objectives.

(Photo: Freepik)