How to Launch Production of Biodiesel in Serbia – Current Facilities Have Small Capacities

The rise of the price of energy sources is leading to the necessity of the use of alternative fuels for machines in many countries, and the use of biodiesel has therefore become current again. Milan Tomic, a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad, said for Radio Beograd 1 that the production of biodiesel in Serbia has been reduced to the operations of micro facilities of small capacities, which are mostly located on agricultural properties, where agriculturists use biodiesel for their own needs.

Since the beginning of the pandemic and then the war of Ukraine as well, those who advocate the use of biodiesel in Serbia, primarily in agriculture, since that industry is the biggest user of diesel fuel in the country, have grown more vocal too.

Professor Tomic explains that, in Serbia, the main raw ingredients for the production of biodiesel, the sunflower and the soybean, are grown on around 450,000 hectares, whereas rapeseed is grown on only 25,000 hectares.

Considering the needs of the populace for food, an area of around 242,000 ha could be used for the production of biodiesel in Serbia, which, he points out, would enable the production of around 242,000 tons of biodiesel a year.

Certain counties also use waste edible oils from restaurants, households and the food industry. When asked whether that system could be applied in Serbia too, professor Tomic says that “with the development of an efficient system of the collection of waste edible oils, it would be possible to produce an additional 10,000 tons of biodiesel a year by using this raw material”.

According to professor Tomic, the production of biodiesel in Serbia has been reduced to the operations of micro facilities of small capacities, which are mostly located on agricultural properties, where they are used for the owners’ own needs.

He reminds that the country had started the production of biodiesel in 2007, but that it was stopped in 2013 due to the implementation of the excise taxes on the sale of biodiesel, which therefore cost nearly as much as petroleum-based fuel, thereby becoming non-competitive with Eurodiesel, RTS reports.

Poljoprivredni fakultet Novi Sad

Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad

Milan Tomić

production of biodiesel in micro facilities

raw ingredients for production of biodiesel

waste edible oils

collection of waste edible oils

implementation of excise taxes on sale of biodiesel