General basis

I don’t think I need to remind you about the problems of energy supply in Romania, both from the simple point of view of availability and especially from the point of view of current costs, but especially future ones.

I think it is not worth reminding about the recommendations of the Council of Europe regarding the reduction or cessation of the import of fossil fuels from Russia.

In addition to the above context, which emerged recently (this year) after the war in Ukraine, Romania is in a waste infringement procedure from 2021 – see

Directive 2018/850 EU on landfills introduces restrictions onstorage of all waste which can be recycled or energy use, starting from 2030, pursuant to which the Government of Romania issues an OUG (pursuant to OUG 92 of 19 August 2021) establishing the objectives of Directive 850, from which we quote:

c) to achieve by 2025 the minimum level of preparation for reuse and recycling of household waste of 55% by weight;

d) to achieve by 2030 the minimum level of preparation for reuse and recycling of household waste of 60% by weight;

e) to reach a minimum level of preparation for reuse and recycling of household waste of 65% by 2035

Consequences of the above for the economic system of Romania

The implications for Romania’s economy can be assessed very easily, starting with some simple information that needs to be put into context, leading to decisions. So, we start with simple statistical information, as in Romania generates ~22 million tons of household waste per year

but,

“Our recycling target is 60-70% (from our OUG) can only be achieved if we solve the problem of biodegradable waste, which constitutes 60% of municipal waste” (NA, i.e. biodegradable waste = biomass!, as the RED-III European Renewable Energy Directives “teach” and also Directive 27 on Energy Efficiency, from which I quote what is marked in yellow as relevant):

So, following the logic of Romania’s domestic waste, 22 million tons per year contain a biodegradable fraction (biomass! – hence “green energy”!), say 60%, that is, somewhere around 13 million. t/year of RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel – i.e. “green” fuel obtained as a result of waste processing), the calorific value of which is ~3.4 MWh/t.

So, in the end, we find ourselves “in the yard” with approx. 44 million MWh per year of primary green energy available!

And to give you an idea of ​​what this available green primary energy is, it is about 20% more than the uranium-235 consumed by the 2 nuclear groups from Chernavoda, with the difference that the CHP uses waste they also produce thermal energy replacement of fossil fuels for heating

For relevance, below is a Sankey diagram for a Hamburg waste treatment plant (maybe not the most up-to-date and relevant, but it’s what I immediately got), but above all it illustrates the majority of the “energy” component in this whole matter

What does the Ministry of Energy do? nothing!

New attempts are being made to change some of Romania’s inappropriate renewable energy regulations, regulations, ministerial orders, etc. because the problem of waste, which in Romania is defined and applied “by ear” (as a renewable resource, municipal waste is only part of the problem: there are also other “wastes” mentioned above – forestry, agriculture, etc., etc., which in themselves are the equivalent of another 3-4 nuclear power plants.)

In this sense, the Ministry of Energy requested cooperation, including the amendment of GEO-92 dated August 19, 2021, to which the Ministry of Energy officially responds that “the initiator of GEO-92 is the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Ministry of Energy does not have the status of an advisory institution.“and that “Art. 1 of the regulatory act is aimed at ensuring a high level of environmental protection and public health…by reducing the amount of waste”

To such a contradictory answer (as if energy does not aim to protect the environment, and in matters of waste, 60% of the problem is precisely energy!) it remains only to try to interpret the motivation of such a position. , which can be:

• Prose political reasons: the “liberal” minister does not want to discuss with the “UDMR” minister (or vice versa), everyone considers “their” ministry as a separate independent structure.
• The Ministry of Energy “does not self-report” because:
  • You also do not understand what it is about
  • He understands what it is about, but he does not want to, because:
    • He does not want for internal reasons, or,
    • He doesn’t want to because of external reasons
• Exactly the same “logical scheme” given above can be applied to the Ministry of Natural Resources, and one more direct question to him: why did he not include the Ministry of Energy in the advisory institutions? (read OUG-92 for compliance) considering the elements that take into account the energy problems in the industry?…and the Ministry of the Environment probably has several reasons other than a No counts among the “advisors” of the Ministry of Energy.

Therefore, the Ministry of the Environment, although it has GEO-92, full of energy elements and concepts, having no experience in this field, neglects the energy component and, without distinguishing, for example, between incineration and incineration, silently decides that no waste can be used for energy purposes (has anyone seen in Romania in the last 30 years any cogeneration plant for waste?!… although Western Europe is full of such things), rather than any developer discussing emissions with any environmental agency, better to skip it and leave everything in the puddle. Examples? There are a huge number of practical examples of failures in the utilization of household waste for energy purposes.

So, in Romania, the only “use” of RDF/SRF from municipal waste is incineration processes in cement plants (it may exist, but personally I have not heard of any specific regulation of the Ministry of Environment that does or does not make any difference between waste incineration in cement kilns and burning in them energy boilers specially designed for them.).

If you look a little at the “economics” of cement plants that use household waste (quote below), you can find a certain explanation of the position of the Ministry of Natural Resources:

Anyone could ask a question: why is this waste not used in cogeneration plants for heating, saving the public from coal/gas, emissions and higher costs? Cement production is a “niche industry” problem, while electricity production is a national problem and thermal energy production is a local and social problem. Read the whole article and comment on Contributors.ro