The potential, state of the art and prospects for the production of biofuel and energy from biomass obtained from agrarian pruning and plantation removal in the EU are presented in the paper. The paper analyzes the place of wood biomass in the biomass energy potential and its practical use in Ukraine. Preconditions for involving biomass from agrarian pruning and plantation removal in Ukraine’s energy sector are considered.

Barriers to the creation of a biofuel market in Ukraine, which are associated with wood fuel harvesting, are considered. The ways to overcome these barriers are proposed. The current characteristics of Ukrainian forests, which influence the possibility of wood fuel harvesting, and dynamics of their changes are analyzed. The scenario of increasing the volume of wood fuel harvesting, which corresponds to the key indicators of bioenergy development of the Energy Strategy of Ukraine until 2035, is proposed.

The aim of the work is to identify and analyze barriers to the production of energy from agribiomass in Ukraine. For better analyzing, the barriers are grouped according to different categories. The task of the work is to develop recommendations to overcome the identified and described barriers. In this part of the article, organizational, legislative, economic and environmental barriers to the use of biomass of agrarian origin for energy in Ukraine are considered. It is shown that applying a balanced and rational approach, it is possible to use part of the residues and by-products of crop production for energy. To reduce the negative impact on the soil, it is necessary to return ash from the burning of agribiomass to the fields, as well as introduce a sufficient amount of organic and mineral fertilizers. In order to stop the practice of unauthorized burning of crop remains in fields, it is recommended to create conditions under which harvesting and sale of biomass for energy will be economically attractive. One of such measures could be the introduction of biofuel electronic trade system in Ukraine. The draft law required for the establishment and operation of such a system was prepared in 2018 with the participation of the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine. It is also necessary to develop a strategy for the use of biomass of agricultural origin for energy and include it in one of the existing national documents or to approve it as a separate document. Another option is to elaborate a strategy for bioenergy development in Ukraine with a separate section on agribiomass. Dedicated ministries should explicitly state in their official documents their views on the possibility and optimal volumes of the use of agribiomass for energy production. This can be done, for example, by developing "Recommendations regarding possible volumes of crop production by-products to be used for energy in Ukraine".