The endless fields of immortelle and lavender, where this aromatic herb is carefully nurtured and harvested, this time are not an attraction in the Mediterranean, but in Eastern Serbia. In the town of Gornja Mutnica, not far from Paracin, on about 315 hectares of plantations of the Serbian-Belgian company Sanicula, other Mediterranean cultures are organically grown: lemon balm, thyme and heather. After the harvest season, these plants are distilled into essential oils which, thanks to their quality, find their customers on the world market.
The local community also benefits. First, this company employs about 200 families from the surrounding villages. They start the day every morning with coffee, which is brought to them personally by the founder and owner of the company, Novica Sutic, according to the UNDP website.
– I’ve been here for the fifth season. It will be difficult, but it is unburdened by the mind and the brain. Joke, laughter and the day passes – says one of the workers in the fields of Sanicula.
While developing his business, Sutic came up with a formula that allows him to return a lot to nature in the environment in which he operates.
The whole production process is completed – from raw materials to the establishment of plantations, the use of own machinery, planting, processing, maintenance of planted areas, harvesting and processing of Mediterranean crops into essential oils.
Seeing that a large amount of waste, ie biomass, remains after the distillation of plants into essential oils, the team of this company devised how to make biopellet from it. The technology of biopellet production from aromatic plant residues is very similar to the production of wood pellets, and this plant near Paracin is the first of its kind in Serbia.
– The growth of the company, the constant increase in the area of plantations and the parallel search for clean and cheap energy have led us to start experimenting with biomass. After the first analyzes that showed that our biopellet has a high caloric value, everything started to agree – Novica explains.
Sanicula uses biopellets as an energy source in its distillation and drying plant, and the ash that remains after its combustion as organic fertilizer on plantations. By applying this circular approach, the production of essential oils does not create waste, and economic development does not endanger the environment. – Our plan is for the annual production to reach the level of 3,000 tons of biopellets by 2023. In terms of potential for energy production, that is equivalent to the amount of 700 tons of coal and 200 tons of diesel fuel – points out Sutic.
The use of biopellets has the effect of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, thus mitigating the effects of climate change. Currently, plants from the Sanicula field absorb 10 times more carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere than this company emits for the production of essential oils. They also extend the life of their business with ecologically sustainable production.
Namely, longer periods of drought, which also affect Serbia, as well as more intense floods, significantly reduce the yields of Mediterranean crops.
Sanicula’s “innovative approach to the production of biomass pellets from the processing of medicinal plants” was awarded as one of the five best innovative and climate-smart solutions within the project “Local Development Resistant to Climate Change” – implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Environment with the financial support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The realization of this solution will contribute to the affirmation of business according to the principles of sustainable development, through the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and the application of the concept of “zero waste”, which seeks to completely eliminate waste from the production process. It is estimated that the project will reduce emissions by 20,000 tons of CO2, according to the UNDP website, eKapija reports.
