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What is the problem?

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Berislavsk urban territorial community almost immediately found itself under occupation and was there for a long time 8 months. Together with 16 the community was deoccupied by other communities of the right bank of the Kherson region in November 2022 year, but since then, the city of Beryslav and the surrounding villages continue to be in the zone of active hostilities. Due to shelling by the Russian army, the population of the community decreased significantly - from 18 to 5 thousands. The occupiers also caused numerous damages to communal facilities and infrastructure of the community, causing only demographic, and the energy crisis. High-voltage power lines were destroyed in the community, and due to the destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP, the gas transportation system was damaged.

What a decision?

The Beryslav community does not give up. Despite almost daily shelling by the Russians, continues not only to function, but also to look for new opportunities. On the eve of the heating season, they decided to create a partial alternative to coal and gas here use local biofuel - straw - for heating communal buildings.

The initiator of the idea was a public organization “TAKE AND GLORY”. With support “U-LEAD with Europe” The NGO developed and implements the project “Increasing the energy independence of the Beryslav city community by creating the production of fuel briquettes”, which provides for the organization of briquette production and the initiation of an energy management system. Head of the organization “TAKE and GLORY” Natalia Starodubets says: even in the most difficult conditions, it is important to innovate in your life, to look for solutions and implement projects useful for the community.

How it works?

Public organization “TAKE and GLORY“, created in January 2021 year. First of all, to meet the needs of the youth of Beryslav OTG. From the very beginning of work “TAKE and GLORY” closely cooperated with the Department of Education, cultures, young people, of tourism and sports of the Berislav city council. Projects, which were embodied by the NGO, related to educational activities, environmental practices, promotion of tourism. The organization held workshops and round tables, represented the community and won the national youth art project. Besides, with the efforts of NGOs in the community, they bought a site for collecting sorted garbage. The starting point of the new stage of cooperation between the NGO and the Berislav territorial community was to be the creation of a modern youth center, but the war made adjustments.

From the first days of full-scale “TAKE and GLORY” was actively involved in measures to overcome the humanitarian crisis, which the Russians organized in the community, actually completely blocking it with roadblocks. The members of the NGO organized the purchase of products for the preparation of free lunches for the socially vulnerable sections of the community, donated baby diapers for families with small children. In April 2022 decided to leave the occupation to the controlled territory of Ukraine. They did not return to their native community until de-occupation.

“Immediately after the deoccupation of part of the Kherson region and, in particular, Our team of Beryslav district was very eager to renew activities in the community, - says Natalya Starodubets, head of the NGO. — We began to analyze the current situation in the Beryslav community, think, how we can be useful”.

Priority in real support of their community “TAKE and GLORY” determined the work to restore the energy stability of the community — taking into account the resources available in the community. Project developed by the organization “Increasing the energy independence of the Beryslav city community by creating the production of fuel briquettes” proves that this problem can be partially solved by production of own fuel briquettes and switching to heating communal facilities and households with them.

The main partner of the NGO in the implementation of the project was the Berislav City Military Administration. And the consultants of the project at all stages of its implementation became specialists of the Program “U-LEAD with Europe”, which is jointly financed by the European Union and its member states Germany, Poland, Sweden, by Denmark, Estonia and Slovenia.

Berislavsk community is mainly agrarian. Many grain crops are grown here, and after harvesting, a large amount of straw remains. As the head of the NGO said “TAKE and GLORY” Natalia Starodubets, usually farmers sold part of the straw for animal feed and bedding. But most often straw was simply burned.

“73% of all plant waste in Beryslav district is wheat waste (straw). This is a valuable raw material base, from which you can make briquettes for heating communal institutions and households, replacing them with expensive imported firewood and coal. We chose the production of briquettes, because it is an improved biofuel with predictable quality (the so-called euro firewood). They meet the requirements of the boiler equipment available in some communal institutions of the community, at the same time, they have better environmental performance than burning, compared to coal and conventional firewood. Besides, it is possible to use briquettes in household stoves and solid fuel boilers with manual loading”, - says Natalya Starodubets.

The head of the NGO tells, that the project provides for many measures, most of which have already been implemented. So, a line for the production of briquettes is not just its purchase, and the organization of the entire process, including line selection, its delivery, carrying out commissioning works, purchase of straw and own production of a trial batch of briquettes. І хоч роботи проводили в складних умовах — обстріли громади військами рф не припиняються ні на день, and many areas in the community are still mined, the organization managed to solve problems with both delivery and adjustment of equipment, as well as with the purchase of raw materials.

“We were ready for difficulties, — says Natalya Starodubets. — Got started - we have to work. There is a vision, we will manage”.

And it definitely works?

Despite all the obstacles, in the second half of August 2023 In 2008, the briquette production line produced the first batch of finished products. The exact location of the production line is not disclosed for security reasons, but production equipment is already being prepared for transfer to the balance sheet of the Berislav community, and in the future - to utility companies.

In addition to this, the authors of the project communicate with the residents of the Starostyn districts of the Beryslav community about the advantages of heating their own households with fuel briquettes. A seminar was organized for representatives of the local government of Beryslav district “Basics of briquette production”, and for local business representatives, a dialogue meeting was held on the topic “Prospects for the production of briquettes in the Kherson region”. According to the results of the project, methodological recommendations are already being developed with justification of the economic feasibility of the community's transition to briquettes with calculations of briquette production volumes for budgetary institutions. The plan is to conduct an energy audit of one communal building of the community with the provision of an expert opinion on the condition of the building, energy efficiency certificate and recommendations for implementation of energy saving measures and energy monitoring training for employees of communal institutions.

The organization also managed to overcome a certain quest with the purchase of raw materials, caused by the realities of wartime. But the demining process continues. In the future, when the agrarians of the community will increase their activity, each of them will be able to supply significant amounts of straw for making briquettes. The authors of the project calculated — local agricultural producers have sufficient resource potential, to provide raw materials for the activity of the utility company for the production of fuel briquettes.

“We are grateful to GO «TAKE and GLORY» and «U-LEAD with Europe», — says the deputy head of the Berislav city military administration Olena Tikhonova. — Due to damage to substations, electric and gas networks last winter was extremely difficult for the community. That is why we supported this project with great readiness. This will allow solving at least part of the heating issues in our community already this heating season”.

The purchased line for the production of fuel briquettes has capacity 300 kg of ready-made briquettes for 1 hour and can work around the clock. “Eurowood” will be used for heating one of the communal facilities of the community already this winter. This will contribute to ensuring the community's energy independence from traditional energy resources (firewood, coal, gas).

Using straw briquettes has many advantages in terms of environmental protection, stability, economy and community development:

• Straw briquettes have a high burning temperature, higher, than in firewood 1,5-2 times, and due to low humidity, they have a high heat output, which is almost similar to firewood from hardwood species.
• They have good combustion: duration and uniformity of combustion.
• The ash content of briquettes is several times lower compared to coal, which has an exponent 30%.
• During combustion, they do not emit harmful substances, and ash can be used as fertilizer.
• Briquettes do not pollute the premises, do not spark and almost do not emit smoke.
• They are compact and convenient to transport and do not deteriorate during long-term storage.
• It is also economically beneficial. The price of briquettes is three times lower than coal.
• The use of local organic raw materials reduces the dependence on the import of raw materials.
• Farms can receive additional income from the sale of straw.
• The raw material for briquettes is renewed every year.

“One person is enough to start production, — adds Natalya Starodubets. — Then everything will depend on the level of line load, but roughly up to three workers are required. It is also a plus for the community, since the situation with jobs as a result of a full-scale invasion has become very difficult - they are scarce”.

Even more useful solutions!

A complicated situation, for example, instability and hostilities near the community, can create challenges, but at the same time it can inspire the community to creative and innovative approaches to solving problems, the head of the NGO believes “TAKE and GLORY” Natalia Starodubets. It is important to remain open to new ideas, collaborate with partners and take advantage of opportunities for change and improvement, even in the most difficult conditions.

According to Ms. Natalie, there are several other reasons, why the implementation of new projects is of great importance especially during the war:

1. Stimulation of development. Introducing innovations and implementing new projects helps to build the community even during negative circumstances. This contributes to the growth of the economy, creation of new jobs and infrastructure development.
2. Search for alternative ways of development. In conditions of war and instability, the usual ways of economic and social development may be limited. Introducing innovations allows you to find alternative ways to achieve a goal and solve problems.
3. Promoting sustainability. The implementation of new projects and the introduction of innovations can help the community cope more effectively with challenges and risks, associated with changes in social, economic and political environment.
4. Increasing morale. Active search and implementation of new ideas and projects can affect the mood and morale of the community. It helps to maintain a positive attitude, contributes to its unification and joint efforts.
5. Dissemination of knowledge and skills. Implementation of new projects often requires the acquisition of new knowledge and skills. It can contribute to education, professional growth and development of local personnel.
6. Attracting resources. The introduction of innovations can attract the attention of investors, international organizations and other third-party partners, which can help attract the necessary resources for the implementation of projects.
7. Restoring faith in the future. Bringing innovations into the life of the community in the conditions of military conflict can contribute to the restoration of faith in the future, hopes for the best and belief in it, that the community shapes its destiny.

Natalya Starodubets confesses: for her as the head of the organization, this project became a big challenge, which required making difficult decisions and solving problems, which before the war simply did not exist in the community.

“Confident, that this project will definitely be permanent, after all our team strives for that, so that the started development does not stop, and continued on a long-term basis. In general, we see it as the beginning of a new stage, which covers new purposes, initiatives and opportunities to ensure the sustainable development of the community, — says the head of the organization. — Our NGO actively participates in the creation of the Recovery Plan for the Berislav community. We have created a significant share of project cards for future restorations and included them in this plan. There are a lot of projects. We dream of restoring and rebuilding our chestnut city. To see it blooming again, with smiling people and new opportunities”.