METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO DETERMINING THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF ENERGY CROP PRODUCTION

Introduction. Modern challenges have led to the need to preserve natural resources and ensure energy security, so the issue of energy crop production is becoming particularly relevant. Cultivation of energy crops contributes to the development of ecologically clean energy sources, reducing dependence on traditional fossil resources, and improving the ecological state of the environment. However, in order to ensure the effective implementation of these technologies in economic activity, it is necessary to analyze scientifically based methodological approaches to the assessment of their ecological and economic efficiency. In this connection, there is a need to research and justify the methodological principles for a comprehensive assessment of the ecological and economic results of growing energy crops. Purpose. The purpose of the paper is to carry out a comprehensive analysis of methodological approaches to assessing the ecological and economic efficiency of the production of energy crops, identifying the main criteria that allow assessing the economic benefits of growing energy crops and their impact on the environment. Materials and methods. The materials of the research are: regulatory and legal framework related to the regulation of cultivation and assessment of the ecological and economic efficiency of energy crops; scientific works of domestic and foreign authors studying the issues of ecological and economic efficiency of the production of energy crops; analytical materials regarding the impact of growing energy crops on changing the structure of the land fund; statistical data on biomass production, economic costs of growing energy crops, as well as the environmental consequences of their cultivation. In the research process, the following scientific methods were applied, including analysis and synthesis, the method of theoretical generalization and systematization — to study and structure existing approaches to assessing the ecological and economic efficiency of the production of energy crops; the method of comparative analysis — to analyze and compare the economic efficiency of various types of energy crops and their environmental benefits; system-structural analysis — to determine the economic and environmental components that affect the overall efficiency of the energy crop production system; the method of logical generalization — for formulating conclusions about the economic and ecological benefits of growing energy crops.