841 ACTA UNIVERSITATIS AGRICULTURAE ET SILVICULTURAE MENDELIANAE BRUNENSIS Volume 64 96 Number 3, 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.11118/actaun201664030841 THE POSSIBILITIES OF USING MARC FOR MANUFACTURING PELLETS FOR ENERGY PURPOSES David Ludín 1 , Patrik Burg 1 , Anna Krakowiak-Bal 2 , Vladimir Višacki 3 1 Department of Horticultural Machinery, Faculty of Horticulture, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic 2 Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Computer Sciences, Faculty of Production and Power Engineering, Uniwersytet rolniczy Krakow, Balicka 116, 30-149 Krakow, Poland 3 Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad, Trg. Dositeja Obradovića 8, 19 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia Abstract LUDÍN DAVID, BURG PATRIK, KRAKOWIAK-BAL ANNA, VIŠACKI VLADIMIR. 2016. The Possibilities of Using Marc for Manufacturing Pellets for Energy Purposes. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 64(3): 841–846. The contribution describe the possibilities of using marc for manufacturing pellets for energy purposes. Experiments associated with pellet production were performed in several variants. Biomass pellet variants consisted of different percentages of vine shoots from vineyards, as well as marc and hay. These test variants were measured for their calorific value, which ranged between 17.36 and 19.21 MJ.kg −1 . Bulk density was also determined, ranging between 619.27 and 630.9 kg.m −3 . Pellets produced with marc content were also tested for mechanical durability, which was between 96.15 and 96.82% for the test variants. The calorific value, alongside other parameters assessed, shows favourable characteristics towards use in combustion processes. The results obtained show that in terms of the parameters analysed, marc pellets could be an attractive commodity for combustion. Keywords: vineyard, grape pomace, calorific value, pellets, bulk density, mechanical durability of pellets INTRODUCTION The current global energy system is based mainly on the use of fossil fuels. The growing energy consumption, high dependency on fossil fuels and negative impact on the environment have lead the European Union to re-evaluate its energy policy and strategies while adopting a number of measures. These measures are directed mainly towards using renewable energy sources, decreasing carbon dioxide emissions, decreasing the dependency on imported energy sources, diversifying energy sources and increasing international cooperation (Berndes et al., 2003; Mantzos and Capros, 2006). The EU strategies relating to renewable energy include mainly the use of biomass, which by 2020 should represent more than 50 % of total renewable energy sources in the EU-27 countries (Bentsen and Felby, 2012). Prozil (2012) states that biomass from forestry and agriculture is finding use as an alternative energy source mainly in household heating and electricity production. In recent years, attention is being directed more and more towards the use of waste biomass from viniculture and wine-making, which represent a significant production sector in the EU (Freppaz et al., 2004; Baydar et al., 2007; Miranda et al., 2011). Waste products produced regularly every year in large amounts include vine shoots aſter winter cutting of grapevine and marc produced during grape processing (Walg, 2007; Tangolar et al., 2009). An interesting alternative in the use of these resources in the area of bioenegetics is their pelletization. To obtain quality pellets, it is necessary to respect the mutual ratios of the input materials and their moisture content, which must not be higher than 14% (Burg et al., 2015). Pastorek et al. (2004) states that the materials must be sufficiently homogenized and disintegrated.