The beginning of the XXI century was marked by a transitional period in the formation of the world energy system. The issue of energy saving is characterized by significant diversity and is a necessary strategic direction for the efficient use of production capacity with optimal energy costs. Intensive economic development and the use of non-renewable natural resources are currently of concern due to the danger of disturbing the ecological balance in the environment due to the burning of huge amounts of fossil fuels and emissions of various harmful substances. Biofuel production is becoming an alternative to traditional energy and can be a guarantee of solving problems of energy efficient and environmentally friendly development of rural areas. This work is a continuation of research work on the efficiency of biofuels production from energy crops and waste. The aim of the research is to assess the importance of biofuels production from the energy, economic and social aspects for sustainable development of rural areas of the world and Ukraine in particular. The conducted SWOT-analysis made it possible to determine the strategic directions of world biofuels production development. The results showed that biofuels production has a significant potential to decarbonize the economy, reduce reliance on crude oil, improve the environment by reducing emissions, create new “green” jobs in rural areas. The combination of social, economic and energy benefits will have a synergistic effect.

Today, ensuring energy security is becoming increasingly important. It has been proven that agricultural crops are currently the dominant feedstock for the production of biofuels and first-generation biofuels dominate both in Ukraine and around the world and can potentially pose a threat to food security. The research aims to analyze the state of food security in Ukraine in order to estimate the economic basis for the use of surplus food crops for biofuel production for substantiating the required areas for growing energy crops in the volumes that could ensure balance between the food and energy use of crops. An analysis of food security of Ukraine showed that the agricultural sector provides the population with most of the necessary food products, but it is advisable to modernize the food supply standards. It has been proven that crops that can be used for the production of first-generation biofuels in Ukraine are produced in sufficient quantities to ensure food security, and they are exported without compromising the food security of the state and export potential.
As calculated, Ukraine can use about 11–12 million hectares of arable land for growing energy crops with their subsequent processing into biofuels. It has been proven that in the future in Ukraine, it is recommended to develop the production of biofuels (biogas and solid biofuels) from crop and livestock waste, as well as organic waste from processing enterprises. This would not pose a threat to food security and would address a number of environmental issues related to waste disposal. Today, under the condition of war in Ukraine, food security and energy independence are priority issues and energy diversity, including the production and consumption of biofuels, is a top factor for further development.

The development of the modern economic system is becoming increasingly dependent on the sufficient provision of quality energy resources due to the intensification and transformation of the mechanization and automation of all industries. The growth of the energy needs of society is parallel to the awareness of the need to ensure the environmentally friendly development of society. There are a number of reasons for the search for new energy sources, including the limited reserves of traditional sources, dependence on oil-exporting countries, the greenhouse effect due to the entry of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and air pollution by harmful gases. The biofuel sector offers the potential for both the development of national agriculture and for increasing its energy independence. Global trends in the rapid development of bioenergy in combination with the systemic crisis of the energy sector in Ukraine have necessitated a detailed study on the possibility of increasing the yield of biofuels from crops. The economic and mathematical modeling of the possibility of increasing the yield of bioethanol and vegetable oil from agricultural crops has been carried out. An economic optimization model has been formed, which made it possible to study an increase in the yield of bioethanol from sugar-containing and starch-containing crops and vegetable oil from oil crops from 1 ton per 1 hectare of area. Also, an assessment of the lost yield for the investigated crops has been carried out using the method of analysis of the functioning environment (Farrell’s method).

The specificities of the sowing and harvesting campaign of 2022–2023 in Ukraine and its impact on the world energy and food market in the conditions of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation are analyzed in this paper. The purpose of the study is to determine the role of Ukraine in ensuring energy and global food security, to analyse the situation regarding the possibility of conducting a sowing and harvesting campaign in Ukraine in the conditions of hostilities and to provide recommendations on preserving the potential of Ukraine in meeting the energy and food needs of Ukraine and other countries. The provided analysis of data of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the State Customs Service and the State Statistics Service of Ukraine has confirmed the role of Ukraine in ensuring energy and food safety of many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, which are the main importers of agricultural products from Ukraine. It has been found that the 2022–2023 sowing and harvesting campaign in Ukraine is facing a number of problems, including: military operations over a large area, which makes it impossible to conduct agrotechnical activities in a timely manner; a lack of seed material due to its systematic destruction by the Russian military; problems with the supply of fuel and lubricants (systematic shelling and destruction of oil bases throughout Ukraine); problems with the supply of fertilizers; bombing wheat fields and food warehouses; blocking Ukrainian sea ports; mobilization of a significant part of the population in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; logistics problems. The study proposes recommendations to preserve the potential for meeting energy and food needs in Ukraine and for countries importing agricultural products from Ukraine.

Current practice of waste generation and management in Ukraine has led to an increase in the area of landfills and a loss of the beneficial potential of waste. Today, territorial communities in Ukraine have received enormous new powers within the framework of decentralization, in particular, waste management is now under their jurisdiction. In order to implement the National Waste Management Strategy in Ukraine 2030 and the National Waste Management Plan 2030, communities need to activate the areas of effective disposal of household solid waste (HSW), and for this purpose it is necessary to take into account European norms and standards in this area, as well as share successful Ukrainian and foreign experience. The aim of the study is to analyze a successful case of waste management of a separate community in Ukraine (Illintsi United Territorial Community) as an example for other communities, as well as to develop guidelines for bioenergy recycling of waste in the community under the study with the production of RDF fuel and biogas in order to provide energy resources and improve the condition of the environment. To achieve this goal, there were used the following methods: monographic, deductive, inductive, analysis and synthesis, economic analysis, graphic and tabular, statistical, as well as the case-study method. The conducted research confirmed the growth of waste generation volumes in Ukraine and their limited beneficial use. The developed recommendations on the improvement of the household solid waste management based on the successful case of Illintsi Territorial Community and proposals for organizing the production of RDF fuel and biogas can become a strong basis for the development of communities on the basis of sustainability.