Ukraine’s dependence on natural gas imports has left it vulnerable to Russian influence and increasing prices. According to energy experts and officials, Ukraine could substantially reduce its use of natural gas for heating by tapping its enormous resources of biomass. Self-sufficiency in energy is particularly crucial for Ukraine in light of its severely strained relations with Russia. A five-minute drive from the center of Zhytomyr, a city 140 kilometers west of Kyiv, local and foreign officials gathered on November 18 to celebrate the opening of a new plant to supply heat and hot water to dozens of nearby apartment buildings. The $10 million project, financed largely through grants and cheap loans from Western financial institutions and the Swiss government, looks unremarkable from the outside: It could easily be mistaken for a simple warehouse were it not for the slender gray smokestack jutting toward the sky. But inside the box-like […]