Study of feasibility of local renewable resources for substitution of fossil fuels in the Far North of Russia

• Published in: IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science 2018-08, Vol.177 (1), p.12022
• Main Authors: Namsaraev, Z B, Konovalov, A M, Baturova, G V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Biofuels; Biomass; Diesel fuels; Energy resources; Energy sources; Feasibility studies; Forest residues; Forestry wastes; Forests; Fossil fuels; Fuels; Gasoline; Infrastructure; Modernization; Renewable energy sources; Renewable resources; Residues; Road transportation; Sustainable development; Sustainable yield
• ISSN: 1755-1307; 1755-1315; 1755-1315
• DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/177/1/012022

The problem of replacing fossil fuels is extremely important for the sustainable development of the Far North of Russia. At present, the power supply of this region is solved by delivering fossil fuel by water and road transport ("Northern delivery" or "Severniy zavoz" in Russian), which significantly increases its cost. The goal of this paper is to estimate the volume of fossil fuel delivery to the Far North and compare it with potential technical bioenergy resources for a transition of the local power systems to the local renewable resources. The analysis of the Northern delivery volume in 2015 showed that fuel constitutes 95.1 % of the total volume of the Northern Delivery. The estimated energy content of the different types of fuels is equal to 112.7 PJ (diesel 81.5 PJ, gasoline 9.6 PJ, coal 21.6 PJ). The total technical potential of forest waste in the northern Federal Districts is 355.9 PJ. Thus, the bioenergy potential of forest residues of these Federal Districts is more than 3 times higher than the energy content of fuels delivered to Far North. This makes the partial transition of the Far North to renewable energy sources theoretically possible, which will also help to solve a number of environmental problems related to the accumulation of waste from a forest industry. The use of the existing infrastructure of the Northern Delivery will allow creating a new local market for the forest residues and increasing the efficiency of the bioenergy industry. The possibility of transition to renewable energy resources should be taken into account during the modernization of the energy infrastructure in the Far North, including the possibility of using renewable resources for heating. The process of replacement of fossil fuels by renewable biofuels has already begun in a number of regions of the Far North, such as the Arkhangelsk region, which is one of the largest producers of wood pellets in Russia.