Expansion of the Fuel and Energy Balance Structure in Russia through the Development of a Closed-Loop Recycling

The goal of the study is to propose the basis for the concept of expanding the fuel balance in Russia through the development of a closed-loop resource cycle. We propose to use the criterion of energy potential of waste to generate new data on the resource base of the fuel and energy complex at the regional level. In order to form a reliable source for replenishment of the resource potential of the fuel and energy complex through waste recovery, the basic principles of data collection are proposed and the methodology for determining the energy potential at the city level is demonstrated using municipal solid waste (MSW) in 11 Russian cities as an example. The results of the evaluation have shown that due to energy recycling, MSW can cover from 2.11% to 6.01% of the heat demand of the territory under consideration. In the study, we propose to supplement the maximum involvement of waste in the fuel and energy balance (FEB) in Russia with the criterion of optimization of the energy balance at all levels and to distinguish a separate column “energy potential of waste” in the balance structure. This approach fundamentally changes the structure of the balance and gives the grounds for revision of plans for production and transportation of traditional energy resources.

Trends in the development of the district heating systems of Ukraine

We considered trends in the development of district heating systems (DHS) in Europe and Ukraine. It was established that DHS are widely used and make a significant contribution to the heat supply of European countries. In the European Union as a whole, the share of DHS is 13%, and there are plans to increase it to 50% in 2050 with a wide use of cogeneration and renewable sources of energy, including environmental energy with using heat pumps. Ukraine is one of the countries with a high level of DHS, but, at present, there are negative trends to reducing their contribution to the total heat supply for heating and hot water supply – from 65.2% in 2014 to 52% in 2017. In several cities, DHS ceased to function at all. The main equipment of the DHS of Ukraine is physically worn out and technologically obsolete and needs to be renewed by means of wide reconstruction, modernization, and technological re-equipment. We determined factors and the level of their influence on the demand in thermal energy of DHS. It was established that the factors reducing demand have a much greater potential. We created forecasts of demand for thermal energy, fuel balance, and the structure of DHS generation by 2050. It is shown that the demand for thermal energy from DHS will decrease and reach about 35 million Gcal in 2050. To ensure the low-carbon development of Ukraine in the structure of thermal energy generation in DHS, the use of coal-fired CHPs and boilers, as well as boilers on petroleum products will be significantly reduced. The share of natural gas in the fuel balance of DHS of Ukraine will also decrease, but it will be the main fuel for the period of technological transformation of generating capacities under conditions of the low-carbon development of Ukraine. The use of technologies for the production of thermal energy from biomass, waste, environment, and electricity will gradually increase, and in 2050, using these sources will produce about 23.8 million Gcal, which is more than 60% of the total thermal energy of DHS. Keywords: district heating systems, thermal energy, factors of influence, demand, fuel balance, generation structure

Analytical Determination of Fuel Economy Characteristics of Earth-Moving Machines

The article considers the problem of the analytical determination of the fuel economy performance of earth-moving machines by the example of the road grader. The values of the road grader fuel consumption when performing the technological operations have been obtained and analyzed. The fuel balance of the EMM in the traction mode is presented. The fuel balance of the motor grader when digging soil has been defined and analyzed.

Investigation of the environmental performance of a diesel engine when operating on multicomponent biofuel

Local types of fuels occupy 33.6% in the fuel balance of the Kirov region. The share of con-sumption of local fuels in the region is one of the highest in Russia. The Vyatka State University (VyatSU) in cooperation with the Belarusian State Agricultural Academy (BSAA) carry out the tests of the operation of automotive diesel engines on fuels with rapeseed oil (RO) and ethanol (E) additives, and spark internal combustion engines with generator gas (GG) additives. A new area of work of the scientific school is the study of the use of multicom-ponent compositions of biofuel compositions (MKBTK-15 and MKBTK-25). The use of such com-positions as a fuel compensates some of their distinctive properties for further use in internal com-bustion engines without changing the design and adjustments. The use of alternative fuels (AF) in internal combustion engines is a main topic for research. However, the use of any AF requires that the environmental indicators of the engine remain within acceptable limits. An important task is to determine the dependences of the emissions of toxic com-ponents on the load. The use of MKBTK-15 and MKBTK-25 as AF for engines will improve the environmental sit-uation in the region and reduce the need for commercial fuel. The operation of a diesel engine on multicomponent biofuel compositions makes it possible to reduce the smoke content of exhaust gases by 65% and 85%, the content of total nitrogen oxides remains at the same level or slightly decreases. There is a slight increase in the content of carbon dioxide СО2 up to 22.3%, but the solutions to this problem are already known. One of the ways is to preserve and increase boreal forests, which have great potential for absorbing greenhouse gases.

Oil Industry of USSR in Late 1920s - 1930s: Conflicting Development Results

The relevance of the study is due to the critical importance for the country of technological breakthrough, overcoming the inhibition of modernization processes. The novelty of the study is in the fact that on the basis of published and declassified archival documents, the problem of implementing the development plans for the oil industry in the years of the first five-year plans is investigated, factors that determine their failure are identified. As the main reasons, based on the results of the analysis of documentary data, serious strategic miscalculations in planning, the elimination of a whole cohort of brilliant oil workers were identified. The studied documents and materials made it possible to formulate the conclusion that large-scale plans were not fully supported by financial, human, technological resources. It is proved that this caused a disproportion between the growth of the national economy and the country's fuel balance. Particular attention is paid to the serious miscalculations of the Soviet government regarding the creation of an oil base in the east of the country. It is proved that, despite the recommendations of prominent scientists, only in the late 1930s the course changed, the realization of the need to search and develop new deposits in the Ural-Volga region came. It is concluded that as a result, by 1941, this oil-bearing region was not sufficiently mastered, but the foundation of “Second Baku” was laid.

Regional analysis of differentiation in air pollution from manufacturing at the post-Soviet territories

The article considers the dynamics of air emissions in 12 post-Soviet countries by region depending on the dynamics of GDP (GRP), the volume and structure of industrial production, changes in the structure of the fuel balance and energy intensity. During the crisis of the 1990s, pollution decreased in all countries and most regions, but at a slower rate than production, and as a result, specific emissions increased due to the greater resilience of the most “dirty” industries to the crisis. Pollution in the largest countries was the most persistent, and within countries in the largest emission regions. During the growth period, there was an increase in emissions in the regions of hydrocarbon production. Regional differences in emissions are mainly due to industrial production for Russia and Ukraine, with high consistency between production and pollution trends. In Ukraine, the decline in production in the Eastern regions has led to a shift in pollution to areas of population concentration. In Kazakhstan, the territorial structure of emissions is determined by the volume of coal-fired power generation and the location of energy- intensive industries. In the post-Soviet space, inherited development factors determine pollution from the energy sector, where outdated funds and the structure of the fuel balance have been preserved to the greatest extent. Large industrial regions tend to stabilize their emissions, while small regions either reduce their emissions or increase them.