Russia offers incredible potential when it comes to expanding renewable energies. We’ve identified countless possibilities, especially in the field of biogas, hydropower and landfill degassing. The numerous Russian metropolises produce a lot of organic waste and thus offer considerable capabilities when it comes to CO2 savings.
The major reason for the expansion of biogas energy in Russia is their funding at state level. The Russian Ministry of Energy assumes that 10% of energy will be generated from renewable sources by 2030. In Russia there are special “green” tariffs for electricity from renewable energy sources. The maximum amount of the “green” tariff for biogas plants is currently around 13 cents per 1 kW. Biogas plants are the only power source for which there are no device localization requirements. This enables us to use the latest European technologies and equipment.
Most of the organic waste in Russia comes from the agricultural sector. At present, in Russia, biological mass is seen as the main source of losses: the annual damage from agricultural waste is estimated at 450 billion rubles per year. Not only has biogas become an environmentally friendly and inexpensive way of recycling organic waste, with the help of biogas technologies, many other positive side effects can be achieved :
For one thing, it solves the problem of processing bio-waste and the problem of water pollution, because up to 90% of the organic mass is removed during wastewater treatment (municipal and livestock waste).
On the other hand, highly efficient fertilizers are obtained during the operation of biogas plants. In the anaerobic processing of agricultural waste, biomass is separated into organic and mineral components, so that we end up with a high-quality nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizer (for comparison: when composting waste, only up to 40% nitrogen is retained).
It should be noted at this point that Russia is known for using a very low amount of fertilizers – on average 50 kg / ha, whereas Western European countries use 500 kg / ha. Therefore, there’s a potential for up to 600 million tons of fertilizer per year. Biogas plants and the fertilizers obtained during the process might help to solve that gap.
