Assessment of the environmental and economic efficiency of alternative energy in the regions of the Russian Federation
The article assesses the environmental and economic benefits of the development of alternative energy in the regions of the Russian Federation. The assessment was carried out on the basis of a comparative analysis of the material intensity (resource intensity) of the indicated branch of the economy. The criterion of total MI (Material Input)-number is used, which allows reducing all natural resources to a single value. Significant values of specific material intensity (resource intensity) were established in regions where large brown coal-fired power plants are represented. The development of promising alternative energy sources in these regions can give the greatest environmental and economic effect, and lead to a significant reduction in negative environmental impact. A significant environmental and economic effect (more than 10 times), under the hypothetical scenario of the complete replacement of traditional alternative energy, will manifest itself in the following regions: Ryazan region, Tula region, Sverdlovsk region, Chelyabinsk region, Altai territory, Trans-Baikal region, Kemerovo region, Krasnoyarsk region , Omsk Region, Republic of Buryatia, Tomsk Region, Sakhalin Region, Khabarovsk Territory and Jewish Autonomous Region, Chukotka Autonomous Region. Greenhouse gas emissions under this scenario will be 13.6 times less than traditional energy. The most promising from an environmental and economic point of view, alternative energy sources that can effectively reduce the level of intensity of anthropogenic impact have insignificant specific material intensities: wind and solar energy. Biofuel plants and small hydropower plants, when compared with large ones, in mountainous terrain, have less efficiency. A comparative assessment of the material intensity of Russian alternative energy with foreign countries revealed the absence of significant differences in material intensity and the overall level of negative anthropogenic impact.