METHODS OF ENERGY SAVING AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT FOR LIVESTOCK FARMSIN THE NORTH-WEST OF RUSSIA
The article describes the results from the analysis of existing methods of energy saving and energy efficiency improvement in agricultural production and everyday life of rural population; classification principles of the methods by the criterion of financial, material and labor inputs for their implementation; scientific substantiation of methods with regard to operation conditions of the livestock industry in the North-West of the Russian Federation; evaluation techniques for economic effectiveness of the practical implementation of the methods and their effect on reducing the energy intensity of livestock production. Substantiation of methods is based on the materials of multi-year express and fully integrated energy surveys and training of personnel of agricultural enterprises in Leningrad Region. This allowed taking into account the specific features of agricultural production in the climatic conditions of North-West Russia: seasonal character of work, territorial dispersion of thermal and electrical loads, the presence of biological objects, and the shortage of qualified personnel in the field of power engineering. The research undertaken produced a classification of methods by the criterion of financial, material and labour inputs for their implementation with the aim to obtain the maximum economic effect. Feasibility of each method for livestock farms was substantiated and examples of its contribution to improvement of energy efficiency of production were given.