The Russian economy is often referred to as a commodity economy, and that makes sense: our country is one of the richest in the world in terms of mineral resources. Crude oil, gas and lignite are successfully exported to various destinations, with India and China processing the raw materials (coal, oil and gas) they receive from Russia and reselling the finished product, for example in the form of synthetic natural gas, at a good profit for European countries. It turns out that even with the most impressive reserves in the world, Russia loses profits due to the inefficiency of their use. Ways to solve this problem were discussed by experts at one of the main sessions of the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum.
Participants of the session “Growth points of Siberia. Prospects for deepening the processing of hydrocarbons in the region” are convinced that the solution to the problem posed lies on the surface. It is necessary to learn how to use energy carriers as efficiently as possible. Today, Russia has a well-established mechanism for the extraction and sale of oil, gas and coal. In addition, minerals are actively used in business and for the personal needs of citizens, however, the potential of energy carriers is much wider – starting from the deepening of their processing in the country, economy and environment of the Russian Federation will only benefit from it. And considering that, according to the Constitution, all natural resources belong to the people, the question of increasing the efficiency of their use falls within the realm of the interests of every Russian.
Smokeless, superplastic and ashless fuel
The ashes and emissions that remain during coal processing and transportation cause serious environmental damage. Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Uss at KEF-23 called to stop the coal transportation process. There are technologies that turn coal into fuel without ash residue. At the same time, emissions of harmful substances into the air are reduced by 90%. 20% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. And transporting the processed product also frees up overloaded railroads.
“Coal is not bad dirty fuel, but faulty and obsolete technologies for its processing. The need to burn coal arose in the 18th and 19th centuries, but today is a different time, tasks We are already making Siberian lignite a very efficient and environmentally friendly fuel,” notes Sergey Islamov, Doctor of Technical Sciences .
When using smokeless fuel, an additional valuable product is formed – gaseous fuel, it can also be used. Competent coal processing also provides a sorbent to improve the efficiency of processing facilities.
Today, with the departure of Western companies, many raw material niches have been freed up for advanced processing products – a movement towards the creation of high value-added products (recycled coal can be used to produce fertilizers, paint, rubber, batteries, and more). So far, Russia has imported much of what it can produce itself.
From recent examples: through the deep processing of oil, engineering plastics are produced. They were also used in the construction of engineering communications of the Crimean Bridge.
Clear benefits for the economy
As Sergei Islamov pointed out, in order to establish such processes, companies need large-scale investments and programs for the development of state hydrocarbon processing. There is no doubt that such actions will pay off many times over in the future. Experts have calculated that from 4-5 tons of lignite 1 ton of smokeless fuel is obtained. And its price is several times higher than the cost of ordinary coal.
Photo: kef2023.ru
Working in this direction is beneficial for the Russian economy and for Russians. Deep processing will kill two birds with one stone – increase the amount of useful raw materials and reduce hazardous waste and greenhouse gas emissions, thereby improving the ecology in cities. The development of efficient coal processing has been tracked for a long time, for example in India and China, where such processing is a priority of national industrial policy. The time has come for Russia to follow its lead.
Strong processing export potential
Russian coal is in demand all over the world. Raw materials in our country are many times cleaner than coal in other states. As reported Head of the Coal Industry Development Department of the Ministry of Energy Petr Bobylev with the active development of processing programs, Russia will be able to export not only coal, which costs $100-150 per ton, but also coal chemicals, or processed raw materials, at $2,000 per ton.
Besides coal, there is also significant untapped potential in oil and gas production. According to analysts, in Russia only 1.5% of gas is used as chemical feedstock, while a significant part of blue fuel is burned in the fields. As a result, we have economic losses. As for oil production, each year flares burn as much associated gas as the entire population of our country consumes in one year.
“The deepening of the processing of fossil raw materials in Siberia, including oil, coal and gas, can become a new vector for the country’s development and expand the export potential of the Russian Federation,” he said. she assured. Irina Bakhtina, President of the Ecology, Climate and Environmental Protection Committee of the National ESG Alliance .
At the same time, the Russian Federation has rich experience in the efficient processing of raw materials. So, for example, in the aluminum industry, Russian raw materials – nepheline ore and bauxite – are 100% processed.
Companies have rich knowledge, technology and experience, the next step is for the state. Authorities need only establish a mechanism for enforcement of recycling methods at the state level to make the inefficient use of minerals a thing of the past.
Krasnoyarsk gasification is profitable
Photo: University 2019. Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
In addition to the efficient processing of resources, government officials, businesses and scientists speaking at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum discussed another long-standing Siberian problem. This is the lack of gasification of Krasnoyarsk. Today, this region of strategic importance for the economy is cut off from the country’s gas pipelines.
Paradoxically, Siberia is one of the cheapest gas producers in the world, and Krasnoyarsk is still heated with coal. Forum experts called for accelerating the gasification of the region, as well as forming a new gas transportation system in the region.
Siberian natural gas contains propane, methane, butane, heavy hydrocarbons and expensive helium, the largest reserves of which are concentrated in Eastern Siberia and the Far East. This means the need to build gas processing capabilities in the regions to produce these valuable components. As a result of processing, dry gas is also released, which can be used, for example, in the gasification of private households. According to analysts, in total, these measures will be able to attract up to three trillion rubles of investments by 2050.
