Vol 32, No 2 (2024)

The Russian Federation needs to transition to carbon standards, which are established in many foreign countries, to regulate and control the negative consequences of anthropogenic human activity. Quoting of greenhouse gas emissions at the global level pushes for the development and implementation of technologies to reduce them. One of the ways to reduce emissions in agriculture is the creation of carbon farms. At present, there is no unified methodological and statistical basis for the creation of a carbon farm in the Russian Federation. When creating it, it is necessary to understand not only the general principles of agrolandscapes functioning, but also to take into account the factors that have an impact on the carbon absorption capacity of the land located on the territory of the farm. A new approach to reducing emissions by optimising the location of agricultural land with regard to its sequestration potential on the basis of spatial modelling has been proposed. The specificity of the approach is demonstrated on the example of the farm of the All-Russian Research Institute of Reclaimed Lands (Tver region, Kalininsky district, Emmauss settlement). After additional testing, the approach can be recommended for implementation in the practice of carbon-depleting agricultural land use.

Operational waste, discharge of waste and biological resources overboard is an urgent issue of marine environment pollution. The modern fleet renewal program is more focused on modernization and contribution to deeper processing of products. However, reducing the negative impact of fishing on the aquatic ecosystem is not occurring. The work provides an example of the operation of the fishing fleet on the pollock fishery, as one of the most abundant. It describes the negative contribution of fishing vessels to the pollution of the waters, which occurs due to irrational use of aquatic biological resources and the associated significant volumes of fish discards overboard.

Author’s innovative technical solutions for modernizing existing burner devices of the GP type with low emissions of toxic nitrogen oxides, protected by patents for utility models, were analyzed and recommended for implementation in the oil and gas industry. New designs of GP burners with the placement of an oil nozzle in the embrasure, with additional equipment with a special pipe with a steam sprayer into the firebox, as well as with an additional arrangement of an air flow separator installed in the mixing chamber and equipped with nozzles for supplying compressed air, which increases the environmental friendliness of their operation by reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides from incomplete combustion products.

The article is devoted to the problem of effective management of drilling sludge, the development of waste-free and low-waste technologies. High-temperature firing is considered as one of the most promising and universal methods. The aim of the research is to study the physical and mechanical characteristics of drilling sludge depending on the temperature regime of neutralization. The drilling sludge of the Yuzhno-Ostrovnoe, SredneNazymskoe, Sredne-Balykskoe oil fields of KhMAO-Yugra was used as an object of research. Data on the granulometric composition, compressive strength, water absorption, change in strength in the water-saturated state, softening coefficient of drilling sludge samples depending on the firing temperature are presented. The most favorable temperature regime for the neutralization of drilling sludge has been identified. The material obtained as a result of neutralization can be considered for use in the construction of areal and linear facilities as part of the development of deposits.

Particularly relevant are studies to establish the microelement status of territories in environmentally unfavorable regions with high anthropogenic load, which include the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Natural and geochemical features of territories, as a complex of factors constantly acting on the human body, can cause not only endemic diseases, but also potentiate anthropogenic effects. A large number of studies on geochemistry, biogeochemistry, soil science, and the ecology of microelements in the natural environment have been carried out in different regions of Siberia. At the same time, in the southern part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, data on a comprehensive assessment of the content of microelements in different parts of the ecosystem have not been sufficiently studied, summarized and systematized. Thus, the purpose of the work was to study the characteristics of the elemental status of the indigenous population of the south of Central Siberia. Laboratory studies to determine the concentration of trace elements in the hair of the examined individuals were carried out using mass spectrometry with inductively coupled argon plasma. When considering the results of the study, certain groups of the population of the city of Krasnoyarsk were recorded in elemental status between the sexes. In men, there was an increase in potassium content by 1.7 times, phosphorus by 1.2 times relative to the 75th centile. The content of cobalt and calcium corresponded to the 25th centile of normal content in bio substrates. For women living in the city of Krasnoyarsk, an increased excretion of calcium and zinc from the body by 1.2 times relative to the 75th centile was noted. In this gender group, normal average and median values for the content of iron and chromium in bio substrates (hair) have been established and are 21 and 0.46 μg/g, respectively. The level of toxic elements such as nickel, mercury, cadmium and lead were normal and the range of maximum values did not exceed the 75th centile interval in both study groups.

The city of Ulan-Ude is annually included in the priority list of cities with the highest level of atmospheric air pollution. The main stationary sources of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere of Ulan-Ude are heat and power enterprises. Their contribution to the total air pollution of the city by stationary sources is about 45%. As fuel they use hard and brown coal and fuel oil. The purpose of the presented work was to study the influence of different types of fuel on atmospheric air pollution based on the results of computational modeling and experimental assessment of snow cover quality. The objects of the study were neighborhood boiler plants located in Ulan-Ude (Aeroport settlement, Glass Factory settlement). The computational modeling was carried out using the Unified program of atmospheric pollution calculation “Web-Prisma-Enterprise”. Analysis of microelement composition of melted snow water was performed by inductively coupled plasma method on Agilent 7500ce quadrupole mass spectrometer. The results of pollutant dispersion in the atmosphere showed an excess of the calculated surface concentrations at coal combustion for solid and gaseous substances compared to similar concentrations produced at fuel oil combustion by 2.45-141.4 times. In contrast, according to the experimental snow cover studies, the fuel oil-fired boiler plant contributes more pollution (Z = 1563.80 - very high pollution level) compared to the boiler plant using coal as fuel (Z = 107.61 - average pollution level). The reasons for this discrepancy may be imperfections in the methodology of calculating emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere: particulate matter (coal or fuel oil ash) is subject to regulation without taking into account their chemical composition; the algorithm of dispersion of emissions does not take into account the density of buildings around the source of emissions into the atmosphere.

The forest resources of Russia, primarily concentrated in the taiga zone, are actively exploited, especially in the European part of Russia. Forest management even under conditions of one natural zone has significant spatial disparities due to natural climatic differences of territories and spatial and temporal peculiarities of forest exploitation. This study aims to analyze the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of forest resources and the structure and productivity of felling from the viewpoint of the transformation of the forest resource base of the Vologda Region. The dynamics of forest cover, area and structure of timber reserves during the XX century are considered for the region as a whole. The forest fund and estimates of forest resources for the XXI century are characterized under the authors’ calculations and are given by districts and areas of the region. All estimates are based on official statistical data taken from the comprehensive territorial inventories of natural resources and the reporting documents of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Vologda Region. The reserves and forest resources analyzed under the cartographical modeling show an increase in the volume and intensity of felling against the decrease in the share of both coniferous and mature timber. Since the beginning of the XX century, the share of coniferous trees in the forest stand structure has decreased to 50-55%. The dominating timber species in the taiga forests of the Vologda Region as of today is birch. The share of mature forests has also decreased to 50%, with the deciduous forests prevailing among the mature ones. The results of the study show a dangerous transformation of forest resources for the near future, thereby greatly threatening both sustainable forest resources and the conservation of taiga landscapes on the whole.