Balance assessment of material and energy biosphere flows and the energy industry in an industrial region

Abstract

The balance assessment of biosphere material and energy flows and those resulting from economic activity in the industrial region is carried out. The analysis is based on the use of stability indicators of the region's socio-ecological and economic system. For balance assessment of material and energy biosphere flows and economic activity, the total material input criterion was used, where the consumed natural resources are reduced to a single value. It was found that the functioning of the energy sector operating on fossil fuels created significant imbalances in the material and energy flows. The balance indicator is calculated for the regions of the Ural Federal District. In all regions of the Ural Federal District, except for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, the balance indicator is higher than the presence of general instability. The study allowed determining the magnitude of the ecological and economic effect in developing promising renewable energy sources. In 2 regions of the Ural Federal District, the scenario of replacing traditional energy with renewable energy will reduce the material intensity, which means that it will increase the level of balance of material and energy flows by more than 10 times.