1. Introduction............................................... ................................................... 2
2. Industrial production and environmental quality........ 3
2.1. General trends in production development.................................. 3
2.2. Energy and environmental protection.................................... 6
2.3. Saving fuel and energy resources is the most important area of rational environmental management.................................... 8
3. Greening the economy and business.................................................... ....... eleven
3.1. Impact of economic reforms on the environment...... 11
3.2. Environmental funds are a tool for additional financing of environmental activities.................................... 17
3.3. Investments in environmental energy .................................................... 19
3.4. Problems of applying economic methods in nature management and environmental protection (using the example of the energy industry) 23
4. Conclusion................................................... ........................................... 27
5. List of references......................................................... ........................... 29
At all stages of his development, man was closely connected with the world around him. But since the emergence of a highly industrialized society, dangerous human intervention in nature has sharply increased, the scope of this intervention has expanded, it has become more diverse and now threatens to become a global danger to humanity. The consumption of non-renewable raw materials is increasing, more and more arable land is leaving the economy as cities and factories are built on it. Man has to increasingly intervene in the economy of the biosphere - that part of our planet in which life exists. The Earth's biosphere is currently subject to increasing anthropogenic impact. At the same time, several of the most significant processes can be identified, any of which does not improve the environmental situation on the planet. The most widespread and significant is chemical pollution of the environment with substances of a chemical nature that are unusual for it. Among them are gaseous and aerosol pollutants of industrial and domestic origin. The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is also progressing. The further development of this process will strengthen the undesirable trend towards an increase in the average annual temperature on the planet. Environmentalists are also concerned about the ongoing pollution of the World Ocean with oil and petroleum products, which has already reached almost half of its total surface. Oil pollution of this size can cause significant disruptions in gas and water exchange between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere. There is no doubt about the importance of chemical contamination of the soil with pesticides and its increased acidity, leading to the collapse of the ecosystem. In general, all the factors considered that can be attributed to the polluting effect have a noticeable impact on the processes occurring in the biosphere. As humanity develops, it begins to use more and more new types of resources (nuclear and geothermal energy, solar, tidal hydropower, wind and other non-traditional sources). However, fuel resources today play a major role in providing energy to all sectors of the economy. This is clearly reflected in the structure of the fuel and energy balance.
Structure of the world's energy demand for 1993
Table 1.1
The fuel and energy complex is closely connected with the entire industry of the country. More than 20% of funds are spent on its development. The fuel and energy complex accounts for 30% of fixed assets.
The 20th century brought humanity many benefits associated with the rapid development of scientific and technological progress, and at the same time brought life on Earth to the brink of an environmental disaster. Population growth, intensification of production and emissions that pollute the Earth lead to fundamental changes in nature and affect the very existence of man. Some of these changes are extremely strong and so widespread that global environmental problems arise. There are serious problems of pollution (atmosphere, water, soil), acid rain, radiation damage to the territory, as well as the loss of certain species of plants and living organisms, depletion of biological resources, deforestation and desertification of territories.
Problems arise as a result of such interaction between nature and man, in which the anthropogenic load on the territory (it is determined through the technogenic load and population density) exceeds the ecological capabilities of this territory, due mainly to its natural resource potential and the general stability of natural landscapes (complexes, geosystems) to anthropogenic impacts.
The main sources of air pollution in our country are machines and installations using sulfur-containing coals, oil, and gas.
Significantly pollute the atmosphere is motor transport, thermal power plants, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, oil and gas refining, chemical and forestry industries. A large amount of harmful substances enter the atmosphere with vehicle exhaust gases, and their share in air pollution is constantly growing; According to some estimates, in Russia - more than 30%, and in the USA - more than 60% of the total emission of pollutants into the atmosphere.
With the growth of industrial production and its industrialization, environmental protection measures based on MPC standards and their derivatives become insufficient to reduce already formed pollution. Therefore, it is natural to turn to the search for integrated characteristics that, reflecting the real state of the environment, would help to choose the environmentally and economically optimal option, and in contaminated (disturbed) conditions, determine the order of restoration and health measures.
With the transition to the path of intensive economic development, an important role is given to the system of economic indicators endowed with the most important functions of economic activity: planning, accounting, evaluation, control and incentives. Like any systemic formation, which is not an arbitrary set, but interconnected elements in a certain integrity, economic indicators are designed to express the final result, taking into account all phases of the reproduction process.
One of the important reasons for the increase in the environmental intensity of the economy was the wear and tear of equipment exceeding all acceptable standards. In basic industries and transport, wear and tear on equipment, including wastewater treatment equipment, reaches 70-80%. With the continued operation of such equipment, the likelihood of environmental disasters increases sharply.
Typical in this regard was the oil pipeline accident in the Arctic region of Komi near Usinsk. As a result, up to 100 thousand tons of oil spilled onto the fragile ecosystems of the North, according to various estimates. This environmental disaster became one of the largest in the world in the 90s, and it was caused by the extreme deterioration of the pipeline. The accident received worldwide publicity, although according to some Russian experts, it is one of many - others were simply hidden. For example, in the same Komi region in 1992, according to the interdepartmental commission on environmental safety, 890 accidents occurred.
The economic damage of environmental disasters is colossal. With the funds saved as a result of preventing accidents, it would be possible to reconstruct the fuel and energy complex over the course of several years and significantly reduce the energy intensity of the entire economy.
Damage caused to nature during the production and consumption of products is the result of irrational environmental management. An objective need has arisen to establish relationships between the results of economic activity and the environmental friendliness of manufactured products and the technology of their production. In accordance with the law, this requires additional costs from work collectives, which must be taken into account when planning. At an enterprise, it is advisable to distinguish between environmental protection costs associated with the production of products and with bringing the product to a certain level of environmental quality, or with replacing it with another, more environmentally friendly one.
There is a connection between product quality and environmental quality: the higher the product quality (taking into account the environmental assessment of the use of waste and the results of environmental protection activities in the production process), the higher the environmental quality.
How can society's needs for adequate environmental quality be met? Overcoming negative impacts using a well-founded system of norms and standards, linking calculation methods of maximum permissible limits, maximum permissible limits and environmental protection measures; reasonable (integrated, economical) use of natural resources that meets the environmental characteristics of a certain territory; environmental orientation of economic activity, planning and justification of management decisions, expressed in progressive directions of interaction between nature and society, environmental certification of workplaces, technology of manufactured products.
In modern conditions of increasing scientific and technological progress, the influence of solid, liquid and gaseous waste and emissions from production and transport on ecosystems is increasing to dangerous levels. The demand for clean water and its irreversible losses in industry and agriculture are growing.
Based on the pace of industrial development and the prospects for its increase, scientists have developed forecasts according to which the load on the planet’s natural environment in the form of various wastes and emissions by the beginning of the 21st century will increase. will increase 2-3 times.
The problem of clean water on our planet has become so acute over the past decades that very often it is the lack of water that limits the development of industry and the growth of cities. Despite the fact that much attention is paid to the treatment of industrial and domestic wastewater (it is not allowed to introduce new industries without launching treatment facilities, appropriate control is carried out, etc.), there are still cases when untreated or insufficiently treated wastewater is discharged, which brings a large harm to ecological systems and ultimately to human health.
Individual local pollution of reservoirs and watercourses are combined. In the World Ocean, the area of water areas poisoned by oil is growing. Areas off the coasts of France, England, the USA, and Japan are becoming increasingly polluted, where pollution is several orders of magnitude higher than in the open ocean. The famous Norwegian research scientist Thor Heyerdahl crossed huge areas of polluted ocean back in 1969 during his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean on the papyrus boat "Ra". As a result of oil tanker accidents and leaks at offshore oil fields, 5 million tons of oil enter the seas annually. This amount is enough to cover the entire World Ocean with an oil film in 7 years and disrupt gas exchange between the atmosphere and hydrosphere of the Earth, but a significant part of the oxygen we breathe is released by microscopic marine algae. This does not happen only because the ocean ecosystem fights human influence by putting up a barrier in the form of oil-degrading bacteria. But the “margin of safety” has its limits here too. Dying penguins covered in oil stains have been discovered in Antarctica. And even earlier, the famous drug DDT, which was used to control pests tens of thousands of kilometers from Antarctica, was found in the liver of penguins. Finally, we should recall the tragedy of the Japanese city of Minamata, where a plant producing fertilizers and organic chemical products released wastewater containing mercury into the sea bay for many years. Fish inevitably accumulated this mercury in their bodies. As a result, a disease called “Minamata disease” appeared among the surrounding residents who ate this fish, which claimed hundreds of lives.
Where private industries discharge wastewater uncontrollably, the threat of life-threatening pollution of marine and fresh waters remains. And yet, there are ways to solve the water problem. Strict state control and improvement of the industrial wastewater treatment system are necessary. Considering the pace of industrial development, experts have calculated that by 2000, all the river water on the planet will need to be used to dilute treated wastewater. The way out of this situation lies mainly in changing technological processes, namely, in a number of areas of industry it is necessary to switch to low-water and water-free technologies and to recycled water supply created as a closed cycle. The positive results of these measures are known. Despite the significant growth of chemical production in Russia, water consumption in this industry in 1990 remained at the 1978 level due to the introduction of recycled water supply. At new oil refineries, water savings as a result of recycled water supply reached 92%, and pollution of their rivers, such as the Volga and Ural, decreased.
Currently, much is being done to reduce industrial emissions into the atmosphere. But, nevertheless, this type of pollution acquired global proportions earlier than others and is the most noticeable. People, primarily city dwellers, encounter it every day. Harmful substances contained in polluted air inevitably enter the body. You can avoid drinking dirty water by postponing this need for several hours. It is impossible to postpone the need for the next breath even for a few minutes and we are forced to inhale polluted air.
The main sources of air pollution are industrial enterprises, thermal power plants and transport.
Every year, 200-250 million tons of ash, up to 60 million tons of sulfur dioxide, 280-300 million tons of carbon monoxide and hundreds of millions of tons of other substances hazardous to human health are released into the atmosphere of our planet. According to existing forecasts for the development of the world economy, by 2000, compared to 1965, coal will be burned 2-2.5 times more, oil - 3-3.5 times more, forests - 1.5-1.8 times more. Increased atmospheric pollution will be facilitated, due to the depletion of fuel reserves, by the combustion of increasingly low-quality coals containing large amounts of various impurities, primarily sulfur.
Industrial emissions not only affect human health, destroy materials and equipment, but also reduce the productivity of agriculture and forestry. The yield of fields in the area covered by non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises is 40-60% lower than outside this zone. Total losses from air pollution in the United States in 1970 amounted to $12.3 billion. The following figures indicate the growing impact of pollution on the economies of industrialized countries. In Japan, the share of economic damage as a result of environmental pollution in 1955 amounted to 0.2% of national income, and in 1970 it had already reached 13.8%.
In recent years, acid rain has caused great concern. They fall out as a result of condensation of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides entering the atmosphere with industrial emissions, primarily from thermal power plants and metallurgical plants. These rains can fall thousands of kilometers from their sources. Because of them, forests die, lakes become lifeless, and the soil loses fertility. For example, US industry “exports” acid rain to Canada, and it is the same way that industry in the Ruhr basin poisons the lakes of Sweden and Norway.
Environmental pollution affects humans, animals and plants not only directly, causing certain diseases or suppression of vital functions. Many of the substances synthesized by the chemical industry (and their number is growing very quickly) are mutagens, that is, they cause hereditary changes in organisms - mutations. Most of these changes are extremely unfavorable. The most dangerous mutagens are radioactive substances, the radiation of which even in the smallest doses causes mutations. Radioactive waste is nuclear industry waste that requires special disposal, and substances resulting from testing atomic and thermonuclear weapons. Their effect manifests itself in the form of a number of inherited diseases, deformities and other developmental defects. Currently, in a number of industrialized countries, about 10% of newborns have such defects. Their number is increasing, and further contamination of the biosphere with mutagens, according to a number of scientists, can lead humanity to the brink of a “genetic catastrophe.”
It is necessary to dwell in more detail on the increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which has global environmental significance and largely determines the climatic conditions on the planet. The fact is that carbon dioxide molecules transmit solar rays (short-wave radiation) to the Earth's surface, but block (long-wave) thermal radiation coming from the Earth. Thus, the so-called greenhouse effect is created, and the temperature of the atmosphere rises.
In recent decades, there has been an anthropogenic (caused by human activity) increase in carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere. So, over 20 years, this increase was 0.002%, and at the same time the atmospheric temperature increased by an average of 0.2 ° C. Is this a lot, or a little? It is estimated that at the current rate of increase in carbon dioxide content by the beginning of the 21st century. its concentration in the atmosphere will reach 0.04-0.05%, and the average temperature will increase by 1°C. This will be enough to melt such an amount of polar ice that the level of the World Ocean will rise by 1.5 m. Many will be partially flooded coastal cities and lowlands, fertile valleys will go under water, river mouths will move, the climate will change, and natural zones on the planet will begin to shift. If the amount of incoming carbon dioxide does not decrease in the future, the process of melting ice in the Arctic and Antarctica will continue. And when this process is completed, the level of the World Ocean will rise by 65 m and 10% of modern land will go under water.
How likely is this prospect? Unfortunately, many experts consider this forecast to be quite reasonable, although there are completely different views. In the history of our planet there have been periods of active volcanic activity with abundant emissions of carbon dioxide and a warmer climate; There were, as we know, periods of cold weather that caused glaciations of entire continents. The last of them ended already in the Quaternary period 12-13 thousand years ago. Consequently, the current climatic and ecological balance on Earth cannot be considered stable, and changes made by humans to the environment are sufficient to shift them.
“Our planet is very vulnerable,” wrote Thor Heyerdahl, and this is true. The planetary ecological system-biosphere is one, and different human impacts on its condition can mutually intensify. This also applies to the greenhouse effect. In addition to the direct increase in carbon dioxide content due to emissions, its development is also facilitated by deforestation - the main consumer of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and oil pollution of the ocean, which reduces the photosynthesis of algae. This also includes direct anthropogenic thermofication or, as they sometimes say, “thermal pollution” of water bodies. The fact is that thermal and nuclear power plants, whose role in energy production will increase, discharge large amounts of warm water. For example, by the year 2000, 1/3 of the annual flow of US rivers should pass through power plant condensers to cool them.
1. Introduction… 2
2. Industrial production and environmental quality… 3
2.1. General trends in production development... 3
2.2. Energy and environmental protection… 6
2.3. Saving fuel and energy resources is the most important area of rational environmental management... 8
3. Greening the economy and business… 11
3.1. Impact of economic reforms on the environment... 11
3.2. Environmental funds are a tool for additional financing of environmental protection measures... 17
3.3. Investments in energy ecology… 19
3.4. Problems of applying economic methods in nature management and environmental protection (using the example of the energy industry) 23
4. Conclusion... 27
5. References... 29
At all stages of his development, man was closely connected with the world around him. But since the emergence of a highly industrialized society, dangerous human intervention in nature has sharply increased, the scope of this intervention has expanded, it has become more diverse and now threatens to become a global danger to humanity. The consumption of non-renewable raw materials is increasing, more and more arable land is leaving the economy as cities and factories are built on it. Man has to increasingly intervene in the economy of the biosphere - that part of our planet in which life exists. The Earth's biosphere is currently subject to increasing anthropogenic impact. At the same time, several of the most significant processes can be identified, any of which does not improve the environmental situation on the planet. The most widespread and significant is chemical pollution of the environment with substances of a chemical nature that are unusual for it. Among them are gaseous and aerosol pollutants of industrial and domestic origin. The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is also progressing. The further development of this process will strengthen the undesirable trend towards an increase in the average annual temperature on the planet. Environmentalists are also concerned about the ongoing pollution of the World Ocean with oil and petroleum products, which has already reached almost half of its total surface. Oil pollution of this size can cause significant disruptions in gas and water exchange between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere. There is no doubt about the importance of chemical contamination of the soil with pesticides and its increased acidity, leading to the collapse of the ecosystem. In general, all the factors considered that can be attributed to the polluting effect have a noticeable impact on the processes occurring in the biosphere. As humanity develops, it begins to use more and more new types of resources (nuclear and geothermal energy, solar, tidal hydropower, wind and other non-traditional sources). However, fuel resources today play a major role in providing energy to all sectors of the economy. This is clearly reflected in the structure of the fuel and energy balance.
Structure of the world's energy demand for 1993
Table 1.1
The fuel and energy complex is closely connected with the entire industry of the country. More than 20% of funds are spent on its development. The fuel and energy complex accounts for 30% of fixed assets.
The 20th century brought humanity many benefits associated with the rapid development of scientific and technological progress, and at the same time brought life on Earth to the brink of an environmental disaster. Population growth, intensification of production and emissions that pollute the Earth lead to fundamental changes in nature and affect the very existence of man. Some of these changes are extremely strong and so widespread that global environmental problems arise. There are serious problems of pollution (atmosphere, water, soil), acid rain, radiation damage to the territory, as well as the loss of certain species of plants and living organisms, depletion of biological resources, deforestation and desertification of territories.
Problems arise as a result of such interaction between nature and man, in which the anthropogenic load on the territory (it is determined through the technogenic load and population density) exceeds the ecological capabilities of this territory, due mainly to its natural resource potential and the general stability of natural landscapes (complexes, geosystems) to anthropogenic impacts.
The main sources of air pollution in our country are machines and installations using sulfur-containing coals, oil, and gas.
Significantly pollute the atmosphere is motor transport, thermal power plants, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, oil and gas refining, chemical and forestry industries. A large amount of harmful substances enter the atmosphere with vehicle exhaust gases, and their share in air pollution is constantly growing; According to some estimates, in Russia - more than 30%, and in the USA - more than 60% of the total emission of pollutants into the atmosphere.
With the growth of industrial production and its industrialization, environmental protection measures based on MPC standards and their derivatives become insufficient to reduce already formed pollution. Therefore, it is natural to turn to the search for integrated characteristics that, reflecting the real state of the environment, would help to choose the environmentally and economically optimal option, and in contaminated (disturbed) conditions, determine the order of restoration and health measures.
With the transition to the path of intensive economic development, an important role is given to the system of economic indicators endowed with the most important functions of economic activity: planning, accounting, evaluation, control and incentives. Like any systemic formation, which is not an arbitrary set, but interconnected elements in a certain integrity, economic indicators are designed to express the final result, taking into account all phases of the reproduction process.
One of the important reasons for the increase in the environmental intensity of the economy was the wear and tear of equipment exceeding all acceptable standards. In basic industries and transport, wear and tear on equipment, including wastewater treatment equipment, reaches 70-80%. With the continued operation of such equipment, the likelihood of environmental disasters increases sharply.
Typical in this regard was the oil pipeline accident in the Arctic region of Komi near Usinsk. As a result, up to 100 thousand tons of oil spilled onto the fragile ecosystems of the North, according to various estimates. This environmental disaster became one of the largest in the world in the 90s, and it was caused by the extreme deterioration of the pipeline. The accident received worldwide publicity, although according to some Russian experts, it is one of many - others were simply hidden. For example, in the same Komi region in 1992, according to the interdepartmental commission on environmental safety, 890 accidents occurred.
The economic damage of environmental disasters is colossal. With the funds saved as a result of preventing accidents, it would be possible to reconstruct the fuel and energy complex over the course of several years and significantly reduce the energy intensity of the entire economy.
Damage caused to nature during the production and consumption of products is the result of irrational environmental management. An objective need has arisen to establish relationships between the results of economic activity and the environmental friendliness of manufactured products and the technology of their production. In accordance with the law, this requires additional costs from work collectives, which must be taken into account when planning. At an enterprise, it is advisable to distinguish between environmental protection costs associated with the production of products and with bringing the product to a certain level of environmental quality, or with replacing it with another, more environmentally friendly one.
There is a connection between product quality and environmental quality: the higher the product quality (taking into account the environmental assessment of the use of waste and the results of environmental protection activities in the production process), the higher the environmental quality.
How can society's needs for adequate environmental quality be met? Overcoming negative impacts using a well-founded system of norms and standards, linking calculation methods of maximum permissible limits, maximum permissible limits and environmental protection measures; reasonable (integrated, economical) use of natural resources that meets the environmental characteristics of a certain territory; environmental orientation of economic activity, planning and justification of management decisions, expressed in progressive directions of interaction between nature and society, environmental certification of workplaces, technology of manufactured products.
Justification for environmental friendliness seems to be an integral part of the management system, influencing the choice of priorities in providing the national economy with natural resources and services within the planned volumes of consumption.
The difference in production interests and industry tasks determines the specific views of specialists on the problem of greening production, the equipment and technology used and created.
Attempts are being made, on the basis of a unified methodological approach, by calculating specific and general indicators, to express the relationship between natural and cost characteristics in making an economically feasible and environmentally conditioned (acceptable) decision. The priority of natural parameters and indicators meets the needs of resource provision for social production. Cost indicators should reflect the effectiveness of efforts to reduce (or increase) the anthropogenic load on nature. With their help, environmental damage is calculated and the effectiveness of measures to stabilize the environmental management regime is assessed.
It must be said that in addition to this, measures such as:
Ensuring the organization of production of new, more advanced equipment and equipment for cleaning industrial emissions into the atmosphere from harmful gases, dust, soot and other substances;
Conducting relevant scientific research and development work to create more advanced apparatus and equipment to protect atmospheric air from pollution by industrial emissions;
Installation and commissioning of gas cleaning and dust collection equipment and equipment at enterprises and organizations;
Exercising state control over the operation of gas cleaning and dust collection plants at industrial enterprises.
Natural-industrial systems, depending on the accepted qualitative and quantitative parameters of technological processes, differ from each other in structure, functioning and the nature of interaction with the natural environment. In fact, even natural-industrial systems that are identical in qualitative and quantitative parameters of technological processes differ from each other in the uniqueness of their environmental conditions, which leads to different interactions between production and its natural environment. Therefore, the subject of research in environmental engineering is the interaction of technological and natural processes in natural-industrial systems.
At the same time, in more developed countries, governments' approach to environmental problems is much more severe: for example, standards for the content of harmful substances in exhaust gases are being tightened. In order not to lose its market share in the current conditions, Honda Motors stuck a modern 32-bit computer under the hood and puzzled it with the problem of preserving the environment. Microprocessor control of the ignition system is not new, however, it seems that for the first time in the history of the automotive industry, the priority of exhaust purity, rather than squeezing extra “horses” from the engine, is implemented in software. It must be said that the computer once again demonstrated its intelligence, already at the intermediate stage reducing exhaust toxicity by 70% and losing only 1.5% of engine power. Inspired by the result, a team of engineers and programmers began environmental optimization of everything that was somehow able to withstand such optimization. An electronic ecologist under the hood vigilantly monitors the composition of the working mixture injected into the cylinders and “in real time” controls the fuel combustion process. And if, despite all the efforts to “destroy the enemy in his own lair” (in the sense, in the engine cylinders), something slips into the exhaust pipe, then it will not come out: special sensors will immediately report this to the computer, which, redirecting the insidious a portion of the exhaust into a special compartment, destroying it there using electricity. Of course, they did not forget to attach a specially designed catalytic afterburner of a special design to the engine. The result, as they say, exceeded all expectations: the engine power decreased only slightly, the efficiency was not affected, and as for the exhaust, it’s funny, but true: the percentage of harmful substances in it is noticeably less than in the air that residents breathe, for example, in central regions Los Angeles.
The development of modern production, and above all industry, is based largely on the use of fossil raw materials. Among certain types of fossil resources, sources of fuel and electricity should be placed in one of the first places in terms of national economic importance.
A feature of energy production is the direct impact on the natural environment in the process of fuel extraction and combustion, and the changes in natural components that occur are very obvious.
The time when nature seemed inexhaustible is over. Terrible symptoms of destructive human activity appeared with particular force a couple of decades ago, causing an energy crisis in some countries. It became clear that energy resources are limited. This also applies to all other minerals.
The situation can easily be projected onto the provision of electricity to the country. Today, the main electricity generating sources in Belarus are thermal power plants (TPPs), operating mainly on Russian gas, and the missing electricity is purchased from nuclear power plants in Russia and Lithuania. Domestic electricity production is complicated by the fact that more than half of Belarusian power plants have exhausted their design life, and by 2010, 90% of power equipment will require replacement. That is, the problem requires a fundamental solution: how to compensate for retired capacities - repair and reconstruct old ones or build new power plants? Studies have shown that simply replacing equipment and extending the life of power units is not the cheapest way. Experts have come to the conclusion that the most profitable is the modernization and reconstruction of existing power plants and boiler houses through the introduction of modern gas turbine and combined cycle plants with higher efficiency. Now, using the latest technology, thanks to a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Orsha CHPP is being modernized using French equipment. But again, the fuel for combined cycle gas plants is the same Russian natural gas. And when Russia closes the gas valve from time to time, Belarus fully experiences what energy independence and security means. The main problem is the high degree of energy dependence of our country on external sources. 85-90% of raw materials for the Belarusian fuel industry are imported from Russia.
Meanwhile, according to official estimates, an unprecedented increase in production began in our country last year. If this continues, then by 2015 production volumes will increase by 2.8 times. The level of energy consumption will increase by one and a half times. If the current volumes of energy supplies are maintained, our energy system will simply collapse from such an increase in production.
According to experts, given the current rate of GDP growth, the situation in the energy industry will sharply worsen in the near future. At the same time, already about half of Belarusian energy capacity requires replacement. A significant part of thermal power plants, in terms of their technical characteristics, do not meet current energy consumption needs. Electricity produced at Belarusian state district power plants is more expensive than that imported from Lithuania and Russia.
According to the director of the Institute of Energy Problems of the Academy of Sciences, Alexander Mikhalevich, now the domestic energy system is saved only by a general drop in production. If it had remained at the 1991 level, the energy system simply would not have been able to withstand this stress and the crisis would have had unpredictable consequences. Experts in the field of energy consider the most promising for our country to be the development of energy and resource-saving technologies and the implementation of an energy saving program.
The development of environmentally-oriented business can significantly change the environmental situation in the country, improve environmental protection and the use of natural resources. It is obvious that it is impossible to solve environmental problems and achieve a sustainable type of development without a general improvement in the economic situation of the country and effective macroeconomic policy.
The deterioration of the environmental situation in the republic is influenced by a number of economic and legal factors operating in different areas, at different levels and with different scales of impact:
Macroeconomic policies leading to extensive use of natural resources;
Investment policy focused on the development of resource-exploiting sectors of the economy;
Ineffective sectoral policy (fuel and energy complex, agriculture, forestry, etc.);
Imperfect legislation;
Uncertainty of ownership rights to natural resources;
Lack of an environmentally balanced long-term economic strategy, underestimation of sustainable development;
Inflation, economic crisis and economic instability hinder the implementation of long-term projects, which include most environmental projects;
Natural resource nature of exports;
The existence of an effective incentive in the form of obtaining significant and quick profits from the overexploitation and/or sale of natural resources (oil, gas, timber, ores, etc.), etc.
Now the most important thing is for the state to create, through effective, indirect and direct, economic instruments and regulators, a favorable climate for the development of environmentally-oriented business. In this regard, we will consider the impact of economic reforms in the Republic of Belarus on the preservation of the environment, and evaluate the most promising areas of business development in this area.
Within the entire economy, at the macro level, the following important areas of economic transformation can be identified: structural environmentally-oriented restructuring, changing investment policy in the direction of environmentally balanced priorities, improving privatization mechanisms, reform of property rights, demonopolization, creation of environmentally consistent tax and credit systems , subsidies, trade tariffs and duties, etc. All these mechanisms and reforms inevitably, to one degree or another, affect the development of business related to environmental activities.
Unfortunately, the legislative and executive branches do not have a full and clear awareness of environmental dangers. This is largely due to the prevailing mentality of these structures. Ignoring the environmental factor has been characteristic of the country's social and economic development in recent decades. The priority of economic goals and the development of the defense, fuel and energy, and agricultural complexes were proclaimed. Social and environmental problems were relegated to the background.
It is important to reject and reconsider many stereotypes in decision-making processes. Modern traditional approaches to economic development are based on the amount of natural resources used. The more resources are used, the better for the country. The desire to increase the extraction of natural resources and intensify their exploitation can only accelerate the processes of environmental degradation. Fundamentally different approaches are needed. The underdevelopment of manufacturing and processing industries, infrastructure, and distribution lead to colossal losses of natural resources and raw materials. Is it necessary to increase the burden on nature, knowing that a significant part of natural resources will be used irrationally?
An indicative situation has developed in the fuel and energy complex, which has an extremely large impact on the environmental situation. Using Russia as an example, we see that per unit of final product it now spends three times more energy than Japan and Germany, and twice as much as the United States (see Table 3.1). The situation is no better in Belarus.
Energy production per unit of GDP in Russia and abroad ( % )
Table 3.1
Germany | |
USA | |
Russia |
A similar situation has developed with forest resources, on the protection and use of which the conservation of many biological resources largely depends. The nature-intensive structure of the forestry complex with undeveloped processing industries leads to a huge overconsumption of forest for production compared to existing technologies.
Thus, the most important reason for the deterioration of the environmental situation in the republic is the ineffective, nature-intensive structure of the economy.
Obviously, the point is not in the volume of use of natural resources and production of intermediate products, but in the economic structures that use them. If the existing inertial trends in environmental management, technogenic approaches to environmental management, and technogenic approaches to the economy continue, the country will never have enough natural resources to maintain the current type of development, even with a significant increase in the exploitation of natural resources. Unfortunately, the vast majority of economic projects for Belarus, proposed by foreign and domestic specialists, ignore this problem, and their implementation is associated with an increase in the burden on the environment.
In this regard, it is extremely important to create more favorable - compared to nature-exploiting activities - conditions for business development in resource-saving industries related to the development of manufacturing and processing industries, infrastructure, and distribution. And here we need an effective selective economic policy to support resource-saving activities. Therefore, the most important direction of economic reforms in Belarus and the transition to a sustainable type of development is environmentally-oriented structural restructuring, which allows for effective resource conservation. We are talking about the global redistribution of labor, material, and financial resources in the national economy in favor of resource-saving, technologically advanced industries and activities. Emerging market mechanisms should play a huge role in such a redistribution of resources.
The most conservative estimates show that structural and technological rationalization of the economy can free up 20-30% of natural resources currently used inefficiently while increasing final results. The country is experiencing a gigantic structural overconsumption of natural resources, which creates imaginary deficits in energy, agriculture and forestry, etc.
This situation is reflected in the deterioration of one of the most important indicators of sustainable and environmentally-oriented development - the increase in energy intensity of economic indicators. According to some estimates, this figure for the gross national product has recently increased by about a third (see Fig. 3.1). This means that in order to achieve final results in the economy, it is necessary to spend significantly more oil, gas, coal, and electricity, which certainly leads to a deterioration in the environmental situation.
Of utmost importance for the development of environmentally-oriented business is a radical change in investment policy in the direction of environmental priorities. Two aspects can be distinguished in this direction of capital investments.
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Rice. 3. 1. Comparative energy intensity of GNP of some countries.
Firstly, there is currently no well-developed concept for the long-term development of the country's economy. Hopes that the “invisible hand” of the market itself will create an effective economic structure are unfounded due to the reasons noted above. As a result, a rather chaotic distribution of capital investments occurs, perpetuating a nature-intensive type of development.
Secondly, the effects of the transition to sustainable resource-saving development are underestimated. The annual losses of degraded land, forests, and water resources can be estimated at many millions of dollars. With adequate economic consideration of the environmental factor, the efficiency of resource saving turns out to be much higher than increasing the environmental intensity of the economy, as has been proven by the economic development of developed countries in the last two decades.
It is possible to facilitate the environmental-economic transition to a market economy through environmentally-balanced environmental reforms and the creation of an appropriate economic environment at the macro level, conducive to the development of environmentally-oriented business. Here we can distinguish two types of economic mechanisms and instruments depending on the degree of sectoral coverage. Firstly, mechanisms and instruments operating within the entire economy, its industries and complexes. And, secondly, more special mechanisms and instruments, focused primarily on nature-exploiting industries, the primary sector of the economy, as well as on regulating environmental activities in other industries.
Within the entire economy, we can distinguish mechanisms of privatization, reform of property rights, demonopolization, creation of environmentally consistent systems of taxes, loans, subsidies, trade tariffs and duties, etc. All these mechanisms and reforms inevitably affect the environmental situation to one degree or another.
The problem of monopolism is extremely acute for Belarus. Huge monopolies in the absence of competition and the presence of effective lobbies in the legislative and executive structures of power can pay minimal attention to environmental factors.
Tax policy also does not contribute to solving environmental problems and developing environmentally-oriented business. The tax burden on enterprises is extremely high, which forces enterprises to focus primarily on short-term survival goals. Now up to 90% of enterprise profits are withdrawn from the enterprise in the form of taxes and other deductions. This factor, as well as the “aging” of fixed assets, leads to the fact that a significant part of enterprises are unprofitable or unprofitable. Under these conditions, the desire of enterprises to minimize their environmental costs in order to survive in the transition to a market is understandable. It is obvious that in conditions of competition, mass bankruptcies, and a tightening of the financial situation for enterprises, one of the first victims of the struggle for existence will be nature. Enterprises strive to save in every possible way on environmental measures and the purchase of environmental equipment, since environmental costs do not increase the output of their main products. Emissions and discharges of pollutants, waste disposal are hidden in order to avoid fees, fines, etc. In these conditions, it is advisable, which is confirmed by world experience, to create a favorable tax climate for environmentally-oriented activities.
Monetary The policy also contributes to the continuation of anti-environmental trends in the economy. In conditions of high inflation, the vast majority of banking transactions are short-term trade and financial transactions (95% of active banking transactions), which practically deprives the economy of investment in long-term development and radical structural resource-saving restructuring. A similar effect is that extremely high discount rates make it unprofitable to invest in long-term or slow-paying projects, which include many environmental projects.
To green the economy and support business in this area, significant changes are needed foreign trade policy, the entire system of tariffs, duties and other trade barriers. Given the underdevelopment of the environmental engineering industry in the country, many environmental programs, including international environmental projects, require the import of environmental equipment. Meanwhile, the current system of duties on imported equipment makes it extremely difficult to implement environmental programs. Huge taxes are imposed on the import of environmental equipment from abroad. If an environmental project requires imported equipment, a quarter to a third of the cost may go to duties and other taxes. This creates a barrier to investment in environmental protection.
Export-import flows are also significantly affected by inflation. The rapid depreciation of the national currency in the republic leads to stimulation of exports, which almost 80 percent consists of primary natural resources.
In the context of the transition to a market economy, a fairly wide range of potentially effective environmental and economic regulators are included in the number of more special mechanisms and instruments, focused primarily on nature-exploiting industries, the primary sector of the economy, as well as on regulating the environmental side of activities in other industries. This includes payment for the use of natural resources, the creation of a system of benefits, subsidies, loans for environmental activities, the sale of rights (permits) for pollution, fining activities that damage the environment, the creation of a market for environmental services, and much more. Many of these economic mechanisms are extremely important for business development. Now in the developed countries of the world there are more than 80 economic instruments for the use of natural resources and environmental protection.
From the perspective of greening the economy, traditional indicators of economic development and progress also need to be adjusted - such as per capita income, gross national product, etc. In this regard, the following indicators are of interest: the Human Development Index, proposed by the UN, and index of sustainable economic welfare (Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare), proposed by G. Daly and J. Cobb (Herman E. Daly and Jonn B. Cobb). The first is an aggregate indicator calculated on the basis of characteristics of life expectancy, level of knowledge and level of mastery of resources necessary for a normal life. The second is a fairly comprehensive indicator that takes into account the environmental costs associated with irrational management.
Calculations based on the index of sustainable economic well-being in the United States showed opposite trends in changes in this index and the GNP per capita indicator in the 80s. - a decrease in the first, reflecting environmental degradation, with a significant increase in the second. According to G. Dali, “as long as GNP remains the measure of human well-being, there are huge obstacles to change. The market only sees efficiency; it is not equipped to sense fairness or sustainability.”
Stabilization of the environmental situation in the republic largely depends on the effectiveness of the economic reforms carried out in the country, their adequacy to the goals of creating a sustainable type of development of the national economy. And here measures to create, with the help of effective market instruments and regulators, a favorable climate for the development of all areas of business that contributes to the greening of the economy are extremely important.
To date, the direction and scale of environmental protection activities in the energy sector of the republic have practically been established. They are determined by the requirements formulated when approving standards for the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere (MPE), the discharge of pollutants into water bodies (PDS), the introduction of limits on waste storage and the planned set of measures to achieve these limits. Having overcome organizational and methodological difficulties, almost all power plants in the industry received permission to emit (discharge) pollutants into the environment in limited quantities and entered into agreements with environmental authorities.
Since 1991, power plants have been actively involved in the formation of a system of environmental funds by contributing funds to them for environmental pollution. If we take into account the materials of the International Conference on the Practice of Functioning of Environmental Funds in the Economy in Transition (St. Petersburg, 1994) and the calculated indicators of the industry, then the contributions of energy workers amount to 20-25% of the total amount of payments for emissions (discharges) in the country ) pollutants and waste disposal.
In accordance with current regulatory documents, payments for emissions (discharges) of pollutants within acceptable (limited) limits are included in the cost of energy. According to statistical reporting, this is 70-80% of accrued payments. The amount of fees for exceeding permissible emissions (discharges) is approximately 20-30% and is withdrawn from the profit of the enterprise. In other words, all company contributions to environmental funds are included in the energy tariff and are ultimately paid by the consumer.
In this regard, it is natural for the energy consumer to ask about the effectiveness of using environmental funds to improve the environment, and from the standpoint of energy facilities, whether the funds contribute to the environmental activities of the enterprise.
To assess the effectiveness of using industry contributions to environmental funds, we will introduce a conditional indicator of the return of these funds for the implementation of environmental measures directly at thermal power plants. In the industry as a whole, this return amounts to 35-40% of payments due.
According to the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Environmental Protection” and the established procedure for sending funds to target budget environmental funds, 10% of the fee is sent to the state budget, 30 to regional environmental funds and 60 to district and city environmental funds:
Rice. 3. 2. Structure of payments for emissions and discharges.
It is clear from this that the industry's chargeback rate can be increased to 50-60%, i.e. there is a certain margin for making targeted efforts to reduce the alienation of funds from it.
In addition to payments for environmental pollution, thermal power plants incur certain costs for the maintenance and servicing of fixed assets for environmental purposes, major repairs of water treatment, gas and dust collection and other structures, for scientific research, environmental education, propaganda, exchange of experience, etc. Potentially, these costs could be 15-20% higher without increasing energy tariffs only through the redistribution of funds and a reduction in the amounts of alienation into environmental funds.
Unfortunately, there is not a single case known in which an energy company would have received from environmental funds more than the contributions due from it for environmental pollution. Such objects of targeted investments from environmental funds could be pilot industrial and experimental installations for purifying gases from sulfur oxides, demonstration systems for equipping energy equipment with instruments and means of monitoring emissions (discharges) of pollutants into the natural environment and the degree of their impact.
The proposed rationalization of funds allocated to environmental funds is based on the fact that industrial enterprises tend to implement technical and economic measures to prevent emissions and discharges into the environment. In addition, it is well known that preventing environmental pollution is more effective and economical compared to measures to restore ruined nature. If these theses are taken as an axiom, then the current system of formation of environmental funds requires reform in the following directions:
Elimination of payments for emissions (discharges) within acceptable standards (MPE), because funds have already been spent on their provision, which are included in the cost of the product (good) and are paid by the consumer;
Maintaining payments for the difference between permitted emissions (discharges) and permissible standards (MPE), included in the cost of production, and for over-established emissions (discharges) - from the profit of the enterprise. Payments are partially returned to the enterprise for specific measures to achieve standards;
Increasing the basic payment rates based on the cost of a progressive technical solution to prevent the formation or elimination of the emission (discharge) of a pollutant with an increasing factor in order to stimulate the transition of industry to environmentally friendly and safe technologies;
Introducing public discussion and legislative approval of the program (set of issues, priority measures), carried out entirely at the expense of republican and local funds, interconnected vertically. In other words, the temporary nature of the action of environmental funds should be fixed to solve a specific task or problem, for example, the creation and implementation of industrial control and environmental monitoring, inventory and disposal of industrial and household waste, etc.
We especially note that, despite all its perfection, the current system of environmental funds does not concern the behavior of enterprises, funds and regulatory organizations in cases of emergency release, failure of equipment, structures, as well as compensation for damage caused by unexpected environmental pollution. The solution to these issues lies in the organization of environmental insurance, which energy enterprises are only approaching.
The transition to the market has outlined fundamentally new approaches to investing in environmental energy. Today in the CIS and on the world market it is possible to purchase, quickly install and successfully operate equipment for very deep purification of combustion products from SO2 and NO2, which is not yet practiced by energy enterprises.
Let's say that we made a strong-willed decision and invested in technologies for suppressing harmful emissions (HEM). The inevitable consequence of this action will be an increase in costs and an adequate increase in electricity tariffs. The latter is tantamount to imposing a national tax on all activities and subsistence. Identifying tariff increases with taxes assumes that the burden will fall equally on those who would benefit economically from curbing emissions as well as those who would not. The socio-economic consequences of rising tariffs are very diverse. For most enterprises in Belarus, where the cost of energy resources now amounts to 30-50% of production costs, an increase in tariffs would mean an increase in production costs by 12-40%, uncompetitiveness and bankruptcy.
In countries with a developed market economy, the share of energy resources in the cost of production is an order of magnitude lower than in our country, and the same absolute increase in tariffs increases the cost by only 1-3% and is not accompanied by qualitative changes (see Fig. 3.1, page 15). From the latter, in particular, it follows that it is incorrect to transfer environmental and economic decisions from countries with developed economies to countries with emerging market economies.
As, as a result of energy saving, the share of energy carriers in production costs begins to decrease, the introduction of TPV will become more realistic.
Since an increase in tariffs is equivalent to an increase in taxes, it is appropriate to consider the inverse problem: what is the environmental efficiency of centralized investment in various industries and technologies, if improving the quality of life is considered as the objective function.
From the perspective of a taxpayer living in our disadvantaged cities and industrial areas, what is important is not how much emissions from a particular enterprise or industry are reduced, but how much the concentration of harmful substances in the area of residence of the taxpayer and his family will be reduced.
Therefore, the criterion for the effectiveness of environmental investments should be the ratio D C/ D J, Where D C– decrease in concentration, and D J– investments.
As an example, let us give calculations for reducing NO2 concentrations in Minsk. The overwhelming majority of emissions of this substance in the city are caused by energy and motor transport. Omitting the mathematical description of a rather complex environmental and economic model, we will mention only the final figure: investments in the neutralization of NO2 in motor vehicles today are an order of magnitude more effective than investments in catalytic decomposition in the electric power industry, but are inferior to the funds spent on suppressing the generation of NO2 by regime methods.
Continuing to consider the problem from the perspective of the taxpayer (increasing tariffs), it is logical to compare the effectiveness of investments in hot water supply of thermal power plants and district boiler houses with the effectiveness of monetary investments in healthcare, social and other spheres from the standpoint of an increase in the quality of life. There are no studies of this kind, although one can be sure that people faced with a specific choice will in some cases give preference to investing in social spheres. Unfortunately, such a comparison plan is not used to justify the construction and expansion of energy generating capacities.
As can be seen from the above, apparently, the basis for investing in TPN at the next stage should remain the regulatory framework (NLB), which implicitly establishes a compromise between the desires and capabilities of society.
The main elements of environmental NZB energy in the broad sense of the word (namely, thermal power plants, boiler houses, furnaces, transport engines, etc.) are:
Maximum permissible concentrations of harmful substances in the atmosphere of populated areas (MPC);
Maximum permissible specific concentrations of harmful substances in the exhaust gases of energy devices (PRK);
Maximum permissible emissions for a specific industrial facility and industries (MPE).
At present, the environmental health and safety regulations created in the USSR continue to operate in Belarus, a number of provisions of which are outdated or do not correspond to the realities of our lives. The deformation and unjustified tightening of the environmental safety regulations make our country, like other CIS countries, unattractive for investors.
Let us consider these elements of the NZB in more detail.
Maximum permissible concentrations (MPC). Regarding MPCs, the TACIS project “Global Energy Strategy for the Republic of Belarus” says: “... it is proposed to abolish the current Belarusian standards (MACs), which are too stringent and practically impossible, and to adopt the standards in force in the EU. EU standards are motivated and are determined by the level of today's technology and therefore are more realistic in the sense of balancing the requirements for environmental protection (taking into account the well-being of people) and the tasks of economic life."
A comparative analysis shows that for large-tonnage emissions of nitrogen, sulfur and carbon oxides, which account for almost 90% of gross emissions, the MPC of Belarus is respectively 5.8; 1.6 and 10 times tougher than in the European Community. A paradoxical situation has arisen when in large cities there is a significant excess of standards for the amount of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, although these cities comply with EU standards.
To achieve air quality standards in Minsk and regional cities of Belarus, huge investments would have to be made in motor transport, oil refining and energy. For gas cleaning equipment for power engineers alone, this would amount to up to 30% of the initial cost of fixed assets and would increase operating costs, including fuel consumption, by 3-8%.
Exorbitantly strict maximum permissible concentrations lead to deformation (non-optimality) of the placement of electricity and heat generating facilities in industry and the electric power industry and make it difficult to overcome the crisis. Difficulties arise in the placement of technological and energy equipment purchased in the West.
The transition to EU standards will have a particularly beneficial effect on investment in small-scale energy, including those that burn waste from primary production, such as wood waste.
It must be clear that foreign and domestic investors will appear no earlier than the MPC is brought to the EU level. On the issue of justifying various levels of maximum permissible concentrations in the CIS and the world community, a huge amount of experimental, statistical and analytical material has been accumulated, which should only be applied to the conditions of Belarus.
Maximum permissible specific concentrations of harmful substances in exhaust gases (MAC). On the territory of Belarus, specific emission standards are in force and selectively applied in accordance with state standards. Let's consider the economic possibilities of achieving GOST and deeper purification of gases for individual substances.
For nitrogen oxides, the levels recommended by the current GOST can be achieved through reconstruction carried out by the user with a one-time specific cost of 40 dollars/kW and a subsequent cost of suppressing specific emissions of about 0.3-0.6 dollars/kg. These technologies will reduce emissions by 40-45%.
Deeper (80-90%) cleaning requires greater consumption of ammonia and the purchase of chemical catalysis units. Thus, the specific cost of the NO2 suppression technology will be up to $5/kg, while the cost of electricity will increase by 0.6-0.7 cents/kWh.
When fuel oil is burned, almost all the sulfur in the fuel is converted into SO2. When using flue gas purification from SO2 at thermal power plants, specific capital investments are about $200/kW.
Maximum permissible emissions (maximum permissible limit) ). The concept of MPE was introduced by the Union document OND-86, clause 8.5 in order to be able to at least indirectly control the “non-exceedance” of maximum surface concentrations, for the direct measurement of which there were no instruments at that time.
Later, in their practical activities, units of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Belarus used this parameter as a tool for implementing the convention on reducing transboundary transfers of SO2 and NO2, which brought certain positive results. Reducing emissions from power plants had virtually no effect on the concentration of these substances in the atmosphere of cities. At the same time, the additional function of the maximum permissible limit was not fixed by any regulatory document and for each object was determined on a contractual basis with a tendency to become stricter “from what has been achieved.” However, not a single city in Belarus has been able to implement the main condition of the maximum permissible concentration, according to which the sum of the concentration of maximum permissible concentrations of all sources must be less than the maximum permissible concentration.
Vehicle emissions were not taken into account, although they account for 70-90% of atmospheric pollution with nitrogen and carbon oxides. It is economically impossible not only for Belarus, but also for the richer CIS countries to solve this problem within the framework of the current MPCs.
A demonstration of the imperfection of the environmental safety precautions and the lack of a systematic environmental-economic approach is the construction of the Minsk Thermal Power Plant-5 (ATEP), one of the arguments for locating it near the Belarusian capital was the fact that the city background in terms of the sum of SO2 and NO2 twice exceeds the maximum permissible concentration (according to EU standards, there is no excess was).
After the Chernobyl disaster, it was decided to build a gas-oil CHPP-5 at the ATPP site with the same argument: the city’s background is overloaded and an increase in emissions within the city is unacceptable. Compared to alternative thermal power plants in the city, this required the construction of 40 km of heating networks costing about $140 million, the creation of a new city with infrastructure and huge losses associated with supplying heat over a long distance. In a hypothetical case (according to EU standards), the power of CHPP-5 could be “decomposed” into smaller CHPPs and located in the suburbs. This would make it possible to save huge capital investments and have cheap electricity generation at the thermal consumer in the future.
Emissions fees. They are closely related to the MPE value and pursue one of two possible goals. First, these fees should be commensurate with the costs of curbing emissions and thereby stimulate market mechanisms for the acquisition of appropriate TPV.
Secondly, currently, emissions fees are an order of magnitude lower than the costs of TPV. They do not stimulate any real actions by managers and are a form of tax, the collection of which is not always enshrined in law. Since the energy sector is a natural monopoly, emissions fees (through tariffs for heat and electricity) place a burden on the consumer, reducing consumption and in no way stimulating emissions reduction.
For industry, an increase in tariffs means an increase in the cost of each “redistribution”, as a result of which the final product may turn out to be (often the case) uncompetitive. Particularly painful for industry are multiple fines imposed for exceeding the maximum permissible limit. Meanwhile, from an environmental point of view, exceeding the maximum permissible limit, with the exception of extraordinary, emergency emissions, is accompanied by a proportional, and not an avalanche-like, increase in damage, and penalties are physically unconvincing.
Over the past decade, there has been increasing recognition of the mutual influence of a healthy environment and sustainable economic development. At the same time, the world was undergoing major political, social and economic changes as many countries began programs to radically restructure their economies. Thus, studying the impact of general economic measures on the environment has become a problem of serious importance and requiring an urgent solution.
This work makes an attempt to consider environmental problems in the development of industrial production and in particular the energy industry, as well as in other related areas, including in the field of limiting harmful emissions, rational use of natural resources, valuation of environmental objects and environmental indicators, national action plans in the field of environmental protection and social policy.
It should also be said that general economic reforms sometimes lead to unforeseen damage to the environment. The existence of outdated policies, market imperfections and institutional structures elsewhere in the economy can interact in unintended ways with broader economic reforms and create incentives for overuse of natural resources and environmental degradation. Correcting this situation does not usually require abandoning the original economic policy. Instead, certain additional measures are required to correct market imperfections, organizational structures or outdated policies. Such measures usually not only have a positive impact on the environment, but are also a critical component of the success of overall economic reforms.
Although general economic measures are not aimed at purposefully influencing the state of nature and the environment, they can affect it, both for the better and for the worse. These include: changing exchange rates or interest rates, reducing government deficits, opening up markets, liberalizing trade, strengthening the role of the private sector, and strengthening institutional frameworks. They are often accompanied by price reforms and other reforms in key economic sectors such as industry, agriculture and energy. The study of links between general economic activities and the environment is currently based on empirical analysis of materials from specific countries (i.e., focused on case studies). When conducting research to identify such relationships, a set of analytical methods and approaches is used. The analysis shows the difficulty of developing a common methodology to identify all the environmental impacts of policy reforms. However, it also shows that careful consideration of specific cases of significant environmental impacts can help identify better ways to deal with them, and provides some practical recommendations for applying its findings to your work.
As for energy, it follows from what is stated in this work:
– equipment for removing 80-90% of toxic energy emissions or purifying fuel oil from sulfur can be purchased in unlimited quantities on the domestic and world markets. Power engineers have the personnel and construction and installation base to commission such equipment and operate it;
– the current air quality standards in Belarus, MPCs, are many times stricter than world standards, are economically unattainable and are a source of environmental subjectivism;
– the existing level of payments for emissions and the system of fines for exceeding the maximum permissible limit have no scientific and economic justification and are constantly changing. In essence, this is an additional tax with an unclear recipient, and this is a serious obstacle for investors;
– the closure of the environmental and investment problem within the industry, including in the energy sector, is nothing more than a tribute to traditional thinking, including management. From a pragmatic point of view, it is more rational to introduce an environmental tax with subsequent investment in those sectors and technologies where this will significantly improve the quality of life.
Nature conservation is the task of our century, a problem that has become social. To fundamentally improve the situation, targeted and thoughtful actions will be needed. A responsible and effective policy towards the environment will be possible only if we accumulate reliable data on the current state of the environment, reasonable knowledge about the interaction of important environmental factors, and if we develop new methods for reducing and preventing harm caused to nature by humans.
1. Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Environmental Protection”. "People's newspaper" - January 15, 1993
2. “The procedure for accrual and contribution to budget funds for nature protection in 1998.” (Approved by the State Committee for Natural Resources of the Republic of Belarus No. 02/62, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Republic of Belarus No. 02-8/2528, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus No. 17 dated July 22, 1998)
3. Akimova T.A., Khaskin V.V. Fundamentals of ecodevelopment. Tutorial. – M.: Publishing house of the Russian Economic Academy named after. G.V. Plekhanov, 1994. – 312 p.
4. Golub A.A., Strukova E.B. Economic methods of environmental management. –M.: Nauka, 1993. –136 p.
5. Neverov A.V. Environmental economics. Textbook for universities. –Minsk: Higher School, 1990. –216 p.
6. Bystrakov Yu.I., Kolosov A.V. Economics and ecology. –M.: Agropromizdat, 1988. –204 p.
7. Magazine “Energetik” No. 3 – No. 8, 1998.
The return rate is the ratio of the difference between the estimated fee and actual contributions to the funds to the estimated fee (as a percentage).
Contents 1. Introduction 2 2. Industrial production and environmental quality 3 2.1. General trends in production development 3 2.2. Energy and environmental protection 6 2.3. Saving fuel and energy resources is the most important area of rational environmental management 8 3. Greening the economy and business 11 3.1. Impact of economic reforms on the environment 11 3.2. Environmental funds - a tool for additional financing of environmental protection measures 17 3.3. Investments in environmental energy 19 3.4. Problems of applying economic methods in environmental management and environmental protection (using the example of the energy industry) 23 4. Conclusion 27 5. References 29 1. Introduction At all stages of its development, man was closely connected with the outside world. But since the emergence of a highly industrialized society, dangerous human intervention in nature has sharply increased, the scope of this intervention has expanded, it has become more diverse and now threatens to become a global danger to humanity. The consumption of non-renewable raw materials is increasing, more and more arable land is leaving the economy as cities and factories are built on it. Man has to increasingly intervene in the economy of the biosphere - that part of our planet in which life exists. The Earth's biosphere is currently subject to increasing anthropogenic impact. At the same time, several of the most significant processes can be identified, any of which does not improve the environmental situation on the planet. The most widespread and significant is chemical pollution of the environment with substances of a chemical nature that are unusual for it. Among them are gaseous and aerosol pollutants of industrial and domestic origin. The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is also progressing. The further development of this process will strengthen the undesirable trend towards an increase in the average annual temperature on the planet. Environmentalists are also concerned about the ongoing pollution of the World Ocean with oil and petroleum products, which has already reached almost half of its total surface. Oil pollution of this size can cause significant disruptions in gas and water exchange between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere. There is no doubt about the importance of chemical contamination of the soil with pesticides and its increased acidity, leading to the collapse of the ecosystem. In general, all the factors considered that can be attributed to the polluting effect have a noticeable impact on the processes occurring in the biosphere. As humanity develops, it begins to use more and more new types of resources (nuclear and geothermal energy, solar, tidal hydropower, wind and other non-traditional sources). However, fuel resources today play a major role in providing energy to all sectors of the economy. This is clearly reflected in the structure of the fuel and energy balance. Therefore, it is natural to turn to the search for integrated characteristics that, reflecting the real state of the environment, would help to choose the environmentally and economically optimal option, and in contaminated (disturbed) conditions, determine the order of restoration and health measures. There is a connection between product quality and environmental quality: the higher the product quality (taking into account the environmental assessment of the use of waste and the results of environmental protection activities in the production process), the higher the environmental quality.
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The industrial complex occupies a leading position in terms of the intensity of its impact on the environment. The main reasons for this primacy are: imperfect production technologies, excessive concentration - both territorial and within one enterprise, and the lack of reliable environmental protection structures. The imperfection of modern technologies does not allow the complete processing of raw materials. Most of it returns to nature in the form of waste. According to some scientists, finished products make up 1 - 2% of the raw materials used, and the rest are returned as waste to the biosphere, polluting its components.
Based on the degree and nature of the impact (based on the volume of industrial waste), fuel and energy, metallurgical, chemical forestry and construction complexes are distinguished. Attracting attention is the large emission of gaseous sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere - one of the harmful pollutants of industrial origin; in atmospheric conditions it turns into sulfuric acid and causes acid rain.
The main sources of air pollution in our country are machines and installations using sulfur-containing coals, oil, and gas.
Significantly polluting the atmosphere are motor transport, thermal power plants, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, oil and gas refining, chemical and forestry industries. A large amount of harmful substances enter the atmosphere with vehicle exhaust gases, and their share in air pollution is constantly growing; According to some estimates, in Russia - more than 30%, and in the USA - more than 60% of the total emission of pollutants into the atmosphere.
With the growth of industrial production and its industrialization, environmental protection measures based on MPC standards and their derivatives become insufficient to reduce already formed pollution. Therefore, it is natural to turn to the search for integrated characteristics that, reflecting the real state of the environment, would help to choose the environmentally and economically optimal option, and in contaminated (disturbed) conditions, determine the order of restoration and health measures.
With the transition to the path of intensive economic development, an important role is given to the system of economic indicators endowed with the most important functions of economic activity: planning, accounting, evaluation, control and incentives. Like any systemic formation, which is not an arbitrary set, but interconnected elements in a certain integrity, economic indicators are designed to express the final result, taking into account all phases of the reproduction process.
One of the important reasons for the increase in the environmental intensity of the economy was the wear and tear of equipment exceeding all acceptable standards. In basic industries and transport, wear and tear on equipment, including wastewater treatment equipment, reaches 70-80%. With the continued operation of such equipment, the likelihood of environmental disasters increases sharply. Typical in this regard was the oil pipeline accident in the Arctic region of Komi near Usinsk. As a result, up to 100 thousand tons of oil spilled onto the fragile ecosystems of the North, according to various estimates. This environmental disaster became one of the largest in the world in the 90s, and it was caused by the extreme deterioration of the pipeline. The accident received worldwide publicity, although according to some Russian experts, it is one of many - others were simply hidden. For example, in the same Komi region, according to the interdepartmental commission on environmental safety, 890 accidents occurred.
The economic damage of environmental disasters is colossal. With the funds saved as a result of preventing accidents, it would be possible to reconstruct the fuel and energy complex over the course of several years and significantly reduce the energy intensity of the entire economy. Damage caused to nature during the production and consumption of products is the result of irrational environmental management. An objective need has arisen to establish relationships between the results of economic activity and the environmental friendliness of manufactured products and the technology of their production. In accordance with the law, this requires additional costs from work collectives, which must be taken into account when planning. At an enterprise, it is advisable to distinguish between environmental protection costs associated with the production of products and with bringing the product to a certain level of environmental quality, or with replacing it with another, more environmentally friendly one.
The main source of hydrocarbons and the main energy carrier in Russia is oil. Enterprises of the Russian fuel and energy complex, including oil production and transportation, despite a decrease in production volumes, remain the largest source of environmental pollution in industry. Environmental problems begin already at the stage of crude oil production and its transportation to the consumer.