ENERGY POTENTIAL OF AGROBIOMASS IN KRASNODAR, STAVROPOL AND ROSTOV REGIONS

At present the use of organic waste for energy production has become a significant part of the world energy industry. Thereby both the problem of energy supply and waste disposal are solved. In connection with the large volumes of annually formed resource, the ability to provide inexpensive logistics and the demand for ener gy at the level of local consumption the task of recycling agricultural waste is of particular interest. The paper presents a methodology for assessing the crop waste energy potential, taking into account the type of crops, the energy content and specific features of their processing to produce thermal energy. The regions of the Russian Federation leading in the production of cereals, sunflower and corn, i. e. Stavropol Territory, Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region, were chosen as study areas, both due to the significant energy potential and the available experience of producing energy from wastes in the South of Russia. The quantities of thermal energy that can be obtained from the waste of these crops are determined (the totals for all crops are 14 600 000, 30 500 000 and 29 100 000 million Gcal/year for the regions, respectively), as well as the share of heat supply coverage in the residential sector of the regions (124, 120 and 160%, respectively). The cluster analysis methods allowed identifying groups of districts that are self-sufficient in terms of the local energy resource, as well as potential “donors” of fuel from waste. The results are displayed on charts and a series of maps.