Evaluation of production and consumption of wood biofuel in the Komi Republic

The purpose of this work is to comprehensively study the bioenergy industry of the Komi Republic. The main objective is to analyze production and consumption of wood biofuels in the region. The study shows that the development of wood waste processing is a global trend and can significantly improve the efficiency of resource use in the forest complex. For the forest subjects of Russia and the Komi Republic, in particular, increased capacity in production and consumption of wood biofuels is the main area of addressing the problem of waste processing of sawmills and woodwork industries. At the same time, it was revealed that in the state statistics service the data characterizing the development of wood waste processing are not classified to a separate type of economic activity and are taken into account in a hidden form by the main activities of enterprises. This provision significantly limits the analysis of bioenergy activity and efficiency of its management by public authorities. Lack of available information required the development of the author's methodology for the study of production and consumption of wood biofuels in the Komi bioenergy sector based on the collection of data from open sources, requests for information in state institutions, selective interviewing of heads of enterprises. The research results show that in 2014-2017, based on joint work of the government of the Komi Republic and enterprises, 13 productions of fuel pellets and briquettes were created with a total capacity of 95,000 tons per year, with an investment of more than 186 million rubles. However, the actual production of wood biofuel in the Komi Republic in this period was significantly lower than planned, and the main volume of production was sold toenterprises in the domestic market. The key segments of consumption are commercial sector and the population, followed by municipal bioenergy and the budget of region's municipalities. Thus, the obtained data are of practical importance for the management of production and consumption development of wood biofuels in the Komi Republic.