COMPLEX ASSESSMENT OF THE ENERGY TRANSITION IN THE KOMI REPUBLIC
O.V. Buryy
Komi Science Centre of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Socio-Economic and Energy Problems of the North, Syktyvkar, Russia
Keywords: energy transition, sustainable development, economy, energy mix, electricity intensity, energy poverty, ecology, marker pollutants, Komi Republic
Abstract
Modern society, striving for sustainable development, puts forward strict requirements for energy systems. They must ensure economic growth, universal access to reliable energy supply, and environmental safety. However, the regional aspects of the energy transition in Russia are still poorly understood due to methodological fragmentation and incompleteness of statistical information. This negatively affects the quality of the findings and jeopardizes the achievement of national sustainable development goals and implementation of the climate agenda. The purpose of the work is a comprehensive assessment of the energy system in the Komi Republic on the priorities of sustainable development and energy transition. The analysis of individual parameters of its functioning, taking into account the energy and economic characteristics of the region from 1998 to 2024, is presented. It has been found that regional energy system secures the tasks of economic growth, but the outdated structure of the economy and the actual isolation of the system limit the possibilities of energy transition. A review of the current situation with energy poverty has shown that even with the current “carbon-based" energy sector, households bear a significant financial burden, forcing up to 30% of the Komi Republic’s population to rely on social support measures. The impact of structural changes in the energy sector on the natural environment was assessed through the dynamics of emissions of marker pollutants. It is shown that the twofold decrease in a quarter of a century is due to the crisis in the extractive industry of the region and the increasing effectiveness of environmental protection measures.
|
