On the expediency of environmentally-friendly use of wood waste in the Baikal region

Abstract

An important direction in ensuring technosphere safety is the reduction of the amount of waste produced by the timber industry and emissions of harmful substances into the environment. Environmentally friendly recycling of woody biomass is expedient in terms of environmental protection and contribute to energy consumption. The purpose of this work is to estimate woody biomass resources in Russia and in the Baikal region (Irkutsk region, Buryatia and Zabaykalsky Krai) in terms of the energy use. The data of public statistics on the volume of harvested wood and products of the timber industry of the Russian regions were used. Based on the analysis of waste generation standards, the resources of wood waste generated during wood harvesting, production of sawn timber, plywood and cellulose were evaluated. The calculations showed that 94±18 million m3 of wood waste is generated annually in Russia. Significant waste wood biomass (about 19 million m3 / year, or 5.6 million tons of coal equivalent) is located in the Baikal region. Most of this biomass is concentrated in Irkutsk region (about 90% of woody waste from the Baikal region). This wood waste has to be recycled to prevent environmental and economic damage. Disposal of waste will help avoid littering of territories, forest fires, pollution of surface and groundwater which will have a positive impact on the ecological situation in areas of forest harvesting and processing.