OVERGROWN AGRICULTURAL LANDS AS A POTENTIAL FOR NATURAL DECARBONIZATION OF OIL AND GAS FIELDS

Abstract

In the north-western part of the Republic of Bashkortostan there are a large number of oil and gas fields, which are located on abandoned agricultural lands. Taking into account the increased level of impact on forest phytocenoses of natural and artificial origin in this zone, it becomes necessary to study the volume of carbon uptake by woody vegetation. To fulfill this goal, the tasks of carrying out an inventory of overgrown agricultural lands, entering coordinates of the boundaries of oil and gas fields into geoinformation projects and applying the results of digitization of overgrown agricultural lands to the boundaries of oil and gas fields are set. The study covers 18 municipal districts: Askinsky, Bakalinsky, Baltachevsky, Belebeyevsky, Bizhbulyaksky, Blagoveshchensky, Buraevsky, Dyurtyulinsky, Ilishevsky, Kaltasinsky, Karaidelsky, Krasnokamsky, Kushnarenkovsky, Mishkinsky, Tatyshlinsky, Tuymazinsky. Sharansky, Yanaulsky. The Q-GIS program defines the areas of overgrown areas. According to satellite images, 4 stages of overgrowth have been identified: the fourth (the age of trees is 20 years or more), the third (the age of trees is about 15 years), the second (the age of trees is about 10 years) and the first (the age of trees is up to 5 years). The main breeds that ensure overgrowth are pine and birch. The results of the study demonstrate an increase from 1985 to 2022 for the forest area by 20.41% for the north of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Calculation of accumulated carbon with subsequent conversion into carbon units and assessment of their value showed that at the moment the stand of overgrown agricultural land has already accumulated about 182 thousand tons of carbon units. About 135 thousand tons of carbon units are deposited annually. The high dynamics of carbon accumulation by woody vegetation allows us to assume with a high degree of probability that agricultural lands overgrown with forest, when implementing certain forestry measures, can be the basis for the implementation of costeffective climate projects for both owners of licensed plots and other interested parties. According to the results of our work, the use of the Severo-Kushkul and Mishidinsky license areas of oil and gas fields is promising for forest-climatic projects.