Manure as a source of energy and heat-insulating material in the cold climate of Yakutia

Abstract

Energy is essential for the development of human society. Biogas plants, as a part of an integrated product-to-energy system, are an alternative to the use of waste biomass as raw materials due to their energy production capacity and thermal insulation material. Animal waste is an important resource that is used to replenish organic matter and improve soil conditions. Depending on the weight, cattle produce approximately 4 to 6 tons of fresh manure per year. With the constantly increasing prices for fossil energy resources, as well as the depletion of oil and gas reserves, an increasing number of countries are developing alternative energy sources. One of these types is biogas. It is necessary to note that the main disadvantage of biogas energy is the significant weight of specific capital costs and low profitability of projects. Despite this, in Russia there is the increase in demand for biogas units (BGU), both for small consumers (with a digester volume of 3-20 m3) and for medium-sized consumers (with a digester volume of 30-100 m3). The point is that biogas technologies properly fit into the UN Doctrine of sustainable development of society. Many in Russia are committed to this idea. They are guided by the principle “Reason is a clumsy instrument of a scientist; intuition is the unmistakable leader of the seer” and try to solve this problem each in his own way. According to UN experts, this very integrated approach, when a scheme for the selection of enterprises and industries operating on one type of raw material is carried out, and waste and byproducts of one production act as raw materials or semi-finished products for another type, can completely solve the problem of sustainable development of society.