The Governor of Arkhangelsk Region to encourage the use of timber residues in biofuel

Ilya Mikhalchuk, the Governor of Arkhangelsk Region, held a meeting with Vladimir Shishov, the Vice-Governor for Natural Resources Management, Agricultural Sector and Ecology and Yuri Trubin, the Minister for Natural Resources and Timber Industry Complex of Arkhangelsk Region.

The main issue discussed at the meeting was upgrading of the regional power generation sector and transfer of the boiler plants to the locally produced types of fuel. «We need to switch to biofuel as soon as possible», - told Ilya Mikhalchuk at the meeting. - «If we break all our brain patterns that stick us to the traditional use of coal and diesel fuel and enroot the new principles of careful and thoughtful use of our major treasure, the forest, it will be a considerable support to the economy of the region». Andrei Annin, the chief of the Committee of the Regional Assembly for Housing and Public Utilities and Energy Complex has commented on this decision: "The Yamal Peninsula is rich in gas, Kuzbass and Vorkuta in coal, the East Siberia in oil and fuel oil. But the Arkhangelsk Region possesses all conditions in order to take a decent place in a range of territories that use local types of fuel due to the potential of timber and woodworking products use».

The regional budget always assigns substantial resources to control the augmentation of heat and electrical power payment rates for population. About USD 2 bln was allocated for these purposes in 2010. This money is spent on procurement of coal and fuel oil and in case of transfer to the local eco friendly types of fuel this money will be spent on the regional development.

During the sawmilling and woodworking different types of residues, such as tree tops, branches, twigs, foliage and sawdust may appear. Specific scheme of use for each of these residues shall be elaborated. Ilya Mikhalchuk gave a task to the Minister for Natural Resources and Timber Industry Complex to jointly develop such a scheme with the Ministry for Fuel and Energy Complex and Housing and Public Utilities of the region in order to quit the usage of coal and fuel oil in five years.