K. Tobylov, Candidate of Economic Science
Ye.Nikiforova, 1-st year student, Environment Management
BIO-BASED
ECONOMY AS PRIORITY DIRECTION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF
KAZAKHSTAN
Nowadays humanity faces the problem of natural resources lack and the problem of their distribution. To deal with the situation in
question there appeared a new field of Economics - Bio-based Economy, the very
term firstly being used by Juan Enriquez and
Rodrigo Martinez, Life Sciences Chief Strategist at IDEO at the Genomics Seminar in the 1997 AAAS meeting.
Bio-based Economy
(«Green Economy») - branch of Economics that treats Economics as a dependent
component of environment.
On the whole “Green Economy” means branches of
Economics and institutional mechanisms meliorating environment and ecological
life quality based on profitable and long-lasting foundations [1].
The issues of the branch are studied
by М. Bukchin, J.Jacobs, R.Carson, E. F. Schumacher, R. Konstants, L. Margulis, D. Corten, B. Fuller, H.
Dali, D. Meadows, P. Hawken, А. Tversky, etc.
The aim of Bio-based Economy is
working out economically profitable approach to environmental issues management
and to the use of natural resources.
The main branches of Bio-based Economy
are:
1) introduction of renewable energy
resources, alternative energy sources among them;
2) preservation and efficient
management of ecological systems, i.e. the existing biological diversity;
3) waste management system
improvement: correct utilization, recycling, re-use;
4) water resources management
improvement, modern desalination and purification technologies introduction;
5) organic arable farming in:
soil
fertility management;
efficient
water use;
plant
and animal health management;
farm automation;
6) energy efficiency improvement in housing
and services;
7) “pure” transport means introduction,
i.e. those vehicles which produce the least carbon dioxide emission (causing greenhouse effect) [2].
Among the most relevant for
Kazakhstan branches of Bio-based Economy we can single out first of all alternative energy sources use.
Throughout its existence
mankind has been using non-renewable natural resources as a source of energy. So
today we are facing the problem of their fast exhaustion. According to British
Petroleum Company world oil reserves will have run out in 53 years, those of
natural gas - in 56 years [3]. This causes the need in working - out
alternative energy sources as means of promising ways of obtainment,
transportation and use of energy. In Kazakhstan the Law “On Supporting
Renewable Energy Sources Use” was passed on June,
4, 2009.
Among alternative
sources of energy there may be singled out:
1) wind-power sources, based on the
air masses movement. It is noteworthy
that recently many countries have intensified the use of wind turbines, the
majority of them being located in West Europe (Denmark, Germany, the UK, Netherlands), in the USA, in India and
China. Thus, Denmark gets 25 % of its
energy supply by using wind turbines [4]. In this country we may single
out some regions of North, Central, West and South-East Kazakhstan, particularly
Dzhungar gates and Shelek corridor, where the average annual wind rate is 7-9 м/s and 5-9 м/s respectively,
and also Astana, fort Shevchenko and Arkalyk. Their potential of use and
generation of air masses’ electrical energy may be called unique [5];
2) geothermal ones, those using the Earth warmth,
the advantage of them being almost complete safety for environment. For example,
carbon dioxide amount, emitted while producing 1 кW of electricity from high-temperature
geothermal sources, is from 13 to 380 g (compare: for coal that is 1042 g per 1
kW/h), the main geothermal regions of Kazakhstan being in the suburbs of
Shymkent, Zhambyl, Kyzyl-Orda, in the
Chu river valley, in the north of
the Kyzyl-Kum desert, in the Ili river
valley (Panfilov field), in suburbs of Almaty, in Taldykorgan oblast, on Usturt
plateau [6];
3) solar ones, those working on
electromagnetic solar radiation. They are wide-spread in the USA, Germany,
Spain, South Korea and Japan, where there exist national solar energy use programs.
At the same time the potential of Solar Energetics in Kazakhstan is estimated at 2.5 bln. кW/h a year, and
to promising regions of development
refer fort Shevchenko, the Aral sea
coast and suburbs of Almaty [7];
4) hydropower - movement of river and
sea water. It is noteworthy that in Kazakhstan there are three big hydro power
plants:
Bukhtarminskaya, Ust-Kamenogorskaya and Shubarkolskaya;
It is also important to attract
attention to such an important for Kazakhstan branch of Bio-based Economy as waste
management system improvement. We
cannot but mention that according to MP-developers of «The Law on Waste» today
there are over 20 bln. tons of waste, 230 mln of them - radioactive ones in
Kazakhstan. As estimated the amount of waste in the country is about 60 tons
per capita annually (compare: in developed countries the amount being under 15 tons).
In the mentioned above legislation the following main
principles of treating waste, based on international experience, are stipulated:
1) legislative recognition of waste owners’ responsibility concerning waste management;
2) prevention of waste accumulation (decreasing waste
amount and insalubrity by using closed
production cycle);
3) waste
utilization up to complete extraction
of useful substances (re-use of raw
materials);
4) safe waste storage;
5) priority of utilization over storage;
6) exclusion of non-utilizable (dangerous, toxic,
radioactive) waste from economic
circulation;
7) waste storage without damaging people’s health and environment;
8) waste
removal at manufacturers’ expense [8].
It
should be mentioned that all these branches need further development.
In the frames of this article we consider it is also
important to mention such a branch of Bio-based Economy as energy efficiency
improvement in housing and communal services. We should say that housing fund in the Republic of
Kazakhstan is 267.8 mln. м2, overall
annual thermal energy consumption being 74.8 mln. Gcal (240 kW), electricity 8319.6 mln. At the same time today the majority
of Kazakhstani apartment complexes are equipped with non-efficient
insulation structures and heat supply systems, which leads to significant heat
loses. So, to solve these problems
there are energy service companies in the country today, whose aim is to fix
heat supply devices [2].
To improve heat supply conditions it is also possible
to use alternative sources of heat supply such as:
In conclusion we should say that
universal concept of Bio-based Economy is
minimization of environment damage, improving people’s living standards
while gaining economic profit. There are all conditions for the development of the mentioned above branches of Bio-based
Economy in Kazakhstan. Thus N. Nazarbaev, President of the RK on May, 30, 2013
approved of the “Concept on the transition of the Republic of Kazakhstan to
“green Economy”’.
According to it the priorities of economic development of Kazakhstan are
efficient resources use, improving the current infrastructure, improving population welfare, safety improvement,
biodiversity preservation and environment state improvement.
Reference:
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