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Renewable energy sources as an instrument to support the competitiveness of agro-industrial enterprises and reduce their costs
The relevance of this study is due to the fact that agriculture is one of the most important sectors in the Russian economy. Due to rich natural resources, Russia is able to furnish itself sustainably and can export large volumes of agricultural products. The question at issue is that the intensive development of the agro-industrial complex is accompanied by high energy consumption, which ultimately may result in environmental pollution and ecological imbalance. The dependence of the agricultural production on organic fuels (i.e. traditional hydrocarbon energy sources) may limit the ability of this sector to meet the demand for agricultural products and ensure the food security of the country. Moreover, the high dependence of the agricultural production on traditional energy sources affects the business profitability and competitiveness. Based on the materials outlined in this article, the authors come to the following main conclusions:
• the adoption of innovative energy saving models by the efficiency improvement of utilization of the primary fuel and energy resources, using the secondary fuel and energy resources, renewable energy sources is required for the reliable energy supply and improvement of the efficiency of agricultural production. Moreover, the damage to the environment caused by the utilization of fossil fuels can be mitigated by using renewable energy sources;
• Russia has the climatic conditions required for the use of solar energy, small hydropower, and wind energy. At the same time, in the part of ensuring the energy needs of agro-industrial and agricultural production in Russia, traditional hydrocarbon energy sources are mainly used. Despite the fact that the physical volume of traditional energy sources consumption decreased (in the aggregate for all types of production) from 6% to 11% in 2012-2016, in value terms, the energy consumption in the agro-industrial sector increased by almost 20% over the same period;
• according to the authors, agricultural and agro-industrial producers in Russia should use the best practice of the EU countries in order to reduce the level of expenses for traditional energy sources and to diversify the energy supply of their activities. This will have positive impact on the competitiveness of agricultural production and will reduce the level of costs, i.e. improve the business profitability.