This volume offers profound analyses of the main theoretical and practical aspects of the concept of sustainable development: namely, current environmental problems; the building of green economies; climate policies; specifics of international cooperation in the sphere of sustainable development; specific features of business and government involvement in implementing sustainable development; the role of civil society; its social and gender aspects; and specific characteristics of national models of sustainable development. The focus on the international aspects of the implementation of sustainable development ideas makes the insights offered here fresh and unique.

This book examines how Russia, the world’s most complicated country, is governed. As it resumes its place at the centre of global affairs, the book explores Russia’s overarching strategies, and how it organizes itself (or not) in policy areas ranging from foreign policy and national security to health care, education, immigration, science, sport, agriculture, the environment and criminal justice. The book also discusses the structures and institutions on which Russia relies in order to deliver its goals in these areas of national life, as well as what’s to be done, in policy terms, to improve the country’s performance in its first post-Soviet century. Edited by Irvin Studin, the book includes contributions from a tremendous list of Russia’s leading thinkers and specialists, including Alexei Kudrin, Vladimir Mau, Alexander Auzan, Simon Kordonsky, Fyodor Lukyanov, Natalia Zubarevich and Andrey Melville.

Global warming is recognized as one of the most urgent challenges for human society in the 21st century. The international community has agreed to undertake necessary actions to prevent dangerous anthropogenic impacts on the climatic system. Based on the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2014), the UNFCCC Parties adopted the Paris Agreement aimed at limiting the global mean surface temperature rise by “well below 2 degrees Celsius”. Such an ambitious “climatic” target requires unprecedented efforts to reduce carbon emissions to almost zero worldwide this century. Moreover, in order to keep the warming below 1.5°C, the global total emissions must be reduced by 50% or more by 2050 (compared to current levels) and reach net-zero levels afterwards. In practical terms, it means that most of the countries should deeply decarbonize their economies, energy systems, industries, transport, buildings, products and services, while continuing growth of GDP and the standard of living of the population. The developed countries agreed to take the lead in climate change mitigation under the UNFCCC; however, the largest developing countries and emerging economies have started playing substantial roles in carbon emissions nowadays. In this decade, China became the world No.1 CO2 emitter overcoming the United States. The Northeast Asian (NEA) region, including China, Japan, Mongolia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation, is responsible for annual emissions of over 12.4 billion tonnes of CO2 or approximately 40% of global energy-related CO2 emissions. These countries are huge contributors to global warming today and may increase their share further. The traditional way of combusting the huge fossil fuels reserves (coal, gas, and oil) available in the Northeast Asian region would emit greenhouse gases substantially exceeding the amounts that would warm the planet by 2°C. On the other hand, plentiful sources of renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro, tidal, and biomass, etc.) in combination with advanced technologies, investments, and land infrastructure developments can transform the Northeast Asian countries into decarbonized, climate- and environment-friendly economies with sustainable growth and development, fully consistent with the goals and commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement. Delays with the deep decarbonization of the Northeast Asian economies will impose higher risks for communities and life-supporting ecosystems, more losses and stranded assets for businesses, and slower technological progress worldwide. The analysis of challenges and opportunities in deep decarbonization pathways for the Northeast Asian region as a whole is presented in this publication. We raise many questions, and yet have not so many answers. By publishing this text, we want to invite all interested and concerned parties to start thinking about and debating these new, but very up-to-date issues of deep transformation of our economies, industries, consumer behavior, and ways of living in climate-neutral patterns, in order that we can urgently meet the need to save our planet and keep it in good shape for the generations to come.

The materials of The International Scientific – Practical Conference is presented below. The Conference reflects the modern state of innovation in education, science, industry and social-economic sphere, from the standpoint of introducing new information technologies.

It is interesting for a wide range of researchers, teachers, graduate students and professionals in the field of innovation and information technologies.

The piblication provides the key lessons learnt from DDPP project experience on designing long-term pathways of low carbon development for 16 world largest economies. The Paris Climate Agreement requires countries to build their concrete vision of the national low-emission transition, consistent with global climate goals that would widely shared by domestic stakeholders and explicitly articulated with domestic socio-economic priorities. We analyze the experience of USA, France, Germany, Russia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, UK, Mexico, Canada, Italy, Brazil in projecting the deep decarbonization scenarios for their economies by 2050.

This volume discusses post-socialist urban transport functioning and development in Russia, within the context of the country’s recent transition towards a market economy. Over the past twenty-five years, urban transport in Russia has undergone serious transformations, prompted by the transitioning economy. Yet, the lack of readily available statistical data has led to a gap in the inclusion of Russia in the body of international transport economics research. By including ten chapters of original, cutting-edge research by Russian transport scholars, this book will close that gap. Discussing topics such as the relationship between urban spatial structure and travel behavior in post-soviet cities, road safety, trends and reforms in urban public transport development, transport planning and modelling, and the role of institutions in post-soviet transportation management, this book provides a comprehensive survey of the current state of transportation in Russia. The book concludes with a forecast for future travel development in Russia and makes recommendations for future policy. This book will be of interest to researchers in transportation economics and policy as well as policy makers and those working in the field of urban and transport planning. 

The materials of The Third International Scientific-Practical Conference is presented below. The Conference reflects the modern state of innovation in education, science, industry and social-economic sphere, from the standpoint of introducing new information technologies.

Digest of Conference materials is presented in 3 parts. It is interesting for a wide range of researchers, teachers, graduate students and professionals in the field of innovation and information technologies.

The materials of The Third International Scientific-Practical Conference is presented below. The Conference reflects the modern state of innovation in education, science, industry and social-economic sphere, from the standpoint of introducing new information technologies.

Digest of Conference materials is presented in 3 parts. It is interesting for a wide range of researchers, teachers, graduate students and professionals in the field of innovation and information technologies.

The materials of The Third International Scientific-Practical Conference is presented below. The Conference reflects the modern state of innovation in education, science, industry and social-economic sphere, from the standpoint of introducing new information technologies.

Digest of Conference materials is presented in 3 parts. It is interesting for a wide range of researchers, teachers, graduate students and professionals in the field of innovation and information technologies.

This Study was prepared by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Russian Energy Agency (REA), and the United States Energy Association (USEA) under the framework of the U.S./Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission Energy Efficiency Working Group’s Russian/American Smart Grid Partnership Initiative. This study was designed to provide the Russian and American stakeholders with on overarching 360 degree perspective on the major impediments to Smart Grid deployment in the U.S. and Russia. The study doesn’t include recommendation; it only assesses the current barriers that prevent smart grid technology deployment in the United States and Russia. It is organized into two parallel sections, one focusing on the impediments to smart grid technology deployment in the United States and the other on the impediments to its deployment in Russia. A common analytical framework for the study was jointly developed by the U.S. and Russian counterparts to ensure that the studies were parallel in their analyses and the impediments are divided into the following high level main Smart Grid related themes:  Smart Grid Concept  Markets  Efficiency  Cross-Subsidy  Generation  Consumer Participation  Behavioral Norms  Data & Analytics  Smart Grid Investment Environment  Education  Grid Modernization A parallel series of in-person interviews were conducted in the U.S. and Russia with relevant smart grid stakeholders including government agencies, regulatory officials, infrastructure companies, electric utilities, industry associations, market operators, and research institutions. The interviews ranged 2-3 hours in length. The subjects were informed in advance that their opinions were not for attribution, leading to a candid exchange of opinion. A customized questionnaire jointly developed by the Russian and American expert consulting teams was utilized during each stakeholder interview.

 

The energy sector of Russia is one of the most potent in the world - it is the second in extraction of oil and gas, the third for total output of fuel and energy resources. While exporting nearly 45% of its total production of energy resources, Russia produces more energy per capita than most other countries - 5 times higher the global average and 3 times higher than the average level for OECD countries. The energy sector of Siberia represents the crucial part of the country's energy sector. Over decades, the energy resources of the region massively contributed to the Russian federal budget and brought in a major part of hard currency from export trade. In the current conditions of existing geopolitical challenges and expected global demand for energy resources, it is much more of a priority for Russia not to raise the output of fuel and energy resources but to improve the overall quality and reliability of the whole energy supply system, increase the depth of mineral fuel, including solid fuel and waste recycling.

The paper considers approaches to analyzing and setting directions in the development of Siberia. The view of Siberia widely adopted by the scientific community, taking it to be a socially and economically linked region, is shown to be largely premature. For 60 years, the Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences has been developing and elaborating approaches that can provide a comprehensive rationale for the development of Siberia in line with modern spatial economics concepts (creating and distributing value in the interests of Siberia and its individual regions). The approaches developed at the institute make it possible to analyze the synergistic effects from the integrating efforts of individual territories within the Siberian macroregion.

The paper presents the position of the Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, on the elaboration the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation. It is shown that in the formation of conceptual approaches to developing the strategy, there was a fundamental change in its priorities, focus, and implementation mechanisms. Whereas the first version of the strategy concept contained a truly progressive vision of the problems, challenges, priorities, possible scenarios of the country’s spatial development, and mechanisms for implementing the strategy, with each subsequent workflow step, these progressive approaches were lost. It is shown that, although the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025 adopted in early 2019 partly took into account comments and suggestions, it nevertheless remained very vulnerable to criticism. The article considers conceptual defects in the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation, such as ignorance of new trends, challenges, and threats arising in the Russian economic space; the dominance of the idea of allocation of funds to implement the strategy only through the development of urban agglomerations, neglecting the tasks of ensuring social justice and supporting the human potential of Russian society, ensuring the environmental safety of business operations, and life of the population in particular territories, etc.

A brief analysis of the draft document “Russia 2030: Science and Technology Foresight” (of December 19, 2017) is presented. The authors, who are leading researchers at the Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, reveal discrepancies between a series of provisions in the document and the current level of Russia’s economic development, primarily in science and technology. The document provides virtually no economic rationale or analysis of what causes the loss of science and technology potential in Russia. The attempt to foresee the technological development of individual Russian regions is unsuccessful. The general conclusion is that the foresight document does not provide a single platform for the development and implementation of strategic planning documents in the field of science and technology.

The article presents the results of predictive studies of the development of new energy sources using the example of wind energy technologies in the countries of the North Sea Basin. Predictive estimates (based on the mathematical technique of learning curves), the dynamics of installed power and the generation of electric power by floating wind power stations, as well as the processes of replacing traditional energy with developing energy technologies in various countries, including Russia, are considered. The economic characteristics of energy technologies at an early stage of development are given.

The Paris Agreement introduces long-term strategies as an instrument to inform progressively more ambitious emission reduction objectives, while holding development goals paramount in the context of national circumstances. In the lead up to the twenty-first Conference of the Parties, the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project developed mid-century low-emission pathways for 16 countries, based on an innovative pathway design framework. In this Perspective, we describe this framework and show how it can support the development of sectorally and technologically detailed, policy-relevant and country-driven strategies consistent with the Paris Agreement climate goal. We also discuss how this framework can be used to engage stakeholder input and buy-in; design implementation policy packages; reveal necessary technological, financial and institutional enabling conditions; and support global stocktaking and increasing of ambition.

We have performed a comparative analysis of the bio-oil produced by thermal liquefaction of microalgae in different solvents using high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry and GC-MS approach. Water, methanol, ethanol, butanol, isopropanol, acetonitrile, toluene, and hexane were used as solvents in which the liquefaction was performed. It was observed that all resulting oils demonstrate a considerable degree of similarity. For all samples, compounds containing 1 and 2 nitrogen atoms dominated in the positive ESI spectra, while a relative contribution of other compounds was small. In negative ESI mode, compounds having 2 to 7 oxygens were observed. Statistical analysis revealed that products can be combined in two groups depending on the solvent used for the liquefaction. To the first group, we can attribute the products obtained by using protic (alcohols) and to the second by using aprotic (acetonitrile, toluene) solvents. Nevertheless, based on our results, we concluded that solvent possesses a minor impact on molecular composition of bio-oil. We suggested that the driving force of the liquefaction reaction is the thermal dehydration of the carbohydrate in algae, resulting in water formation, which could be the trigger of the producing of bio-oil. To prove this hypothesis, we performed the reaction with the dry algae in the absence of the solvent and observed the formation of bio-oil.

This article examines the industrial wastes and environmental effects of Soviet technological development through the history of the Karelian Isthmus, a border territory that had previously been Finnish. Focusing primarily on the history of two large enterprises – the Svetogorskii (former Enso) and Sovetskii (former Johannes) pulp and paper making plants, the authors illustrate the polluting nature of the Soviet economy in the 1940s-1980s. We contend that from the very beginning, important as they were for the USSR, the enterprises of the Isthmus were built into a system of shortages of techniques and materials that contributed to the hectic fulfillment of the plan. Producing pulp and pulp-based products remained a priority during the whole Soviet period. On the level of industrial enterprises, the Soviet system revealed itself as incapable of solving the problem of pollution and wasting. After waste treatment facilities developed by Soviet engineers in the 1960s turned out to be inadequate for dealing with increasing pollution, the Soviet authorities called on Finnish companies to carry out substantial modernization of a few enterprises on the Isthmus. This helped the modernized plants remain functioning in the age of economic crisis at the end of the Soviet epoch. Old problems, however, such as shortages and lack of expertise, remained pivotal, while new sources of pollution, such as carbon emissions, appeared. As a result, the level of contamination was still high and led to negative environmental impacts.

We developed a ruthenium-catalyzed reductive ester synthesis from aldehydes or ketones and carboxylic acids using carbon monoxide as a deoxygenative agent. Multiple factors influencing the outcome of the reaction were investigated. Best results were obtained for commercially available and inexpensive benzene ruthenium chloride; as low as 0.5 mol % of the catalyst is sufficient for efficient reaction. Competitive studies demonstrated that the presence of even 1000 equiv of alcohol in the reaction mixture does not lead to the corresponding ester, which clearly indicates that the process is not a simple reductive esterification but a novel type of Ru-catalyzed redox process.

Despite the success of many countries in increasing energy saving and energy efficiency, the global energy consumption is expected to continue its growth. The main reasons are economic development and population growth happening primarily in developing and emerging economies, especially in India and China. In such circumstances fossil fuels will remain the dominant energy source in the medium and even long run. The present research paper aims at analyzing the current global trends in the energy sector identified through literature review and expert tools, and their influence on Russia. Considering a broad range of factors, the paper determined the following main challenges for the Russian energy sector: tightening competition at international energy markets, the need for comprehensive modernization and stronger energy efficiency measures, the need for technological catch-up in a number of energy sector segments, the need to increase recovery factor at traditional oilfields, and the need to diversify energy mix by increasing the share of renewables. The paper also considers the main rationale for the last challenge that include strengthened security, reliability and sustainability of the Russian energy sector. Among the key preconditions for advancements in renewable energy are improvements in investment climate, modernisation of the central grid and changes in energy policy. The paper is based on the outcomes of the first stage of the Foresight project devoted to renewable energy technologies.

The paper is devoted to the issue of smart power system cost-benefit analysis. The innovative character of smart grids is defined and related obstacles for traditional cost-benefit assessment are revealed, primarily referred to external effects evaluation. Brief systematization of existing methods of smart grids assessment is provided and their weak points are defined. A new Smart Grid cost-benefit assessment approach is presented, basing on the elaborated comprehensive system of smart power system effects. The approach is tested for the system effects of smart power system implementation in the Russian Unified Energy System, quantitative results are presented.

Liberalization of regional public transport market in Russia has led to continuing decline of service quality. One of the main results of the liberalization is the emergence of inefficient spatial structures of regional public transport systems in Russian regions. While the problem of optimization of urban public transport system has been extensively studied, the structure of regional public transport system has been referred less often. The question is whether the problems of spatial structure are common for regional and public transportation systems, and if this is the case, whether the techniques developed for urban public transport planning and management are applicable to regional networks. The analysis of the regional public transport system in Perm Krai has shown that the problems of cities and regions are very similar. On this evidence the proposals were made in order to employ urban practice for the optimization of regional public transport system. The detailed program was developed for Perm Krai which can be later on adapted for other regions.