Uzbekistan proposes to expand the use of alternative fuels

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers “On additional measures to expand the use of alternative fuels in sectors of the economy and the social sphere” was published in Uzbekistan.

The draft document was developed by Uzbekneftegaz. The document proposes to expand the use of alternative fuels in sectors of the economy and the social sphere.

The document notes that, despite the measures taken, the energy intensity of the domestic economy remains high, the level of diversification of fuel and energy resources consumed does not meet global trends of involvement in industrial production of renewable energy sources, and the share of natural gas dominates in the structure of consumption of primary fuels.

On the ground, works on the transfer of technologies for brick and cement plants, lime production shops and greenhouses to the use of alternative fuels are improperly organized.

Analysis of the implementation of instructions for the transfer to the use of alternative types of natural gas fuels shows the presence of facts of lag, for example, at brick factories, the fulfillment was only 33%, of lime production shops, 0.5%. At the same time, calculations confirm that switching brick factories to coal allows natural gas to be released in the amount of about 1,520.0 million m3, and 668 million m3 of lime production facilities.

The priority directions of development in the field of energy consumption are:

• reduction of the share of natural gas consumption in branches of the economy as boiler and furnace fuel;
• reduction of energy intensity of products through further modernization, technical and technological re-equipment of existing and emerging new production facilities based on modern energy-efficient and energy-saving technologies;
• conversion of boiler equipment of enterprises producing building materials and operating greenhouses from using natural gas to using other alternative types of fuel (coal, coal and wood briquettes and pallets, biogas and others);
• extensive use of solar and wind energy, biogas, earth energy and other renewable energy sources using proven technologies and installations for their production (solar and geothermal power plants, wind power and bioenergy plants, heat pumps and others);
• expansion of the production of modern types of energy-saving equipment using alternative fuels.

The resolution proposes to create a list of objects to be converted to the use of alternative fuels by 1 June 2019. The list includes four areas:

• Production of burnt bricks.
• Lime production.
• Cement production.
• Greenhouse and greenhouse management.

The document proposes to stop the supply of natural gas to enterprises in these four areas that did not retool their facilities for the use of alternative fuels from 1 January 2020.