Belarusian National Technical University, Minsk, Belarus:

O. I. Rodkin, Head of Department, Doctor of Biological Sciences, aleh.rodzkin@rambler.ru

Institute of Nature Management, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus:

V. A. Rakovich, Head of Laboratory, Candidate of Engineering Sciences

Peat belongs to nonrenewable natural resources, and its commercial production involves some environmental problems. Peat mining and use as a source of fuel began on the European continent as early as the 17^th century. Peatland development is only possible after preliminary drainage of bogs, and the steady decline in the area of such bogs conditions rising environmental concerns. Peat mining to be efficient also needs that peat beds are sufficiently thick. The lack of macro- and micro-elements required for the successful cropping on mined-out peatlands dictates introduction of these elements together with mineral fertilizes, which increases the peat production cost and aggravates the ecological impact. For this reason, it is most promising to use minedout peatlands for the forest regeneration under condition of the minimized ecological impact, including preliminary treatment of the peatlands and their further maintenance. The ranges of the effective use of peatlands dropped-out of commercial operation are assessed. It is emphasized that production of biomass for the power-generating purposes is the most effective trend. The environmental benefits of this approach include the efficient usability and biological reclamation ability of low-productive mined-out peatlands; reduction in greenhouse gases emission; maintenance of species diversity in the mined-out peatlands. Its shown that biological reclamation of mined-out peatland is possible with both maintenance of natural bog plant communities and creation of manmade short-cycle plantations of tree crops. It is found that production of renewable biomass with further pelletizing is an economically efficient trend both in using natural plant communities and in creation of manmade osier plantations.

1. Kozulin A. V., Tanovitskaya N. I., Bambalov N. N. Bogs of Belarus. Minsk, 2017. 105 p.
2. Inisheva L. I., Maslov S. G. Role of the peat resources in strategy of the sustainable development of the biosphere. Trudy Instorfa. 2013. No. 8(61). pp. 3–10.
3. Bambalov N. N. Peat resources of Belarus : Current situation and use prospects. Prirodnye resursy. 2000. No. 3. pp. 5–15.
4. Morozov A. E., Kholkin S. V., Stroganov E. A. Efficiency of forest recultivation of land disturbed by peat extraction (on the example of the Basyanovsky deposit). Lesa Rossii i khozyaystvo v nikh. 2021. No. 1(76). pp. 12–22.
5. Moskalenko N. V., Bulko N. I., Mashkov I. A., Tolkacheva N. V., Serenkova V. A. et al. Ecological aspects of rehabilitation transferred to the forest fund of degraded reclaminated peats. Vestnik Polesskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya prirodovedcheskikh nauk. 2019. No. 1. pp. 36–42.
6. Environmental Code EkoNiP 17.01.06-001-2017. Environmental protection and nature management. Environmental safety standards. Minsk : Minprirody, 2017. 188 p.
7. Likhatsevich A. P., Meerovskiy A. S., Belkovskiy V. N. Agricultural use of peatlands : Current situation and prospects. Prirodnye resursy. 1997. No. 2. pp. 31–40.
8. Rupasova Zh. A., Yakovlev A. P., Reshetnikov V. N., Kolomiets E. I., Aleshchenkova Z. M. Efficiency of microbial fertilizers in blueberry cultivation on mined-out peatland in Belarus. Minsk : Belorusskaya nauka, 2020. 236 p.
9. Rodkin O. I. An experience of creation artificial short rotation coppice willow plantations on wetlands after peat mining. Sibirskiy lesnoy zhurnal. 2018. No. 3. pp. 83–92.
10. Mosiej J., Karczmarczyk A., Wyporska K., Rodzkin A. Biomass Production in Energy Forests: Short Rotation Plantations. Rural Development and Land Use. Series: Ecosystem Health and Sustainable Agriculture. Uppsala : Baltic University Press, 2012. pp. 196–202.
11. Decarbonization of economy. 2015. Available at: https://www.eg-online.ru/article/287725/ (accessed: 05.04.2022).
12. Bondarenko L. V., Maslova O. V., Belkina A. V., Sukhareva K. V. Global climate changing and its aftereffects. Vestnik Rossiyskogo ekonomicheskogo universiteta imeni G. V. Plekhanova. 2018. No. 2(98). pp. 84–93.
13. Federal Law on Experimentation on Reduction in Greenhous Gases Emission in Some Federal Subjects of Russia. Enacted by the State Duma of the Russian Federation on February 16, 2022. Available at: https://docs.cntd.ru/document/728365862 (accessed: 15.03.2022).
14. Shklyar A. Kh. Climatic resources of Belarus and their agricultural use. Minsk : Vysheyshaya shkola, 1973. 430 p.
15.GOST R ISO 14040–2010. Environmental management. Life cycle assessment. Principles and framework. Moscow : Standartinform, 2010. 19 p.
16. Abrahamson L. P., Volk T. A., Kopp R. F., White E. H., Bollard J. L. Willow Biomass Producer’s Handbook. Syracuse : State University of New York, 2002. 31 p.
17. Cooper D. J., MacDonald L. H. Restoring the vegetation of mined peatlands in the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA. Restoration Ecology. 2000. Vol. 8, Iss. 2. pp. 103–111.
18. Rodzkin A., Kundas S., Wichtmann W. Life cycle assessment of biomass production from drained wetlands areas for composite briquettes fa brication. Energy Procedia. 2017. Vol. 128. pp. 261–267.
19. Rodzkin A., Kundas S., Charnenak Y., Khroustalev B., Wichtmann W. The Assessment of Cost of Biomass from Post-Mining Peaty Lands for Pellet Fabrication. Environmental and Climate Technologies. 2018. Vol. 22, No. 1. pp. 118–131.
20. Proskurina S., Alakangas E., Heinimö J., Mikkilä M., Vakkilainen E. A survey analysis of the wood pellet industry in Finland: Future perspectives. Energy. 2017. Vol. 118. pp. 692–704.