Russian renewable energy prepares for a bigger slice of the power pie

Russia Today

As the world’s largest producer of gas, and one of the worlds major producers of oil and coal, Russia isn’t generally seen as being at the forefront of the global thrust towards greater use of renewable energy sources.

There is a good reason for this – Russia ranks amongst the world’s top oil, gas and coal producers, with reserves of all which most of the rest of the world would envy. But it has a downside. Russia is one of the world most inefficient users of energy, and with the world increasingly looking to promote renewable energy, it means that Russia’s renewable energy sector hasn’t been as prominent as those elsewhere.

That outlook is slowly beginning to change with a range of projects across Russia looking to promote biofuels, wind energy, geothermal power, water power, and even solar energy. But it doesn’t mean things are easy for the pioneers of Russia’s renewable energy renaissance, with legislative hurdles, financing problems, artificially cheap mainstream sources of energy, and a general public perception that Russia has so much hydrocarbon based energy that renewable energy doesn’t need to be a focus just yet. Despite this backdrop corporate and political leaders are increasingly preparing for a future where renewable energy is a far greater part of the energy mix than it currently is.

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