USAU scientists joined the research group for the creation of "Ural-Carbon"

The site of the carbon test site will become an educational center with excursions, summer schools and master classes.

The concept of the scientific and educational platform "Ural-Carbon" received a positive opinion from the Expert Council of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.

Carboniferous polygon - a piece of land with a typical terrain, soil and vegetation, where experiments are carried out to control the balance of climatically active gases of natural ecosystems. A pilot project for the creation of carbon polygons in Russia was launched by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science in 2021. The first sites will be created in the Chechen Republic, Krasnodar Territory, Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk, Sakhalin, Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions.

The Ural-Carbon polygon will be represented by taiga forests. Forest lands make up 70% of the territory of the Sverdlovsk region, and the taiga is one of the most significant reservoirs of carbon sink from the atmosphere due to photosynthesis and its long-term storage.

To launch the site in the Urals, a consortium of universities, academic institutions and industrial partners was created - the Ural State Agrarian University, the Ural Federal University, the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch (Ural Branch) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Industrial Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Botanical garden of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ural State Forest Engineering University, Pipe Metallurgical Company and Sinara Group. According to experts, this will make it possible to use the already developed intellectual and experimental base, as well as modern equipment.

“Research at the first carbon test site in the Sverdlovsk region will begin before the end of summer. Scientists will begin continuous monitoring of the concentration of greenhouse gases in the soil and atmosphere. The educational part of the project involves intensive training of specialists in the field of monitoring climate-active gases. We plan to actively get involved in the work and measure carbon emissions and sinks when using various farming technologies: traditional, intensive and resource-saving,” said M.Yu. Karpukhin, Vice-Rector for Science and Innovation, USAU, Ph.D.

To enhance research, new equipment and modular buildings will appear on the site by November. Financial support for the project will be provided by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Sverdlovsk Region, as well as commercial partners of the landfill. Among the purchased equipment are devices for measuring the flow of active gases, an automatic weather station and solar radiation sensors. The total budget for all work on the landfill will be 380 million rubles, of which 150 million - for new equipment.

Text - Julia Filimonova
Photo - nat-geo.ru