Biogas Production in the Russian Federation: Current Status, Potential, and Barriers

Russia has signed the Paris Agreement and recently approved its ratification. However, the Russian Government does not consider abandoning the production and use of hydrocarbons to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To meet the goals of the Agreement, Russia must find new innovative solutions. This study demonstrates that biogas is one of the most necessary renewable sources in Russia. Despite this, the deployment of biogas technologies is currently extremely slow. In this regard, to assess their subsequent impact on the Russian energy sector as a whole, it is important to identify the factors that hinder the wider implementation of biogas technologies. Based on the findings, the most critical barriers were identified and discussed in detail. In the light of the results, some policy-related recommendations are also proposed.

Federation [5]. Similarly, wastewater sludge in Russia has a high potential to be used for biogas production in such quantities that is possible to meet at least the heating energy demand of wastewater treatment plants. All of these facts create a strong need to widely implement biogas technologies in Russia. In addition, upgraded biogas can be injected into the natural gas grids. This reason also favours the use of biogas because Russia has one of the world's largest gas transportation systems.
Russia (since the former Soviet Union) was an early leader in case of the development of renewable energy technologies [6]. The scientific basis of methane fermentation has been studied since the 1940s. The Soviet Union was the first state in the world that mastered the large-scale industrial production of biofuels (including biogas) from biomass [7]. The industrial production and use of biogas began in the 1960s. Even then, energy was derived from municipal, forest, and agricultural waste. Despite the well-developed theoretical and practical foundation for biogas production in the former Soviet Union, the current implementation of biogas technologies is rather slow. In 2018, the total primary energy consumption in Russia amounted to 720.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent (TOE) of which, approximately 0.3 million TOE or 0.04% came from renewable energy. In addition, peer-reviewed scientific articles have analysed the support schemes for renewable energy in Russia as a whole or only for solar, wind, and small hydropower in Russia [6,8], or for solid bioenergy [9] and have not focused on the Russian biogas industry in particular. In this regard, this article aims to provide a detailed analysis of the potential of biogas technologies in Russia, revealing the barriers to their implementation, and suggesting recommendations to overcome them.
The contribution of this research is twofold. First, this study provides unique data based on a combination of methods: documentary analysis together with literature review, questionnaires, participant observations, and interviews. Second, previous studies are mostly focused on the identification of barriers to the wider deployment of biogas for both developed and developing economies [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. However, there are few studies that have focused on countries with transition economies (e.g., Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia).
The rest of the paper is structured as follows. The next section provides an overview of the current status and potential for biogas production in Russia. Section 3 presents the methodology used in the analysis. Section 4 provides a comprehensive analysis of the barriers to the wider implementation of biogas technologies in Russia. The last section provides concluding remarks and identifies relevant policy-related recommendations to overcome the barriers.

Current Status and Potential for Biogas Production in Russia
The prospects for biogas production in Russia are rather high (Table 1). The country is theoretically capable of covering its own energy needs solely using bioresources [7]. Russia's total demand for biogas plants is estimated at 20,000 [18]. The need for the recycling of agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, and wastewater sludge is growing, and the cost of traditional energy sources is increasing every year. This issue is faced by almost all regions in Russia. The most well-known biogas plants in Russia are listed in Table A1, Appendix A.

Agricultural Waste
Russia is one of the world's leaders in the production and export of agricultural products (Table 2). There are 625 million tons of agricultural organic waste, which can provide up to 66-70 billion m 3 of biogas, which is equivalent to 25.2 million TOE, and more than 100-112 million tons of high-quality fertiliser [4,7,18]. The total electricity consumption in Russia amounted to 1076.2 billion kWh or 92.5 million TOE in 2018 [20]. Thus, 27% of the total electricity needs can be covered by biogas. Table 2. World's leaders in production of agricultural products in 2017 (based on data from [21] Half of the potential is found in the South and the Volga federal districts (Figure 1). Agricultural waste can be divided into wet and dry residue. Wet residue consists of manure generated from animal populations, primarily cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, goats, and horses. Dry residue is produced from various waste crops, including beet pulp, sunflowers, vegetables, silage, and maize. Namsaraev et al. [22] evaluated the technical bioenergy potential in Russia. According to their results, among the livestock waste, cattle waste has the highest potential and amounts to 98.5 million tonnes. Residues from legumes and cereals have the highest potential among crop residues and amount to 39.5 million tonnes [22]. There are different biogas plants that process organic waste in Russia. For example, a biogas station on a dairy farm with 3300 cattle was launched in the village of Doshino, Kaluga region (2009). The total capacity of the plant is 2.4 MW. At the end of January 2012, a biogas plant that processes raw materials (manure, etc.) was launched in Orenburg Oblast. The first industrial biogas station in Russia, called Luchki, was implemented in the Belgorod region by the AltEnergo. The equipment was supplied by Big Dutchman Agro Co. The biogas plant started to produce electricity on June 25, 2012 and reached a full capacity of 2.4 MW on July 20, 2012. Luchki is the first Russian biogas plant to receive a qualification certificate as an object functioning on renewable energy [23]. In 2012, the biogas project called Baitsury was implemented on a pig farm in the Borisov district of the Belgorod region [24]. The main task of the project is to solve environmental problems arising from the rapid development of agriculture in the region. All energy produced from the plant sells to the grid with a premium of about 5%. Company EVOBIOS LLC has implemented biogas plant in the breeding plant 'Pervomaysky' in Leningrad Oblast (2019). The cost of equipment was carried out by EVOBIOS. The company has signed the long-term contract with the farm for the disposal of organic waste and the purchase of electricity and fertilizers [25]. Part of the electricity produced by the biocomplex is used for its own consumption, and another part for the need of the EVOBIOS. In recent years, the Russian company SelhozBioGas LLC has launched different biogas projects in such regions as Kirov Oblast (2013), Astrakhan Oblast (2017), the Republic of Bashkortostan (2019), and Volgograd Oblast (2019) [26].
Currently, there are more than 1,600 large livestock enterprises, including pig and poultry farms, in Russia [18]. However, the current level of agricultural waste processing remains low. The major part of the residual waste is collected into open pools and then spread onto fields as a type of natural fertiliser [4]. A non-controlled accumulation of liquid effluents from the agro-industrial complex (more than 500 million tonnes annually) has led to the contamination of drinking water and soil [27]. In addition, more than 2 million hectares of land is being occupied by the storage of agricultural residue. The involvement of such land for the production of agricultural products would bring about an extremely positive effect to the Russian economy [18].
To use biogas as a motor fuel, CO2 and other impurities must be removed. Upgraded biogas, also known as biomethane, has the same composition as natural gas and can be seen as a good alternative to motor fuel: 1 m 3 of biogas is equivalent to 0.6 litres of gasoline or diesel fuel [28]. The gas tank equipment used for biomethane completely matches car equipment for natural gas. This fact Figure 1. Potential of biogas production in Russia by federal district (billion m 3 ) (data from [18]).
There are different biogas plants that process organic waste in Russia. For example, a biogas station on a dairy farm with 3300 cattle was launched in the village of Doshino, Kaluga region (2009). The total capacity of the plant is 2.4 MW. At the end of January 2012, a biogas plant that processes raw materials (manure, etc.) was launched in Orenburg Oblast. The first industrial biogas station in Russia, called Luchki, was implemented in the Belgorod region by the AltEnergo. The equipment was supplied by Big Dutchman Agro Co. The biogas plant started to produce electricity on June 25, 2012 and reached a full capacity of 2.4 MW on July 20, 2012. Luchki is the first Russian biogas plant to receive a qualification certificate as an object functioning on renewable energy [23]. In 2012, the biogas project called Baitsury was implemented on a pig farm in the Borisov district of the Belgorod region [24]. The main task of the project is to solve environmental problems arising from the rapid development of agriculture in the region. All energy produced from the plant sells to the grid with a premium of about 5%. Company EVOBIOS LLC has implemented biogas plant in the breeding plant 'Pervomaysky' in Leningrad Oblast (2019). The cost of equipment was carried out by EVOBIOS. The company has signed the long-term contract with the farm for the disposal of organic waste and the purchase of electricity and fertilizers [25]. Part of the electricity produced by the biocomplex is used for its own consumption, and another part for the need of the EVOBIOS. In recent years, the Russian company SelhozBioGas LLC has launched different biogas projects in such regions as Kirov Oblast (2013), Astrakhan Oblast (2017), the Republic of Bashkortostan (2019), and Volgograd Oblast (2019) [26].
Currently, there are more than 1,600 large livestock enterprises, including pig and poultry farms, in Russia [18]. However, the current level of agricultural waste processing remains low. The major part of the residual waste is collected into open pools and then spread onto fields as a type of natural fertiliser [4]. A non-controlled accumulation of liquid effluents from the agro-industrial complex (more than 500 million tonnes annually) has led to the contamination of drinking water and soil [27]. In addition, more than 2 million hectares of land is being occupied by the storage of agricultural residue. The involvement of such land for the production of agricultural products would bring about an extremely positive effect to the Russian economy [18].
To use biogas as a motor fuel, CO 2 and other impurities must be removed. Upgraded biogas, also known as biomethane, has the same composition as natural gas and can be seen as a good alternative to motor fuel: 1 m 3 of biogas is equivalent to 0.6 litres of gasoline or diesel fuel [28]. The gas tank equipment used for biomethane completely matches car equipment for natural gas. This fact allows their equal replacement. The substitution of conventional motor fuel can become an additional source of revenue to small-scale biogas projects. This is especially the case when the owner has a vehicle fleet of agricultural machinery or trucks, and the nearest gas station is at a significant distance. It is possible to obtain 144,000 GWh of electricity and 1 billion GJ of thermal power by using biogas for cogeneration [7]. The Russian agricultural sector consumes less amount than it processes, namely 70,000 GWh of electricity, 4.8 million tonnes of diesel, and 2.0 million tonnes of gasoline [7]. Therefore, agricultural enterprises can become energetically autonomous and generate a profit by selling excess electricity to the grid.

Sewage Sludge
The total potential of sewage utilisation in Russia is approximately 4 million m 3 of biogas per day, which is equivalent to 19.8 PJ y−1 [22]. The best-known example of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Russia is the aeration plant of Mosvodokanal in Moscow. During the 1980s, anaerobic digestion was used to process the wastewater. Mosvodokanal launched two small cogeneration plants, the Kuryanov (2009) and the Lyubertsy sewage treatment plants (2012) [29]. The investor was the Austrian company EVN. Currently, the Kuryanov plant generates 128,000 m 3 of biogas per day [22,30]. This project has become one of the largest in the field of renewable energy and is the first biogas power plant in Russia [31]. The Lyubertsy plant generates 145,000 m 3 of biogas per day [22,30]. These two plants completely treat the sewage sludge of 12.33 million Moscow residents [22]. The plant engines were designed for a mixed biogas and natural gas operation. Thus, the power units can be easily transferred to natural gas if necessary [31]. There have been several cases of disconnections from the external power supply during the operation of the sewage treatment plants, and yet the main equipment of the treatment facilities continued without interruption [30].
Another example is Coca-Cola HBC Russia. Industrial waste water from the company's plant is processed into biogas at local treatment facilities in the village of Davydovskoe (Istra district of Moscow region). Before the implementation of the biogas project, treatment plants were heated by a boiler unit that spent additional amounts of natural gas, and biogas formed at the treatment plant was simply burned off [32]. Currently, biogas substitutes for natural gas and is used for heating. The plant produces 260,000 m 3 of biogas per year, which is equivalent to 180,000 m 3 of natural gas [32]. At present, biogas technologies are used in 2 of 10 Coca-Cola HBC plants in Istra and Novosibirsk.

Municipal Solid Waste
Almost half of the municipal solid waste (MSW) is composed of landfill gas. Landfill gas is a natural by-product of organic material decomposition in landfills with a composition of roughly 50% carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), 50% methane (CH 4 ), and some other non-methane organic compounds [33]. Currently, MSW is not separated in Russia. Almost all MSW is exported to landfills, where only 4-5% of waste is recycled or incinerated [34]. Thus, the garbage crisis has become a painful topic for city residents in Russia. An increase in population has inevitably led to increased amounts of waste that far exceed the capacity of existing and new MSW landfills. The area of landfills in Russia is increasing by 0.4 million hectares annually [34]. In 2017, the theme of oversaturated landfills came to the forefront of the media and has become one of the main issues of social tension in Moscow and several other regions. In 2018, there was a mass poisoning of children from landfill gases originating from the Yadrovo landfill in the Moscow region, which resulted in an open confrontation between locals and the authorities in Volokolamsk and Kolomna [35].
According to calculations by Namsaraev et al. [22], the energy potential of MSW in Russia amounts to 554.7 PJ. There have been several successful cases of landfill gas utilisation in such regions as Moscow (Kuchino, Aleksinskiy Karyer, Lesnaya, Timokhovo, Khmetyevo, and Malinki landfills), Leningrad (the project is implemented by the Swedish company Recovia), and Vologda (Pasynkovo).

Methodology
Energy policymakers in Russia mainly consist of executive power officials and actors from major energy business [36]. Thus, a variety of documentary sources such as official statistics, policy and legal documents, publications by industry associations and nongovernmental organizations, newspaper articles and specialized journals were collected, analysed and codified. Scientific articles that focused on renewable energy in Russia were also reviewed.
It is common practice to use a combination of questionnaires and interviews as a scientific method [37]. Questionnaires help gather data among a large audience, whereas interviews confirm the results and provide deeper insights into the analysed theme [38]. In addition, participant observations at a conference are a good practice to enrich the data [39]. A conference is an event where central actors in a particular field come together and share their knowledge and experience. Indeed, we can receive valuable knowledge there. Therefore, these methods were also chosen for the extraction and detailed analysis of barriers to the wider implementation of biogas technologies in Russia.
Questionnaire: The questionnaire was distributed to 57 individuals who are directly involved in the biogas field in Russia. The final sample totalled 23 full answers (the profiles of the individuals are presented in Table A2, Appendix B). This reflects a return rate of 40% (the norm is approximately 30% for mail questionnaires [40]). It is worth noting that 70% of respondents have a working experience of more than 10 years. More than 57% of the respondents have a Candidate of Science-(PhD) or a Doctor of Science-level of education. These figures show that the respondents are highly ranked professionals in their fields.
The factors, which were included in the questionnaire, are related to political, sociotechnical, institutional, economic, and global market barrier factors. They were extracted from a literature review of the 103 selected publications from 2014 to 2018 focusing on one of 32 countries, which was previously conducted by Nevzorova and Kutcherov [41]. This study has examined the critical barriers to the wider uptake of biogas for both the developed and developing economies. All factors that were considered for analysis are presented in Table A3, Appendix B.
The questionnaire includes two parts: part 1 contains general information about gender, activity area, working experience, and level of education; part 2 includes an evaluation of factors for the diffusion of biogas technologies. The respondents were asked to evaluate the current events that affect the development of biogas technologies in Russia according to two parameters: (1) 'Impact' considers this event as a process, the result of which can change the state of biogas development; (2) 'Uncertainty' indicates a situation where information on likely future events is completely or partially missing, i.e., it is not measurable and cannot be accurately predicted. The rating system was in accordance with the 5-point system based on the degree of their influence (i.e., 1-useless; 2-not important; 3-beneficial / useful; 4-very important; 5-critical). The barriers that most of the experts chose to be critical for the diffusion of biogas technologies in Russia were taken into account in the analysis.
Participant observation: Two 3-day conferences were observed. The first conference, called WasteTech, is a leading Russian waste management exhibition bringing together representatives of the government, business, and society to solve problems in the waste management sector [42]. The exposition gathered 209 leading domestic and foreign manufacturers and suppliers of equipment, technologies, and services for the environmental sector, including companies that implement biogas technologies in Russia. The second conference is Renewable Energy & Electric Vehicles International Exhibition (RENWEX) and was promoted under the slogan 'Creating the future of renewable energy together'. This conference combined an international exhibition and a specialised forum that involved major actors of the Russian energy sector [43]. The forum involved a series of events, including plenary meetings about global trends and new opportunities for renewable energy, panel discussions about biomass and bioenergy, the system of support for renewable energy projects, and the best examples of implemented technologies and projects in Russia, among other aspects. More than 3500 visitors from 42 countries attended the conference [43]. Different types of data such as the recording of talks, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and observations were collected.
Interviews: Extended personal interviews were also conducted. In total, seven experts whose working activity is related to the extraction of biogas and landfill gas in Russia were interviewed (profiles of the individuals are presented in Table A4, Appendix B). Interviews were carried out using specific questions based on the questionnaire. In addition, certain questions were addressed regarding the history of the companies, their international activities and partnerships, the difficulties that these companies have in their working activities, and what can be improved to achieve a rapid growth of biogas technologies in Russia. In practice, all interviews lasted between 20 min and 2 h.

Critical Barriers to the Wider Implementation of Biogas Technologies in Russia
The key barriers for wider implementation of biogas technologies in Russia are identified and discussed in detail in this section. Table 3 presents the overview of the critical barriers for biogas industry in Russia, which were extracted from the analysis. Table 3. Critical barriers to the wider implementation of biogas technologies in Russia.

Sub-Barriers
Technical Lack of qualified specialists (incl. a lack of technical training and knowledge)

Economic
Investor preferences for conventional technologies as the economic structure favours fossil fuels over renewable fuels High investment and equipment costs Lack of subsidies and financial support programmes Unavailability of bank loans with preferential terms Market Low residential electricity prices and availability of cheaper alternative fuels Monopolistic and oligopolistic energy market in Russia Problems related to market entry/ Unpredictable market conditions Institutional Lack of national product standards and norms in terms of waste separation Absence of federal support and incentives (limited policy measures) and a slow policy development Lack of a centralised coordination on the waste collection and distribution, and poor utilisation of residues and wastes

Technical Barrier
Biogas technologies are characterized as technologies with high relevance, significant scientific background, and a high degree of readiness for commercialization (from 0 to 3 years) [44]. It means that biogas technologies in Russia are available for implementation. However, there is a large shortage of specialists due to the fact that the quality of training for the biogas segment currently does not meet the required international criteria. There is a lack of methodological material, teachers with the necessary qualifications and specialized practical education at universities. Nowadays biogas companies need to teach the employees themselves, which, in turn, creates additional costs for these companies. By increasing the scientific knowledge in the Russian biogas industry, the technological gap between Russia and other countries with mature biogas industry will be reduced.

Economic Barriers
The lack of investment resources is one of the crucial factors influencing the development of biogas technologies in Russia. In Russia, the share of investments in renewable energy does not exceed investments in a traditional generation. This is especially the case when the Russian economic structure favours fossil fuels [45]. At the conference, a Russian politician marked that 'today, 50% of the produced oil is extracted in fields that have certain benefits and subsidies, and in some regions (for example in the Southern part of Russia) these subsidies even reach 80%. We need to create conditions for fair competition between different types of fuels'. Under such conditions, companies that are involved or have interests in fossil energies have numerous benefits, and thus they can start to hinder the development of renewable energy. Boute and Zhikharev call such phenomena a 'vested interest', which is defined as 'a group enjoying benefits from an existing economic or political privilege' [46,47]. Such companies can perceive and lobby renewable energy as a threat to the national energy system and for fossil energy demand on domestic and export markets. Biogas technologies are forced to compete with conventional long-term energy business practices that favour and secure the supply of heat and electricity based on hydrocarbon resources [48]. In addition, an insufficient number of successful pilot investment projects deteriorates the attraction of investments as investors face difficulties in terms of the search and selection of the most advantageous and less risky projects.
A biogas plant requires high investment and equipment costs as almost all expenses for its construction are upfront [41]. There is a financing problem associated with biogas plants-neither the farmer nor the agricultural cooperative is able to provide sufficient financial resources for such projects. Despite this, the implementation of biogas plants is hindered by the inability of potential customers to use traditional financing mechanisms or to construct plants solely with their own funds. Banks do not offer any soft loans for potential biogas producers in Russia, and thus agricultural companies are not ready to invest into biogas projects. There is no financial support programme that can reduce investment and equipment costs, or stimulate the construction of biogas plants. These facts create difficulties for potential users with low capital bases.

Market Barriers
The availability of cheap fossil fuels in Russia has reduced the interest in renewable energy technology both for policymakers and the private sector [49]. The vast supply of fossil fuels with multiple exemptions and subsidies has a strong effect on the interests in the development of renewable energy. The fact that biogas is more expensive than other fossil fuels creates a risk for the end consumers to pay more. However, the prices for natural gas and motor fuel are constantly increasing (see Tables 4  and 5). Furthermore, approximately 70% of Russian territory is off-grid. Table 4. Average gas price in Russia (net of VAT, excise tax, and customs duties) (data from [50]).  Table 5. Average consumer prices for motor fuels (rouble per litre) in Russia (data from [51]). Historically, the Russian energy sector functioned in a highly centralized way [52]. In the Soviet Union, all energy industries had a strict hierarchical structuring and, even nowadays, the Russian energy sector is highly centralized with a high corporate concentration and an absence of market mechanisms. The electricity market includes privately owned and dominant state-owned companies, which control 70% of the capacity in the power generation sector, own all high-voltage and almost all distribution grids in Russia [52]. As an interviewee also stated, 'Russia is a country of monopolies. The retail market is precisely "designed" for bioenergy. In the bioenergy sector, there is no powerful "player", as for example, in the solar industry, who could take on the role of a powerful investor operator. When such a company appears, it will occupy this market'. This statement backs up the analyses by Smeets [53] and Boute and Zhikharev [47]. Smeets [53] described the success of certain projects through existence of 'neopatrimonial networks between Russia's emerging green energy companies and major oligarchic business groups'. The interviewee, who participated in the policy-making process, stated that 'we sometimes have the impression that the support scheme has been tailored to the benefit of the solar sector, facilitated by some major government related oligarchs' [53]. Boute and Zhikharev [47] noticed the coincidence between the development of support schemes for renewable energy and the establishment of a solar energy manufacturing base by key industrial players in Russia. Certainly, such market conditions hamper biogas companies by competing with a small number of companies with considerable privileges.

Types of
The market landscape is quite uncertain and dynamic, which is perceived as problematic in itself. This is especially connected to the political environment and sanctions that have ruined the relationship between countries. The international crisis, especially between Russia and the European Union (EU), is testing the Russian (sustainable) energy sector [9] in terms of investments and as a favourable market environment. For almost 40 years, Russia and Europe have cooperated in terms of energy and the environment [9]. Currently, we can see the overall degradation in their relations, mostly because of the Ukrainian crisis [54]. The Russia-Ukraine geopolitical tensions have led to multilateral sanctions that trace back to three main channels: (1) massive capital outflow, (2) the blocking of access to international financial markets, and (3) degraded business and consumer confidence [55]. Romanova [36] interpreted the EU position in the 2006, 2009, and 2014 Russia-Ukraine crises as an act of politicisation that she defines as 'addressing energy trade, investment and infrastructure through economic and (geo) political logics (and can also be conceptualised as a government failure)'. The 2006 and 2009, the Ukrainian transit crises showed that any future conflicts between Russia and Ukraine will affect the EU and require EU involvement [36]. Although Gazprom repeatedly warned the European Commission about the Ukrainian crisis, the EU argued that only Russia was responsible for the constant gas supply and the settlement of the crises. In the 2006, 2009, and 2014 events, Russia was presented as exerting political and economic pressure on Ukraine [36]. Therefore, the European Union's withdrawal of all contacts with Russia was perceived as a politicisation [36]. Although the renewable energy sector is not on the list of sanctions, sanctions have deteriorated Russia's investment climate overall and substantially affected its trade flows. Many interviewees and speakers mentioned that sanctions increase the negative impact on the work of their companies, stating that 'We installed western equipment [in Russia], but when the [rouble] currency jumped, projects became unprofitable'; 'It's hard to work with the European company [name hidden] due to political reasons', and 'Our company cooperates with foreign companies. Recently, I travelled to the Netherlands on training . . . . However, the project with Ukraine was not implemented due to sanctions'.
After the crisis of 2014, the Russian rouble exchange rate fell significantly, leading to more expensive foreign renewable energy equipment [54,56]. The topic of biogas was relevant before the devaluation of the rouble, when the cost of foreign equipment purchased in roubles was much lower. Until 2014, many companies were interested in biogas technologies as a source of an autonomous power supply: 'We all thought that the rouble would be stable and that the price of electricity would increase and reach almost 10 roubles . . . . There were a lot of people at conferences dedicated to biogas technologies, all exhibition stands were about biogas. However, that was only until 2014.' (interviewee from Russian biogas company). At the plenary session dedicated to the theme 'Renewable energy: Global trends and new opportunities' at the RENWEX conference, the question regarding sanctions was also on the agenda. A Russian politician emphasised that, in recent years, the regularity and effectiveness of meetings with business associations and colleagues from Germany, France, and the UK-with whom Russia has closely cooperated on a number of issues related to the energy agenda-have started to decline. Sanctions and the ongoing international crisis have led to negative consequences for the establishment of communications, the effectiveness of negotiations, and the attraction of foreign investment. However, a German representative made a more positive prognosis and showed an interest in a German-Russian partnership. He marked that 'now we [Germany] need a real energy transition that encompasses all sectors of the economy: industry, households, heating, and transportation in particular, and last but not least, agriculture. As at the European level, last year we agreed along with the [European] Commission, all member states, and the European Parliament on CO 2 reduction targets for each country in what we call non-ETS (non-emission trading sectors) . . . , and the German target is quite ambitious: a decrease of 38% by 2030' and 'therefore, it is not surprising that renewable electricity will play a big role in terms of decarbonisation, but it can't carry the load alone. We need other sources of green energy in order to reach our ambitious CO 2 reduction goal . . . . Thus, we need natural gas as a traditional fuel, but if we pursue this ambitious goal it means that there is no room for natural gas. This means that we have to produce or import biogas, hydrogen, methanol, and whatever is green . . . . This means that technological changes will come sooner than we have maybe expected. This will open up a lot of opportunities for many-many companies. And I think this is a good message for our Russian partners because Germany, even in the long-run, will import energy; but it must be green decarbonised energy. And for all these countries that produce a lot of fossil fuels today, which is for Russia a basis, it means that you have a chance to be part of a green world if you manage to produce green molecules. And my point is that Russia is very well placed to do that in terms of resources and location'. Regarding the issue of sanctions, the speaker stated that 'renewables are not on the list of sanctions. So that gives you [to Russia] an important opportunity to cooperate . . . . Use that potential, and you [Russia] should not be afraid that sanctions may put limits on your cooperation with German and European firms. That's the important message I would like to say'. Certainly, this speech gives hope for the future cooperation between Germany and Russia and their joint development of renewable energy.
Some Russian biogas companies have started looking to the markets in neighbouring Asian countries such as China, Armenia, Uzbekistan, etc., since it is rather difficult to enter the European market. Furthermore, the Chinese government is aware of the acute environmental problem in the country and actively facilitates solutions to this issue. This gives Russia an opportunity to provide support tools in terms of grants for implementing projects in China, which simplifies for doing business there.

Institutional Barriers
State support is one of the key tools for stimulating the development of biogas technologies. However, a lack of federal support and incentives is seen as a critical obstacle to promote biogas technologies in Russia. Climate change is not a high priority for the Russian government [45]. Sergey Chernin (President of GC corporation GazEnergoStroy) commented on the situation in the bioenergy field, statement that 'Today in Russia there is a paradoxical situation: the biogas plants market exists, the first plants are built, the farmers and regional authorities are interested in the technology. However biogas legislation simply does not exist. Basic regulations governing the energy sector don't contain even a single mention of this method of heat and electricity manufacturing, although our country has all the prerequisites for the large-scale development of bioenergy. This gap in legislation should be eliminated as soon as possible' [7,57].
Smeets [54] analysed the arguments of the Russian elite and other influential actors and found that they are not rushing into the development of renewable energy policy. They name natural gas, nuclear energy, and vast forests as alternatives to renewable energy and treat them as Russian ecological advantages. At the same time, the government has justified the slow development of a renewable energy policy by saying that the government is too concerned about the impact on consumer prices [49]: 'Russia in this sense has taken a different path [in comparison with Germany] as a hydrocarbon producer [ . . . ]' and 'we are advancing very gradually, we do not want consumers to pay a very high price for renewable sources' [54,58].
Political targets for the development of renewable energy are rather unpredictable and can change quickly over time [9]. The major document in the Russian energy field "Energy Strategy of Russia up to 2035", which was approved only on 2 April 2020 [59], prioritizes the efficiency, accessibility and quality of energy supply in terms of oil products, natural gas and electricity, increase of LNG production, development of the hydrogen energy use and introduction of digital technologies in the energy sector (smart metering and smart grids). Renewable energy considers as one of the breakthrough technologies that can increase competition and significantly change the structure of international flows of products, technologies and services in the energy sector. At the same time, it states that, until 2035, fossil fuels will continue to form the basis of the world energy market. The Paris Agreement is mentioned only once just with the statement of its adoption in the section 'Environmental protection and resistance to climate change'. The biogas industry was only mentioned in the statement 'The use of local fuels (peat, forest and agricultural waste, and municipal solid waste) takes an insignificant place in the regional fuel and energy balances' of the section 'Hydropower, other renewable energy and local fuels' without future goals [60]. Unlike previous energy strategies such as "Russia's energy strategy up to 2020" and "Russia's energy strategy up to 2030", the new Strategy does not set any numerical or future indicators for the development of renewable energy in Russia [61]. Such unclear regulations can result in barriers to potential investments and overall uncertainty regarding the future of renewable sector in Russia.
A lack of guarantee for the sale of biogas electricity was an essential obstacle to the deployment of biogas technologies in Russia. In 2016, after many years of discussions took place, a system of state support for renewable energy in the retail electricity market was launched [27]. Currently, the main federal policy measures for biogas technologies are as follows: (1) Federal Law from 26 March 2003, No. 35-FZ 'On the Electric Power Industry', provides a mechanism to support the use of renewable energy [62]. To compensate network losses, this mechanism obliges network companies to purchase electricity from qualified renewable energy generating facilities at regulated tariffs, which set by the Russian regional executive authorities [63]. (2) Decree of the Government No. 47 of 23 January 2015 defines support mechanisms for renewable energy in retail markets applied for generation facilities that use green energy resources, such as biogas, landfill gas, biomass, and other renewable energy sources [64]. It sets limitations regarding the annual compensation for losses of electric power energy to grid companies through the obligatory purchasing of electric energy within the framework of a 5% quota of the total network losses. This allows creating a network of stations with a total capacity of approximately 870 MW [27]. The decree also specifies the mandatory inclusion of renewable energy's investment projects in the scheme of long-term development of the electric power industry through a competitive selection, where the evaluation criteria are developed by the region [27]. (3) The resolution of the Government No. 1472-r of 28 July 2015 sets a limited level of capital and operating costs, payback period, and other parameters that are taken into account at the calculation of tariffs for electric energy produced by renewable energy facilities, and gives considerable privileges for biogas plants such as a capital expenditure (CAPEX), which is approximately 175-260 thousand roubles per kW of installed capacity [65]. This amount is much higher than for similar indicators of other renewable energy types [27]. It was decided to implement the measures specified in the Resolution until 2024 and not until 2020 as it was set before. The sum of such subsidies should not exceed 70% of the network connection cost and no more than 15 million roubles in total [27].
Although some state support has already been established, there is still a need for additional policy measures. For example, there is no special project that can stimulate the construction of biogas plants in Russia. In addition, there is a lack of investments from public funds. Currently, only private investors take a financial part in the construction of biogas plants. Some Russian regions (e.g., Dagestan, Vologda, Kaluga, Krasnodar, Lipetsk, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Mari El, Saint Petersburg, Tatarstan, Vladimir, and Udmurt) actively promote biogas technologies in terms of their regional initiatives and implementation of biogas projects [69]. More than 10 federal subjects of Russia have adopted the regulatory framework of the green tariff in the retail market, including Astrakhan Oblast, Belgorod Oblast, Irkutsk Oblast, Orenburg Oblast, Kaluga Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Krasnodar region, Moscow, the Republic of Adygea, and the Republic of Bashkortostan. However, municipalities and local manufacturing companies have a shortage of investments. Without state support, regions can only implement a very limited number of projects. In addition, there are no official targets or obligations for regions to support biogas or other renewable energy technologies. As one of the speakers mentioned 'when official figures for national projects are established, then local governors will start thinking about [the development of] biomass'.
A lack of national product standards and norms in terms of waste separation has a big impact on biogas dissemination. Different regions face challenges in relation to the management of waste, particularly from the forestry, agriculture, and animal industries. As appropriate environmental legislation does not exist in Russia, the level of processing waste is extremely low, which in turn has created feedstock procurement risks [56]. This issue is worsened by logistical challenges in the form of a poor infrastructure for biomass transportation [4]. According to the analysis of regulatory documents [70], the 'Sanitary rules for meat industry enterprises No. 3238-85 of 27.03.1985' is the main document in the work of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance in Russia (Rosselkhoznadzor). The document does not promote the implementation of modern technologies in the field of waste management by agricultural producers, which makes it difficult to embed biogas plants in agricultural enterprises. Several representatives from the bioenergy sector also mentioned that 'there is a need to tighten our standards for waste disposal', and 'if a fee for waste disposal is established, everything will change.' An interviewee from a Russian biogas company also stated that the most important problem in hindering the rapid growth of biogas technologies is a lack of standards regarding waste disposal, stating that 'while the waste from the agro-industrial enterprises will be qualified as fertilisers, nobody will build modern facilities for waste disposal and most importantly, nobody will pay money to investors for waste processing'. The current legislation clearly classifies pig manure as a hazardous waste but does not contain any exceptions to the requirements for the management of such waste, and pig manure is allowed to be used as a fertiliser in pig farms. In addition, there is an illegal disposal of manure on fields under the guise of fertilisers. A similar situation occurs in poultry and livestock farming.
A lack of a centralised coordination on the waste collection and distribution, and poor utilisation of residues and wastes are the critical problems for the utilisation of municipal solid waste in Russia. The prevailing method used for the disposal of MSW is burying waste in a landfill. The danger here constitutes the second effect of the decomposition of organic matter in the form of a leachate, which is a toxic liquid that gets into soil, groundwater, and through them, into rivers and seas. In addition, the disposal of MSW is conducted under multiple sanitary, epidemiological, and environment violations [22]. The volume of MSW is approximately 55-60 million tonnes per year, and is composed of 40% organic waste, 35% paper, and 6% plastic [34]. Thus, a considerable amount of organic waste from MSW can be extracted for biogas production. In addition, landfill gas can be utilised from existing landfill. A modern waste disposal system is no less important than other components of urban infrastructure, and the garbage problem cannot be solved using outmoded methods. However, there is also the problem with owners of landfills who are too conservative and less inclined toward making innovations [69].

Conclusions and Policy Implications
This article provides a detailed analysis of the Russian biogas industry, investigating its current status and potential, and identifying the critical factors that hinder the wider implementation of biogas technologies. Russia primarily has significant potential for creating environmentally-than energy-driven biogas projects. The need for the recycling of agricultural waste, organic waste from municipal solid waste, and wastewater sludge is enormous in Russia. However, its potential is not being realised in a proper way. Thus, the key aim of the article was to reveal the critical barriers for the wider implementation of biogas technologies in Russia. In light of the results, the following policy-related recommendations are proposed.
The main recommendation concerns legislation regarding waste disposal. A set of measures should be implemented to tighten the control over the disposal of organic waste from agricultural enterprises. As mentioned at the conference, if such measures are established, the biogas industry can be expected to show a rapid growth in Russia. Therefore, all technologies of livestock production, particularly for pig and poultry farming, need to be environmentally responsible and have enhanced control at all levels (state, industrial, and social).
Second, there are no special programs to stimulate the construction of biogas plants in Russia. However, political implications have significantly affected biogas uptake in countries with mature biogas markets (e.g., Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom [71]) [72]. State support is one of the key mechanisms for the development of biogas technologies, and the choice of direction for renewable energy development depends mostly on policymakers. Many fossil fuel export-oriented countries have already recognized the need for such global shift towards renewable energy sources and are looking for new strategies in order to diversify their national economies. For example, oil-rich countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar have adopted multiple measures towards the implementation of renewable energy. In terms of the transfer of RE technologies, both of these countries have cooperated with the Western universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Georgetown University, Texas A&M University and Carnegie Mellon University [73]. They also established specific Institutes, Science and Technology Parks, which bring together foreign and national energy companies and create favourable international business partnerships in terms of investment in technology and know-how [73]. Such experience shows that sometimes there is just a need to look at the experience of other countries and not 'reinvent the wheel'. Much of what can be done has already been done, and there is a possibility to choose the best experience and go with it forward. Several speakers have shown an interest in looking at the experience of 'foreign colleagues', and it was stated that 'we can continue to reinvent the wheel, we can continue to create some kind of regulatory framework, but sometimes we just need to look at what already exists. Much of what we are trying to do, has already been done'.
Third, subsidies, financial support programmes, and soft loans can help reduce high investment and equipment costs. This can be achieved through the exemption of biogas plants from taxes and the refusal of value added tax (VAT) collection on imported equipment. In the same way, it is necessary to support pilot projects for the construction of biogas plants. Implemented pilot projects will create a positive image of biogas technologies and stimulate potential clients to adopt and invest in these technologies. Financing of R&D projects could help to enhance the biogas processes, reduce the cost of biogas equipment, and make them more affordable. Furthermore, there are very few qualified engineers focused on biogas technologies in Russia. Thus, study material, educational courses, new faculties should be established. Additional recommendations include the creation of groups of experts who can advise the most appropriate solutions for the construction of biogas plants, and create guidelines for potential biogas producers.
Fourth, in the analysis, a concern regarding the monopolistic nature of the energy market in Russia has stood out. Support of the retail biogas energy market by making exemptions from taxes or establishing some federal support and incentives can be considered a possible step to redress the current imbalance.
Last but not least, the current macro-economic situation has certainly deteriorated the development of renewable energy as a whole and biogas technologies in particular. International cooperation is the basis for scientific development, owing to its further implementation in the business sector and, thus, in everyday life. Joint biogas projects can help countries share their knowledge, create/improve technologies, and realise the potential for biogas development. If Russia manages to overcome these barriers, the country is very likely to become one of the leaders in biogas production.