In the Pavlovsk region of the Kuban, a district meeting was held on the use of gas engine fuel in agriculture and communal services. It is not the first year that talks about converting tractors and combines from diesel fuel to liquefied gas have been going on in the south. The reason is clear: the cost of fuel and lubricants is growing all the time, knocking down the already not the highest profitability of agribusiness. But, as practice shows, it is impossible to convert equipment to gas without significant government investments in infrastructure. Is the state ready to help farmers and is it economically justified?
- Today a liter of diesel fuel is more expensive than 92nd gasoline. This is one of the biggest expenses in the field! - Roman Aleinikov, a farmer from the Rostov region, makes a helpless gesture. But at the same time, he does not want to transfer his equipment to gas. He says it is too expensive, because all the "stuffing" of the tractor will have to be changed. And to go to the nearest gas station more than 20 kilometers. It is necessary, therefore, to put some kind of special barrel in the yard and periodically take it to the gas station to refuel. As a result, the idea will never pay off, the entrepreneur decided. True, he does not know how much it costs to convert agricultural transport to gas, and what state aid programs are.
The head of the Association of Farmers Dona Vadim Bandurin notes that the idea of using gas is absolutely justified and has already proven itself very well. But he also believes that converting most of the equipment in the south to alternative fuels in the coming years is practically impossible.
- Of course, farmers want to save on fuel and lubricants, and this is an important positive aspect. But there are serious problems with the implementation of the idea, - says the expert. - Let's start with the fact that today there is no agricultural machinery on gas, not a single large plant produces it in series. There is no service system for such equipment in the agro-industrial complex. It is unclear how the powerful engines on tractors and combines will work. Most importantly, today the fuel supply system for agricultural machinery requires the obligatory ability to refuel directly in the machine yard and in the field. Accordingly, we are talking about the construction of gas filling stations directly in agricultural organizations with an appropriate package of documents, approvals, and so on.
According to official data, in the Don region today, only 4,4 percent of equipment runs on gas, and in the neighboring Krasnodar Territory - already 38. Farmers explain this by one reason, infrastructure. In the Rostov region there are only 11 gas filling stations, in the Kuban there are already 18. In fact, there are many more (and they work to capacity). But even that was enough for the result to be incomparable. The Don authorities are well aware of this and promise that by 2022 the network of gas filling stations will grow to 39. According to the regional government, 10 private investors have already been attracted to the construction of gas filling infrastructure in the Rostov region, who announced plans to build 13 facilities. And in neighboring Kalmykia, by the way, they also decided to build a network of filling stations. The investor intends to open seven gas stations working with methane. Quite a lot for such a small region.
Another problem: in rural areas, even the available gas stations are far from the locations of the equipment. Therefore, many agricultural producers will have to build their own storage units and filling stations. But, as practice shows, even this disadvantage can be turned into an advantage: if the farmers in the countryside themselves want to open their own gas stations, they will be able to make good money. There is a similar experience in the farm in the Kuban. According to the regional administration, this is the first site in Russia where a gas engine filling station is installed directly on the farm. Already now, not only the farmer's transport is refueled here, but also transit vehicles. The capacity of the station at full capacity will be 200 vehicles per day.
According to the head of the board of directors of "Gazprom" Viktor Zubkov, the network of gas filling stations in the country today totals 446 objects. - Of course, this is not enough. But the Russian government decided to allocate funds for the construction of stations and the re-equipment of transport. This year, 17 regions will receive support, next - 27, - he said at the meeting. There are also legal restrictions. Now it is allowed to refuel agricultural machinery only on a hard surface. According to current regulations, even “official” factory mobile tankers cannot do this in the field. According to the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Veniamin Kondratyev, this is one of the few factors hindering the widespread use of natural fuel. At the meeting, he proposed to amend the technical regulations and allow refueling agricultural machinery in the field. They promised to work out this issue.
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Dmitry Belyaev, editor of the National Agrarian Agency
In general, farmers react positively to the transition to gas, they have learned to count money. But this requires two factors: a well-developed fueling infrastructure and government assistance. The question is who will pay for the massive construction of networks in the country. Regions and even more so municipalities will not find money for this. If Gazprom assumes all the main costs, this will greatly speed up the process. As for the help. Today, there are already state programs that stimulate the transition to a gas engine, for example, incentives for farmers when buying such equipment, and since 2019, subsidies for the purchase of mobile filling stations. But these programs need to be expanded. For example, subsidies for manufacturers of such agricultural machinery in Russia could stimulate the development of new models and mass production. Then everyone would see that it makes sense to invest in the industry, small businesses would be more active in building small gas stations in rural areas, and so on.