BUCHNEV ALEXANDR O.

The article discusses the potential introduction of intelligent electricity metering systems (IEMS) as an essential component of modern energy infrastructure. The primary objective is to assess the efficiency of IEMS implementation in the context of cultivating the «smart city» concept and the digital transformation of the energy sector. The authors examine the financial advantages of putting IEMS into practice, such as lower electricity losses, cost optimization, and higher-quality customer service. The social effects of putting these systems into practice are given particular attention. These benefits include making it easier to communicate with energy firms, facilitating cost control, and enhancing the environment. At the same time, it should be noted that the actual implementation of IEMS is limited in scope, utilizing only some of its functions. The authors propose initiating the development of administrative measures that will allow the full potential of IEMS to be realized. The paper examines the impact of IEMS on economic energy efficiency growth, the support of innovative technologies, and job creation. The authors also consider the possibility of combining machine learning technologies with IEMS. The introduction of new technologies will facilitate the development of a unified digital ecosystem for energy consumption. The study’s practical value is supported by an examination of a real-life project to deploy an IEMS in the Rostov region, which shows a considerable reduction in electricity losses and an increase in energy consumption efficiency. The study’s conclusions can be applied to planning the energy infrastructure modernization in other regions.

Higher education is the driving force behind scientific, technological, and socioeconomic advancement and is crucial to the development of intellectual capital. The article focuses on identifying creative methodological approaches to teaching students and examining the historical phases of development in Russia’s higher education system. To meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world, the authors stress the importance of knowledge management, pedagogical innovations, and educational systems that are flexible and adaptable. The evolution of the Russian higher education system is viewed through the lens of how educational reforms have affected socially significant processes, such as the development of civil society and the enhancement of human capital. Additionally, the process of adapting Russian higher education to local conditions through introducing innovative domestic didactic ideas that improve the quality of specialist training and the efficiency of knowledge assimilation is thoroughly examined. The authors also focus on how the state has shaped and established the higher education system from the XVIII century up to the present moment. The experts pay special attention to the difficulties facing the contemporary education system, such as the fast-shifting demands of the labor market and the requirement to develop specialists who can quickly adjust to new circumstances. The study highlights the importance of teaching students how to learn independently and adapt to changing conditions and the demands of the professional environment.

The article addresses the urgent issue of the economy’s digitalization. It examines why some digital transformation options are more effective and the barriers that prevent business processes from being successfully digitalized. The authors examine the advantages and disadvantages of the current digitalization process and how it affects the innovation economy overall. They discuss the risks and difficulties that must be resolved at different governance levels. The article separately studies the modern economy’s most innovative industries, whose success depends on digitalization processes, and the primary issues that could prevent value chains based entirely on digital technologies from being established. Based on the findings of the examination of well-established digital transformation strategies, both domestic and foreign, it is determined that a methodical approach must be used to evaluate all of the company’s assets at the initialization stage. This is because a partial use of innovative technologies, particularly when combined with undertrained staff, will divert resources and ultimately lessen the organization’s overall competitive advantages. We can conclude that it is essential to align national digitalization strategies with the requirements of common standards. This conclusion is supported by examples of the digital transformation of global technological value chains and successful digital transformation scenarios drawn from existing research and the complementary assets theory.

Current developments in domestic education point to a move from simple knowledge transfer toward the technology of “teaching to learn”. This calls for sufficient methodological support in lecture and seminar classes. A distance education system, a communication platform, and online survey forms are the three main components of the methodology that the article proposes. Its goals are to increase students’ motivation, develop their critical and creative thinking, and create a continuous educational process by integrating the best educational practices in the context of society’s increasing digitization. The authors suggest a tested algorithm for the efficient and practical implementation of the developed teaching methodology based on information and communication technologies. According to the article, this teaching concept provides the teachers with a much broader range of instruments for communicating educational material than traditional teaching techniques or individual Internet technologies, as well as the ability to actively involve students in the learning process. By combining strict accountability with open communication between students and teachers, this methodology will not only increase the effectiveness of the learning process but also improve the overall quality of education by increasing student engagement and opening up new possibilities within a given concept.

Identifying and assessing the main geo-economic factors in the development of the Far East and, specifically, the stable growth of its energy sector is of fundamental importance today. Within the context of national and global trends, the importance of this region for the Russian Federation, both in economic terms and in strategic development, is significant. Implementing technological and organizational innovations in the Far East’s energy sector will positively impact the economy if renewable and non-renewable energy resources are used in a balanced manner. This will guarantee additional solutions to several issues typical of the Russian Far East, as well as boost economic growth in the region and positively affect the export component, which ought to satisfy ESG standards considering its emphasis on several friendly countries in the Asia-Pacific area. Therefore, the article focuses on the established and emerging ESG philosophy and its corresponding investment framework in such countries as the People’s Republic of China, India, and several others. Within the framework of national and international solutions, the author suggests practical advice on encouraging and implementing a range of solutions aimed at growth of energy reliability, local economy, and environmental safety in the Far East region. Furthermore, the article assesses the prospects of the energy sector’s impact on the socio-economic sphere of the region and approaches to attracting additional investments.

The article considers the prospects for active use of electric vehicles in Russia and the possible government incentives for it. The authors refer to the provisions of the recently adopted Concept for the Development of Production and Use of ElectricVehicles in the Russian Federation until 2030. This concept’s objectives should be achieved bystudying the international experience of government programs to stimulate demand and production on the part of both end-users and producers of electric vehicles for further application of best practices in the domesticenvironment. The research analyzed the competitive advantages of owning an electric vehicle compared to the offerings of the traditional car market. The authors also highlight selected examples of the benefits of electric transport within the decarbonization of the global economy and in terms of creating a new energy paradigm in general.The study assesses the cost dynamics of a vital element of an electric vehicle - the battery - and its correlation with the energy storage systems market. The study shows the relationship between the most innovative areas of digital energy sector. The obtained conclusions will allow not only optimizing the achievement of the main goals of the Concept but also for generating additional consumer demand for electric vehicles, encouraging electric vehicle manufacturers, including related sectors of the national economy, to build the necessary infrastructure for electric charging stations and synchronizing their commissioning with the growing demand.

Using the international experience gained during the development of renewable energy sources (RES), we can now talk about the socio-economic importance of projects in this area, especially at levels of implementation close to the individual. Given the positioning of renewable energy sources in Russia as an instrument to solve energy and environmental issues, it is necessary to assess the new opportunities for RES’s positive impact on the economy and society, as well as its more intensive development subject to the current potential of non-renewable energy sources. The author considers the general trends of global leaders in energy consumption in the ratio of capacity for renewable and non-renewable energy. Creating a class of energy prosumers combining the functions of energy production and consumption based on renewable energy technologies is one of the priority tasks for the state energy policy. Having analyzed the regulatory framework in the field of microgeneration as well as the market for the relevant equipment, the author proposes ways to stimulate this activity, which, with the effective involvement of the population, might serve as a factor for endogenous economic growth. In addition, microgeneration based on RES is considered the primary method of ranking regions for federal stimulation of renewable energy development. Having studied the factor of attracting non-core investors in the energy sector, the author assessed the importance of ESG criteria and proposed to create a dedicated national system for supervision over the non-financial criteria used to evaluate investment projects.

The article discusses the global institutional processes in the field of energy in countries that determined the priorities of its state regulation, the specifics of the structural shift in favor of renewable and non-renewable sources, as well as non-energy aspects of their application on the example of microgeneration. The absolute majority of modern states are incorporating elements of renewable energy development into their national strategies, and more than half of them, including the Russian Federation, has set the goal of creating a carbon-neutral economy. The concept of a carbon-neutral economy is inextricably linked to the idea of the mass use of renewable energy sources. The main drivers for promoting renewable sources are the largest importers of hydrocarbon resources, such as the European Union, the United States, and China. However, the term carbon neutrality does not mean the absence of traditional energy sources such as oil, gas, and coal. The annual investment in this area is over a quarter of a trillion dollars, which indicates the demand for this sector of the energy and economy, supported by the renewable energy’s reputation as an instrument of positive impact on the three central tenets of sustainable development (economy, social sphere, and environment).

The article discusses the environmental features of the active use of renewable energy and its impact on the decarbonization process on the example of the EU countries to achieve sustainable development goals. The materials consider the comparative assessment of environmental impacts of renewable and nuclear energy in the context of assessing the carbon footprint of these types of energy, comparative analysis of harmful substances over the life cycle of an electric power generator, and the possibility of referring nuclear energy to renewable energy sources. The article discusses the stimulating role of the EU Taxonomy regulatory document, which was specially developed in the European Union. The document is part of the state regulatory policy in the conjugate development of renewable and non-renewable energy; the paper provides active support to subjects of innovation and investment activities, demonstrating the best performance in their segment or industry in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, and does not prevent the development and implementation of new low-carbon alternatives, including based on ESG. Particular attention is paid to the disposal of end-of-life equipment, including such promising areas as solvolysis technology. The author offers a number of recommendations for further improvement in this area of activity. The article shows the role of environmental costs in the tariffs for electricity production from different types of primary energy sources. The author examines the contribution of national economies of countries outside the European Union that have stabilized and reduced carbon dioxide emissions on a global scale.

The article summarizes the global trends in state and local development of the renewable energy storage market. The technologies used today and promising inter-country energy storage technologies are investigated. Separately, distributed energy storage systems based on electric vehicles during their parking period (vehicle-to-grid) are considered, including the economic aspects of the issue. German and Czech Republic experience of stimulating of the energy storage market is assessed for its applicability to domestic market conditions. The article discusses aspects of not only positive experience in stimulating renewable energy, but also provides examples of the negative impact on this segment of the energy sector due to the untimely updating of existing legal regulations that limit the possibilities for accelerated development of renewable energy, including a number of administrative barriers and direct impact on the development of industry accepted regulatory documents. Attention is paid to the resource constraints on the development of storage systems for renewable energy based on lithium-ion batteries against the background of the innovative price reduction of this storage segment in the planning horizon from five to 20 years using the example of the USA and China. In addition, a promising innovative storage technology of renewable energy through the electrolysis of conventional water (power-to-gas) for oxygen and hydrogen, which is stored up to the peak energy demand and sent to its production, is affected. The issue of expanding the number of owners of renewable energy generators at the expense of citizens and collective communities was considered.

The article considers the features of strategic concepts of intensive use of renewable energy in the key leading countries-China, the United States, India, the European Union, the United Kingdom and others - in the use of ‘green' energy, their main parameters, which are planned to be achieved in the medium term. Special attention is paid to a new segment of renewable energy - the market of industrial energy storage, its investment and innovative capacity is estimated. The prospects of using concomitant innovations in renewable energy, such as blockchain technology, microgrids, and digital energy are briefly considered. The current and potential formation of new jobs in the industry is assessed. The generalized principles of state stimulation of the use of renewable energy on the example of a number of countries are considered. In addition, the state regulation of the ratio of renewable and non-renewable energy is being investigated. Recommendations are offered on the use of advanced world experience for its application in domestic conditions. Examples are given of the positive impact of mass use of renewable energy on raising the standard of living of the population and its ability to conduct a more flexible and less differentiated price policy over large areas that are deprived of the possibility of using centralized energy. The reasons of mass exit from investments into non-renewable energy are investigated. Recommendations are given on the localization of the means of production of renewable energy.