The photo is sourced from recyclemag.ru
The project implemented on the basis of the Voronezh State University of Forestry and Technologies (VGLTU) is unique as it is the first Russian carbon polygoncovering the entire life cycle of plants: from cells to the finished forest plantations, reports the Recycle, a popular science magazine.
The project results from cooperation between SIBUR and the VGLTU’s engineering centre, which in 2020 created an experimental calibration polygonwhere tree species with a high carbon absorption potential are bred.
SIBUR provided the engineering center laboratory with the equipment for clonal micropropagation of plants, as well as a smart greenhouse with a built-in weather station, which allows creation of ideal conditions for growing trees and their subsequent planting at a 0.3-hectare experimental polygon.
This is how the variety of poplar ES-38 (Elite Seedling-38) was obtained, which is distinguished by a complete unavailability of fluff and an intensive CO2 sequestration due to a large leaf surface “All the seedlings at our calibration polygonrange exactly one year, but the ES-38 looks like a real giant among them: it gained two metres in height in the first year of life,” Mikhail Drapalyuk, Recycle quotes Mikhail, the Drapaluk, VGLTU rector
About one hundred and fifty seedlings of birch, poplar and pine trees grown by the engineering center specialists as part of the SIBUR forest-climatic program Green Formula were planted at the polygon, which amounts 56 hectares and is supposed to reach 2.6 thousand hectares by the end of 2022.
Cultivation of forest plantations can become one of the ways Russian companies might reduce their carbon footprint. The projects for growing species that intensely absorb carbon will have to undergo international certification on their compliance with the VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) and the CCB (Climate, Community and Biodiversity). Central Russia might become a platform for implementation of such projects as it has a high share of unused agricultural land in the total area of the region. According to Greenpeace, it is 24% in the Vladimir region, 37% in the Yaroslavl region and 33% in the Ryazan region. The special government decree dated September 2020 legalised growing of the plantations on the abandoned agricultural land.
