Environmental and economic assessment of energy projects

The energy industry has a significant impact on the scarce fossil hydrocarbon resources and on the environment. The burning of natural energy carriers by traditional energy facilities is one of the factors increasing the content of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that entails serious climate changes. Evaluating the efficiency of energy enterprises and the implementation of energy projects requires an integrated approach that considers not only technical and economic aspects, but also the environmental impact. Such approach is especially important in the context of the energy transition and the implementation of circular economy principles. Despite the attention of scientists to the tasks of scientific, methodological, and practical determination of the economic efficiency and environmental consequences of energy projects, the issue of environmental and economic assessment remains relevant, in particular considering resource and environmental efficiency. The purpose of this study is to improve the methodological tools of environmental and economic assessment of energy projects. The authors propose an approach to the assessment of energy projects using an integral indicator. This indicator is calculated based on a system of specific indicators of the natural resource capacity and the environmental compatibility of energy production at the energy facility, considering the regional environmental conditions. The formed approach can be used for environmental and economic assessment and comparison of energy projects, fast-acting measures, and projects for the development of energy enterprises.