On February 2, organized by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and South Africa, the international seminar on exchange of experience in implementing carbon landfills “CARBON SUPERSITES RUSSIA – SOUTH AFRICA” (Russia – South Africa, carbon landfills) was held.

The Seminar was dedicated to discussing the experience of implementing projects on creating the network of carbon landfills in the Russian Federation and South Africa, and expanding scientific and research production contacts. In February 2021, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation started the pilot project on creating carbon landfills in the Russian regions, for the purpose of developing and testing carbon-balance control technologies. Currently, 18 carbon landfills have been created and are functioning, including the first agricultural carbon landfill in the Samara Region, arranged with participation of the REC “Engineering of the Future” – “Agro Engineering”.

The main areas for the carbon landfills to develop were presented: marine, agricultural, forest, steppe. The participants discussed issues related to equipment, research, methodological support, integrity of methodologies and results of work over the past year.

During the discussion, Russian and African experts noted high-level research and measuring equipment used at the carbon landfills in South Africa and the Russian Federation. As for scientific validity of the approaches applied, the important factor is the competent planning of the landfill network covering all the country’s soil and climatic zones, and aimed at the most comprehended research. The Samara agricultural carbon landfill, together with the Kaluga and Voronezh carbon landfills, were noted as the most practice-oriented projects targeted, among other things, at developing and implementing efficient methods of combating soil degradation, increasing fertility, and developing the system for recovering forestry.

In the dialogue, much attention was paid to the issue of providing landfills with equipment for remote monitoring. The University scientists’ developments in the field of hyperspectral imaging and unmanned systems aroused great interest. The next seminar will be dedicated to presenting and getting familiar with the equipment being developed at the University, as well as programs for application of artificial intelligence in climate research.