Environmental Assessment of Thermal Energy Facilities Impact on Ecosystem Services for the Production of Oxygen in Urban Settlements

The article provides a comparative environmental assessment of thermal energy facilities impact on ecosystem services for the production of oxygen in the area of their direct influence in urban settlements. A significant share of thermal power plants in atmospheric pollution indicators was noted. Types of terrestrial ecosystems with the greatest potential for oxygen production have been identified. Based on the calculations made by the Index O (oxygen production index), the differentiation of the impact of TPPs on the environmental service of oxygen production by local terrestrial ecosystems is detailed by 3 load groups: high, medium and optimal. At the same time, it is necessary to consider not only the local capacity of terrestrial ecosystems, but also the regional potential, as well as the geographical location of energy facilities in the Russian Federation and their capacity. The presence of a large number of forests in the Asian part of the country allows for increased buffering of the ecosystem service of oxygen production in the zone of direct influence of the majority of thermal energy facilities located there. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.