Title: Bioenergy in China
1Bioenergy in Chinas Agriculture Sector
Challenges and Opportunities
- Lin Gan
- Sustainable Bioenergy Conference
- Bonn, October 12-13, 2006
2China in Two Faces
- Very large disparity in living conditions between
urban and rural areas - The gap is widening
- Strong measures needed to reduce this gap
3Agriculture Development
- Economic 9.5/y between 1978-present
- Agriculture stagnation in production and prices
- Increase in imports due to population growth,
decline in arable land and higher demands - Growing disparity between the rich and the poor
- Farmers migrate to urban areas as economic
migrants, due to limited jobs in agriculture
areas and low income from agriculture production - Energy use divided switch to fossil fuels in
coast regions and rely on traditional biomass use
in west regions - Key problems land loss due to urbanization,
surplus labor force from agricultural sector
4The Development and Environment Challenge
- GDP grows by 10.4/y, some regions excess 14
- Environmental protection objectives for 10th
Five-Year Plan were not realized - Energy consumption increases faster than GDP
- Western regions are far more energy inefficient
than coast regions (2-3 times) - Climate change has seen its impact, e.g.
droughts, floods, hurricanes, which led to
hundred-billion Yuan of losses and damages
5Drought in Sichuan Province
6The Western Regions
- Lag behind in economic development than the coast
regions - Vulnerable in eco-systems
- Poverty still a social problem (40-80 million)
- Farmers still rely on traditional use of
agriculture biomass for cooking and space heating - Focus on raw materials industry and energy will
not make the regions rich - Attitude on GDP growth leads to ecological
consequences - Weak in human resources and management capacities
7Traditional Use of Biomass
8Biomass for Cooking and Heating
9Transition from Traditional to Modern Biomass use
- 200 million tons of agri. residues/y
- Most of them are burned in fields
- If 20 million tons (10 of the total) are used
for biomass CHP, US 750 million income for
farmers
10Reduce Coal Use
- Coal a major source of pollution
- Lots of waste in burning of coal
- Health impact of coal production and use is high
- Infrastructure for burning coal can be used for
biomass utilization
11Miao in Guizhou
12Traditional lifestyle
13Impact of Indoor Air Pollution
- Household use of coal for cooking, heating and
drying of agriculture products - Open stove use as local culture and tradition
- Problems found from early 1980s
- Preventive measures are undertaken from recent
years
14Health Effects of Fluoride Poison
- Thyroid gland
- Kidneys
- Brain and nervous system
- Immune system
- 1/30 people, or 45 million, in China are affected
15Children Are Most Affected
16Dental Fluorosis
- Effects to teeth and bones
- Common in China due to air and water pollution
- More than 45 million people affected
- Once affected, it remains for life
17Arsenic poison in Guizhou
- Concentrated in Southwestern region
- Household coal use related
- Due to local resource, climate, economic
situation and tradition
18Household bioenergy Applications
- Independent off-grind power systems for
households and villages to provide electricity to
35 million people by 2010 - Biogas a major technology in agriculture sector
for sustainable energy and farming practice - Tens of millions of users already, but further
market expansion is needed
19Biomass Transition
- Requires an Integrated Approach for bioenergy
development - From centralized to decentralized power systems
development - Agricultural wastes for biogas, power and heat
production - Direct biomass burning to reduce coal use
- Develop pellets market demand in rural
households stoves for cooking and heating - Develop heat market for bioenergy use
- Large potentials on biofuels in transport
- Biomass CHP relevant for small cities and local
residential areas
20Biomass Potential
- If 20 million tons of agriculture residues were
uses, it could.. - Save 10 million tons of coal
- Reduce CO2 emissions of 25 million tons
- Generate 15 GWh of electricity
- Produce 60 million GJ of heat
- Enough for 25MW x 350 CHP plants
21Social Benefits
- Income generation
- Job creation from biomass production, transport,
equipment and services (150,000 jobs for 30GW) - Improvement in Health and living conditions
- Reduce migrant pressure to urban areas
22Biomass Applications
- 2020 Electricity generation target from biomass
30GW - Biogas CHP plants in feedstock farms
- Biomass CHP with agriculture residues
- Biogas with municipal and residential residues
- Biofuels (ethanol biodiesel)
- Pellets and bio-briquette production
- Investment in CHP 30-36 bn
23Development of Biomass Technologies
- Efficient biomass stoves
- Pellets production
- Biogas technology for households and feedstock
farms
24Opportunities for International Cooperation
- Investment cost for CHP 0.6-0.7 yuan/KWh
- Joint key equipment production pellets machines,
boilers and feeding systems for CHP plants - CHP power system designs and operation
- Biofuels production technology for transport
- Biomass resource production and management
- Biomass stoves for various applications, e.g.
households, restaurants - Service company management and marketing
25Technology Management Barriers
- Modern bioenergy is new to China
- Lack of combustion and gasification technologies
- Lack of biofuel production capacity and
technologies - Disparity in resource situation in different
regions - Little experience on resource costs, collection
and transportation systems, business services in
market application - Lack of RD capacity and management skills
26Barriers on Market Development
- Weak in incentive policies
- Lack of effective financial instruments, e.g.
public funds, venture capital, tax policy,
micro-credit - Monopoly of utilities access to e-grid
- Low coal prices
- Lack of appropriate technologies for rural
applications, e.g. efficient stoves, small
gasifies
27Key Issues for Consideration
- Priority should be on meeting local demands for
rural residents - Substitutions for fossil fuel use important
- Social development issues should be linked to
bioenergy development - Local conditions have to be respected
- Appropriate technologies would be more effective
in application than modern technologies - Capacity building are important
- Incentive polices are needed at central, regional
and local levels
28Thanks for your Attention!