A Chinese official from CAAS has predicted, at a Shanghai Conference on Agricultural Innovation, that by 2050 50 % of the energy required by humans will be derived from biomass. China’s biomass energy supply at present is number 4 in the world and 500 – 700 biomass power plants are under planning. According to the “1025” plan, installed capacity will reach 13 MW by the end of 2015, and 30 MW in the end of 2020. Of this, agricultural and forestry biomass contributes 8 MW, methane gas 2 MW, waste incineration 3 MW, straw briquette fuel 10 million tons, biomass ethanol million tons, biodiesel 1 million tons and aviation biofuels 100.000 tons.

China Industrial Biotechnology Network, Dec. 17, 2012