Wang Dapeng, Deputy Director General of the Department of New and Renewable Energy of China’s State Energy Administration, said on April 17 at the 4th Global Biomass Energy Innovation and Development Summit Forum held in Beijing that “China’s biomass energy utilization has almost formed a diversified development structure centered on power generation, with non-fuel energy power, with biogas, clean heating, and other non-fuel energy power as auxiliary sources,” he said. The Science and Technology Daily reported.
According to the “China Biomass Energy Industry Development Yearbook 2023” released at the forum, China’s biomass energy power generation capacity as of the end of 2010 totaled 41.32 million kW, ranking first in the world for four consecutive years. Biogas production continues to increase and now stands at about 300 million cubic meters per year. Biomass clean heating area is more than 300 million square meters, and the annual use of biomass solid fuels has reached approximately 20 million tons.
In order to solve the problem of low utilization of biomass energy, China has been working on innovation of technology for growing and utilizing biomass feedstock in the past few years and has achieved remarkable results. Ni Weidou, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (Academy member) and professor at Tsinghua University, said, “The new generation of reed mushrooms grown through genetic improvement has an annual growth rate five times that of tropical forests, seven times that of corn stalks, and more than 15 times that of rice straw, and its heating value is close to that of coal for power. It can be grown on rough slopes, mudflats, and saline-alkaline soils in areas with annual precipitation of 500 mm or more, and can absorb heavy metals. It can also be harvested in winter to produce high-quality biomass material.
According to the same yearbook, China has already almost established a technical system for major equipment such as biomass power generation, heat supply, anaerobic fermentation, and solid fuel processing. Du Xiangxuan Du, a Chinese Academy of Engineering Academician and deputy director of the National Energy Advisory Expert Committee, said, “Biomass energy solid fuel technology, liquid fuel technology, vaporization technology, and power generation can all be used as alternatives to coal. The production of organic chemicals from biomass can also replace the production of fossil raw materials and promote the development of a biomass economy.
