China Chases The Mirage of Biomass-To-Electricity

Energy Tribune
Posted on Jan. 05, 2010
By Xina Xie and Robert Bryce

China’s biomass-to-electricity industry is booming. Thanks to favorable government tax policies, subsidized energy prices and fat giveaways from the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the Chinese government has approved more than 70 biomass-to-electricity plants. More than 30 of the plants are now operating, with a total capacity of about 3,000 megawatts, or 0.37% of China’s total power capacity.

China produces about 700 million tons of crop waste per year, equivalent to about 350 million tons of standard coal. At present, most of that crop waste is burned in the fields. However, if all of that waste were utilized as fuel, China could but its carbon dioxide emissions by about 850 million tons, according to a recent government estimate.

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