Bioenergy in China

China has set the goal of attaining one percent of its renewable energy generation through bioenergy in 2020.

The development of bioenergy in China is needed to meet the rising energy demand.

Several institutions are involved in this development, most notably the Asian Development Bank and China's Ministry of Agriculture. There is also an added incentive to develop the bioenergy sector which is to increase the development of the rural agricultural sector.

As of 2005, bioenergy use has reached more than 20 million households in the rural areas, with methane gas as the main biofuel. Also more than 4000 bioenergy facilities produce 8 billion cubic metres every year of methane gas. By 2006 20% of "gasoline" consumed was actually a 10% ethanol-gasoline blend. (People's Daily Online) As of 2010, electricity generation by bioenergy is expected to reach 5 GW, and 30 GW by 2020. The annual use of methane gas is expected to be 19 cubic kilometers by 2010, and 40 cubic kilometers by 2020.

  • China is the world's third-largest producer of ethanol, after Brazil and the United States.(RFA)
  • Although only 0.71% of the country's grain yield (3.366 million tons of grain) in 2006 was used for production of ethanol, concern has been expressed over potential conflicts between demands for food and fuel, as crop prices rose in late 2006.

Events

Developments

Policy

Targets
  • Target of 10% renewable energy of the country's total energy consumption by 2010.
  • Alternative fuels: 6 million tons by 2010 and 15 million tons by 2020.
  • Target of 50% use of ethanol-blended gasoline by 2010.
  • China has an annual production capacity of 1.02 million tons of ethanol. (source:People's Daily Online)

Issues

Biofuel production
  • "Corn accounted for 76 percent of the 1.02 million tons of ethanol produced" in 2005.

Bioenergy potential
  • "Non-grain crops in China could eventually produce as much as 300 million tonnes of ethanol a year, according to a report on the National Development and Reform Commission's website.

Organizations

Regional organizations
  • Core Agriculture Support Program - A program that includes southern China and the countries of the Mekong Subregion in South-East Asia, that provides support for biofuel feedstock and other agricultural programs.

Government organizations
  • english.gov.net is the main English language portal for the Chinese Government. Many agencies do not yet have English language pages.

China's circulars on bioenergy policy have been co-released by the following agencies:

Government websites (English)

Companies

(source: Climate Change China Info-Net (.gov site))

  • BBCA (Mostly Chinese) Large scale ethanol and biomass producer, using corn and cassava. Also doing research into cellulosic ethanol.
  • China Integrated Energy China Integrated Energy, Inc. is a leading non-state-owned, integrated energy company in China engaged in three business segments: the wholesale distribution of finished oil and heavy oil products, the production and sale of biodiesel, and the operation of retail gas stations.
Publicly traded companies

At least two publicly traded companies, China Clean Energy, Inc. and Gushan, manufacture and sell significant amounts of biodiesel in China.

Publications
Other

See also

References
  1. "CNPC". Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
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