With the rapid development of China's economy and society, the huge gap in energy demand has become a "bottleneck" for the sustainable development of China's economy and society. Accelerating the development of biomass energy to alleviate resource and environmental pressure is a major issue that needs to be addressed urgently.
The "Outline of the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" proposed to "vigorously develop renewable energy. Accelerate the development of biomass energy, build a number of straw and wood-fired power stations, and expand the production capacity of biomass solid briquette fuel, fuel ethanol and biodiesel." This indicates that the spring of biomass energy development has arrived.
Jiang Zehui, member of the Party Leadership Group of the State Forestry Administration and president of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, said that biomass energy is an important part of renewable energy. Fully utilizing and developing biomass energy can optimize China's energy structure, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and safeguard national energy security.
China is rich in biomass resources. The existing forestry biomass that can be used as industrial energy raw materials amounts to 300 million tons. If fully developed and utilized, it can replace 200 million tons of standard coal, equivalent to 1/10 of China's fossil energy consumption. According to preliminary estimates by experts, China currently has 1.15 billion tons of agricultural and forestry waste, equivalent to 570 million tons of standard coal, with a developable amount of about 350 million tons of standard coal. It is predicted that by 2020, these figures will reach 890 million tons and 630 million tons of standard coal respectively.
Developing biomass energy will play a huge role in promoting new rural construction. China has 900 million rural people, of whom about 50% live in relatively poor mountainous areas, forest areas, and sandy areas, and 65% of the population rely on traditional renewable energy - firewood forests for their daily fuel. Due to the direct combustion method adopted in the past, the thermal efficiency is low and environmental pollution is serious. Chu Fuxiang, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, said that accelerating the development of biomass energy can not only provide efficient and clean biomass energy, but also give rise to emerging green energy industries, which is conducive to promoting changes in farmers' lifestyles, increasing farmers' income, and will surely make positive contributions to energy substitution and industrial development.
The benefits brought by biomass energy are multifaceted. Yuan Zhenhong, secretary-general of the China Biomass Energy Technology Development Center, said that biomass energy is a highly clean energy source and a scientific choice to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent global environmental deterioration. Its significant feature lies in the win-win of resources and environment, as well as the coordinated unity of ecological, economic, and social benefits. Vigorously developing biomass energy can not only provide abundant clean energy, but also significantly increase the income of the vast number of farmers, which is a bright road that benefits the country and the people.
