Biomass power in China
Biomass power plants are among the renewable energy (green energy) sources to which China is committed.
A mere two years ago China had no biomass power plants – facilities generating electricity with the aid of corn (maize) stalks, rice husks, straw and wood chips. But things changed now. Today that figure of biomass power plants in China stands at about 20 and even more are on their way, among other places in Hunan in southern China, a province the size of Great Britain.
The biomass power plant is going to be built as a so-called CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) project, meaning that it will trigger CO2 credits which can be sold in the western world. In so doing, the economy of the biomass power plant is improved by 20%, making it economically profitable to choose biomass over coal.
First biomass plant in Hunan
The plant in Hunan is the first biomass plant in the province and with an output of 15 MW it will be able to supply some 175,000 households with power when complete in 2009.
It will thus make a small contribution to China’s goal of achieving 15 per cent coverage of its energy production using alternative energy in 2020.
Screening for genuine sustainability
Part of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) procedure for the Hunan plant has been to help the project owner to screen the project for genuine sustainability.
"Biomass power plants – together with wind power, hydropower and solar energy, are among China’s areas of commitment within renewable energy. The problem is simply that the planning is often not sufficiently thorough."
"In some areas more biomass energy plants have been planned than biomass resources allow for. Elsewhere longer-term agreements are not signed with the local farmers, causing them to put the price up drastically, making the plants much more expensive to run than expected."
