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Distributed energy systems are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. The 100% renewable energy system can be an important energy supply alternative to reduce the carbon emissions and address energy shortage, especially for remote areas. However, the performance of 100% renewable energy system (RES) at community level needs further detailed analysis, which is affected by the climates, availability of renewable energy and local energy markets. This paper proposes a design optimization framework of 100% renewable energy systems for low-density communities and investigates the system performance. To investigate the integration and performance of 100% RES, thirty typical cities located in different regions of China were chosen considering different climates, geographical features, and renewable energy distributions. By taking the economic performance as the optimization objective, the optimal design for the 100% RES is obtained, and the energy and economic performance is analyzed. Results show that, under the current energy market conditions, the 100% RES is feasible for low-density communities in most regions of China. The payback periods of the systems in most cities are less than six years. When the cost of PV is reduced by half considering future technological developments, the payback period of a 100% RES can be reduced by 30%–60%. This paper would provide design suggestions and application recommendations in regard to promoting 100% RES in China. • Application of 100% renewable energy system at community level is studied. • 30 zones are selected considering climates, renewable energy sources and markets. • Solar energy and biomass can contribute to over 90% of the total energy supply. • Investment of 100% RES can be paid back in 6 years for most regions. • Payback periods can be reduced by 30%–60% when PV technology is further developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate short-term prediction of bioenergy power generation structure can optimize the bioenergy structure and help achieve carbon neutrality. However, there are currently few related studies, and most of them present long-term predictions on the development potential of bioenergy, which cannot meet the modeling requirements of predicting structure. Hence, the Fractional-order-accumulation grey Compositional data Model with Particle swarm is proposed in this paper (PFCM (1,1)) for forecasting bioenergy power generation structure. The proposed model satisfies the modeling requirements by introducing the fractional accumulation operator to ensure the prediction accuracy, and constructing the spherical mapping space to reduce the data dimension. The empirical studies prove that the newly developed model performs better than other models, which is successfully employed to predict bioenergy power generation structure of China for 2020–2024. The results show that the share of renewable municipal waste in bioenergy power generation will exceed that of solid biofuels by 2023 and the share of biogas power generation has not changed much. Furthermore, although the total amount of bioenergy power generation in China is growing rapidly, unbalanced development and small share of power are two important challenges. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In 2017 about 37% of the world's wind turbines and 50% of the world's photovoltaic (PV) panels are installed in China. But at the same time a huge amount of wind power and PV power is wasted mainly because of insufficient flexibility of thermal power which is the dominant source in China's electricity system. This paper aims to assess the flexibility requirements for thermal power plants to accommodate large-scale variable renewable energies (VREs). This paper constructs three scenarios for the reference year of 2030, where VREs account for 16%, 19% and 22% in the electricity system respectively, and simulates corresponding residual load time series (residual load = load − hydropower − nuclear power − wind power − PV power). We find that the current average 1%/min ramp rate of thermal power plants is basically sufficient to deal with ramps in residual load in the future. But the current average 60% minimum load level of thermal power plants has to be improved to 40% or even 30%, otherwise the economic losses of VREs curtailment will be as high as 947.2 × 10 8 – 1632.0 × 10 8 CNY per year in the future. It is necessary and beneficial for the central authority to invest in retrofitting the existing huge thermal power plants to improve their minimum load level. Highlights • This paper simulates the future VREs scenarios for the year of 2030. • 1%/min ramp rate of thermal power is sufficient to follow ramps in residual load. • Minimum load level of thermal power has to be improved to 40% or even 30%. • It is a huge economic benefit to improve minimum load level of thermal power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Many studies have investigated energy utilization of crop straw; however, there has been little analysis in the literature from the perspective of willingness to accept compensation. This study is one of the first studies to introduce the variable trust into the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, and it mainly the factors influencing rural households' willingness to accept compensation for energy utilization of crop straw. The results show that a certain amount of compensation—approximately 0.95%–1.62% of the average family annual income —encourages households to participate in energy utilization of crop straw. This means that a reasonable compensation standard is an important means of coordinating the relationship between economic development and protection of the natural environment. This paper also finds that, in addition to the factors (time cost expectation , economic cost expectation, influence from persons with high education , influence from persons with high income) in the original Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model, trust in neighbors, as one aspect of the interpersonal trust, and trust in village cadres, as one aspect of the institutional trust, all exert a significant influence on rural households' willingness to accept. This paper therefore recommends linking energy utilization of crop straw to broader attempts to strengthen trust. Highlights • Rural households' willingness to accept compensation for energy utilization of crop straw is the focus. • Trust is introduced into the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. • Interpersonal trust and institutional trust significantly influence households' willingness to accept compensation. • Proper compensation helps households adopting energy utilization of crop straw. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government has made significant effort to promote biomass based electricity generation in recent years. Yet, little is known about consumers’ preferences for biomass electricity and associated environmental impacts. This paper uses discrete choice experiments (DCE) to investigate Chinese consumers’ preference for electricity generated from various biomass sources. Based on 548 responses, the paper finds that Chinese households are willing to pay a premium of around 27 Yuan per month or 0.20 Yuan per kilowatt hour (kWh) to replace coal-fired electricity. Among the various biomass sources, electricity generated from agricultural and forestry biomass is most preferred, followed by biogas electricity and waste-to-energy. It is also found that respondents have a significant willingness to pay for reducing haze. Consumers’ household structure and environmental awareness also affect their preference for biomass electricity. These results have significant implications for the prioritization, design and communication of biomass promoting schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Many regions of China have abundant straw resources for industrial utilization. Although there has been an emerging trend of using straw resources for bioenergy in China, there is little study of the dynamics of straw utilization in industry. This study develops an agent-based model to simulate the dynamics of industrial utilization of redundant straw in a virtual area of 10,000 square kilometers. The dynamics of three typical industrial straw utilization technologies applied in enterprise are simulated: bioethanol, power generation, and paper making. Four scenarios are established to compare changes in the total scale and proportion of enterprise caused by collection technologies and subsidy to bioethanol. The results show that the final industrial consumption of straw is approximately 60% in the basic scenario, whereas the highest proportion is almost 90% in the other scenarios. The largest share of straw is consumed by power generation in scenarios with low bioethanol subsidies and is close to bioethanol in scenarios with high bioethanol subsidies. The industrial structure varies due to changes in collection technologies and bioethanol subsidies in the scenario analysis. The industrialization of bioethanol is also determined by technological maturity time. Some policy implications to improve industrial straw utilization are discussed based on the results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: With increasing attention on energy shortage and global warming, bioenergy is a promising alternative energy to mitigate CO 2 emissions. Despite the environmental friendly potential, a certain quantity of bioenergy-related CO 2 is still emitted in China. This paper investigates the temporal dynamics of bioenergy-related CO 2 emissions in 2000–2010 in China, and explores the underlying influence factors based on logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI). Then the core results are verified with a GIS-based approach from a spacial perspective. The results show that four impact factors: emission intensity, energy structure, energy efficiency and economic development have different impacts on bioenergy-related CO 2 emissions, of which economic development is the major factor contributing to its increase, while energy efficiency is the major determinant for the decline. Per capita bioenergy-related CO 2 emissions in different areas are verified in accordance with either economic development factor or energy efficiency factor to some extent. To achieve the dual purpose of sustainable development and CO 2 emissions reduction, this paper provides a practical policy framework for rural bioenergy and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a useful alternative to petroleum-based fuel, biofuels are playing an increasingly important role due to their economic, environmental, and social benefits. Cassava is viewed as an important and highly attractive nonedible feedstock for the production of biofuels. In this paper, a game-theoretic approach is proposed to explore decision behavior within a cassava-based bioethanol supply chain under the condition of yield uncertainty. In addition, a production cost sharing contract is proposed to overcome the double marginalization effect due to competition between supply chain players. With data from China's cassava-based bioethanol industry, the paper analyzes the effects of the farmer's capacity, risk aversion, yield uncertainty, the conversion ratio, the bioethanol's market price and ethanol plant's operation cost on optimal decisions within the supply chain and its overall performance. In addition, the effectiveness of the proposed production cost sharing contract is tested, and the results show that it can enhance the supply of cassava, increase the utility of the whole supply chain and reduce the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The implications are set out for policy makers regarding how to promote the development of the biofuel industry, to guarantee the supply of feedstock, to reduce GHG emissions and to promote rural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese herbal medicine has a long history spanning more than 2000 years, and it is widely used to prevent and treat diseases in China and even in Southeast Asia. Given the popularity of Chinese herbal medicine and the continuous development of the pharmaceutical industry, large amounts of Chinese medicine residues are produced in China every year. Chinese medicine residues are mainly made up of medicinal plant materials intended for human utilization that are subsequently discharged, lost, degraded or contaminated. The traditional methods of disposal of Chinese medicine residues include incineration, stacking and burying. However, these methods not only affect the ecological environment but also cause a great waste of Chinese medicine residues. In the past few years, the utilization of Chinese medicine residues for industry and environment protection has aroused widespread concern. Extensive studies have explored Chinese medicine residues, especially with regard to energy generation applications. In this work, the origin, chemical composition and potential of Chinese medicine residues in terms of energy generation, paper making, composite material preparation, re-extraction of bioactive components and environmental protection are summarized. This review is aimed at providing an overview of the current progress on the utilization of Chinese medicine residues for industry and environment protection and discussing the existing problems and future development. • Developing biomass energy is a promising solution for Chinese medicine residue. • Chinese medicine residue is a potential material for producing paper and composite. • Re-extraction of bioactive components is necessary for Chinese medicine residue. • Chinese medicine residue can be used to curb environmental pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are abundant crop straws in Chinese rural areas, but they are loose structure, low energy density and scattered distribution. Biomass densification technology is one of the effective ways to solve these problems. So the paper proposes a novel distributed heating/centralized monitoring mode of the biomass briquette fuel for rural areas. The mode includes the energy service station, the internet platform and the farmer households. A bidirectional C2S (Customer to Supplier) relationship between the energy service station and the farmer households is formed. The biomass briquette fuels are bartered using the crop straws instead of using money between the farmer households and the energy service station. The optimal service radius is calculated in different climate rons. The results are 4.75 km in extremely cold ron, 1.71 km in cold plain ron, 2.36 km in cold mountain ron. The use-scale of 1000 households is regarded as the standard for the promotion and application of the mode. The sensitivity analysis is that briquetting cost is the peak. At last, some suggestions are proposed, which will promote the future development of the briquette heating in China. • A mode of distributed heating/centralized monitoring is proposed in China. • A bidirectional C2S (Customer to Supplier) relationship is formed. • The optimal use-scale and optimal radius of the mode are calculated. • The "Internet + biomass energy network" is builds in rural area. • Some policies are suggested for the further development of biomass heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper uses fuel ethanol from corn as an example to establish a theoretical model and framework to explore possible impacts of developing bioenergy on food security in China under short run and long run dynamic equilibriums with import supplements. From the three aspects including “fighting for food with people”, “fighting for land with food”, and international trade safety, the conditions that create food safety problems are discussed. In a closed economy, when the decrease in direct or indirect demand for corn caused by corn price rise is larger than the demand increase due to income increase, or when corn demand increase caused by fuel ethanol price rise is larger than the corn demand decrease caused by the decrease in government price subsidy for fuel ethanol, food security problem will appear. Food security problem can be solved by implementing trade policy when a stable import source is available. Otherwise the subsidies, substitutes, technology, etc. should be used to increase the rate of self-supply. Moreover, considering the status quo of corn market, the paper puts forward a set of policies of income and price subsidy, substitutes, and trade and technology to solve the problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As the largest developing country, China has abundant wind, biomass and solar energy resources. Under the large demand for electricity and the shortage of fossil energy, it is essential to develop renewable energy generation in China. This paper analyzes the resources, scale, market operation, profitability and policies of China’s wind, biomass and solar power generation and gives a discussion of the investment risks in the current situation. It is expected that the analysis in this paper could be helpful for the potential investors to make decision. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Energy is important for China and for the whole world. Previously, the huge investment in energy-related research and commercialisation made it possible for China to cooperate with its international partners in various channels, and programs involving international cooperation and co-published papers increased annually. In this paper, through the review of intergovernmental cooperation programs and bibliometric analysis of the top energy journals, it was found that: (1) intergovernmental cooperation and non-governmental cooperation are two effective channels for energy R&D. (2) In these two channels, most participants of international cooperation are universities and institutes, and the most important partner countries are the US, Japan, and European Countries. (3) Industries began to be involved in international cooperation gradually. (4) For different areas, the degree of cooperation is not the same. Some areas have been more fruitful in cooperation, some are just beginning hydrogen energy, fuel energy and applied energy are the main co-publication areas with Chinese involvement; while wind energy, solar energy, fuel cells and bio-energy are new areas for China and there has not been so much co-publication until now. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: China is the largest developing country in the world. At present, more and more energy demand gives immense pressure to Chinese government. The inappropriate energy structure must be improved by Chinese government in order to achieve the sustainable development of economy and society. Development and application of renewable energy, such as wind energy, solar energy, biomass energy, etc., have been regarded by the government and the local people in the past 10 years, and more and more actual examples have been established, which are supported by government and plants in China. It is well known that there are abundant wind and solar resources in China. This paper presents the distribution zone and development and application practice status in China. However, a common drawback is existing in the stand-alone wind energy and solar energy generating power system, which is the unpredictable output electric power, and the output power depends on the unpredictable weather and climatic changes. Fortunately, the wind–solar hybrid generation system can partially overcome the problems. The conventional structure and key technology of stand-alone wind–solar hybrid generating system, the current status and outlook of wind–solar hybrid energy system are presented in the paper, for example, the city road lighting system, distributed generation, photovoltaic (PV) water pumping for irrigation, etc. At the end, the policies and laws of China central government and local governments are described, and the development barriers and recommendations are introduced. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Bioenergy can be a promising solution to the energy, food and environment trilemma in China. Currently this coal-dependent nation is in urgent need of alternative fuels to secure its future energy and improve the environment. Biofuels derived from crop residues and bioenergy crops emerge as a great addition to renewable energy in China without compromising food production. This paper reviews bioenergy resources from existing conventional crop (e.g., corn, wheat and rice) residues and energy crops (e.g., Miscanthus ) produced on marginal lands. The impacts of biofuel production on ecosystem services are also discussed in the context of biofuel's life cycle. It is estimated that about 280 million metric tons (Mt) of crop residue-based biomass (or 65 Mt of ethanol) and over 150 Mt of energy crop-based ethanol can become available each year, which far exceeds current national fuel ethanol production (< 2 Mt year −1 ) and the 2020 national target of 10 Mt year −1 . Review on environmental impacts suggested that substituting fossil fuels with biofuels could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution (e.g., particulate matter). However, the impacts of biofuel production on biodiversity, water quantity and quality vary greatly among biomass types, land sources and management practices. Improved agricultural management and landscape planning can be beneficial to ecosystem services. A national investigation is desirable in China to inventory technical and economic potential of biomass feedstocks and evaluate the impacts of biofuel production on ecosystem services and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation liquid fuels production is heavily depend on oil. In recent years, developing biomass based and coal based fuels are regarded as promising alternatives for non-petroleum based fuels in China. With the rapid growth of constructing and planning b biomass based and coal based fuels production projects, sustainability assessments are needed to simultaneously consider the resource, the economic, and the environmental factors. This paper performs multi-scale analyses on the biomass based and coal based fuels in China. The production cost, life cycle cost, and ecological life cycle cost (ELCC) of these synfuels are investigated to compare their pros to cons and reveal the sustainability. The results show that BTL fuels has high production cost. It lacks of economic attractiveness. However, insignificant resource cost and environmental cost lead to a substantially lower ELCC, which may indicate better ecological sustainability. CTL fuels, on the contrary, is lower in production cost and reliable for economic benefit. But its coal consumption and pollutant emissions are both serious, leading to overwhelming resource cost and environmental cost. A shifting from petroleum to CTL fuels could double the ELCC, posing great threat to the sustainability of the entire fuels industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural household energy consumption is an important component of national energy consumption and plays an important role in rural social and ecological environment developments. In this paper, energy consumption of 1440 households in 8 typical counties of 8 China's economic zones was investigated. The investigation data analysis revealed significant difference of different economic zones in rural household energy consumption level and structure. For 8 studying counties, the annual average energy consumption per capita was 26.7 GJ, 10.4 GJ the lowest (Shanghang County) and 86.6 GJ the highest (Shulan County). In energy consumption, straw, biogas, fuel wood and electricity accounted for 44.33%, 23.13%, 12.79% and 9.61%, respectively. Rural families with high incomes preferred commercial energies (e.g. electricity and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) to biomass energy (e.g. straw and fuel wood). The traditional biomass energy is still the main energy source for China's rural household. Research results provide references to understand current situations and future development of China's rural household energy consumption, and formulate related energy and environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lack of clean energy supply remains a challenge in China, particularly in rural areas with large population. Biogas production from anaerobic digestion of biomass is an efficient technology for energy strategy in China. This paper reviews the importance of household biogas in China and discusses the regional differentiation of rural household biogas (RHB), and related driving factors. Gray correlation analysis showed that regional differentiation of RHB exhibited the highest correlation degree with temperature (0.889), followed by raw materials, rural population, and levels of income and education. According to the total biogas production in China, the development regions of RHB was separated into Region 1, Region 2 and Region 3. The highest development level of RHB was found in Region 2 with a total biogas production of 1.2×10 10 m 3 , accounting for 77.6% of the total TBP of China in 2012. Moreover, the RHB development levels in Region 1 and Region 3 were 1.84×10 9 and 1.69×10 9 m 3 , respectively. Basing on the results of regional differentiation of RHB and characteristic of the primary influence factors in different regions, this study proposes that RHB development must be further promoted by combining actual situation of different regions to avoid blind development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new distributed energy system that only uses biomass as input is proposed. • A novel mode of energy system with biomass for rural districts far from city heat and gas pipelines. • Annual performance analysis of combined heat and biogas system with biomass. • The practicability to meeting the users' heat and biogas demands economically with biomass. With the rapid urbanization of China, many farmers are living in buildings and districts far from natural gas pipelines and heating pipe networks. Besides electricity, they urgently need a cheaper energy source for heating and cooking. In this paper, a novel mode of biomass direct combustion heating and centralized biogas supply system was put forward, and corresponding theritical model was developed and verified with a practical operation system in Nan'an community of Wuwei City, China. The energy conservation and loss mechanism, energy economy, thermodynamic performance, and environmental benefits of the system are analyzed and explored on the basis of the system's year-round operating conditions and the community's dynamic load characteristics. The results show that it is possible to meet the users' heat and biogas demands economically with biomass; the dynamic investment payback period(DIPP)is 4.23 years;the average annual primary energy saving rate(PESR)is 21.82 %; and the annual treatment of agricultural and livestock waste is 8198.57 t.The results of the study demonstrate the value and significance of biomass direct combustion heating and centralized biogas supply systems for achieving China's "Double Carbon" goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of global climate change and energy security pressures, biomass power generation has been regarded as an effective way to supplement the energy supply, reduce fossil fuel consumption, and alleviate environmental pollutants. This paper presents an integrated modeling framework to address the regional biomass power generation planning to facilitate biomass utilization in developing countries. By combining the geographic information system, multi-criteria decision-making approach, as well as the type-2 fuzzy inexact programming method, the proposed integrated framework could assist the optimal decision-making for the specific site and size selection of biomass power plants in the whole region as well as the optimal operation strategies under deep uncertainties. The proposed modeling framework is applied to the particular context of Henan, an agricultural province in China with great biomass potential. The results suggested that biomass power plants with a total capacity of 2.4 GW could be established, which could satisfy 6% of local electricity consumption and avoid 18.51 Mt of carbon emissions. The sensitivity analysis of the main economic parameters indicated that lower investment and operation costs were essential to stimulate the utilization of local biomass energy. A higher feed-in tariff is not encouraged due to the limited incentive effect but is a heavy burden for the government. Furthermore, the optimal strategies for biomass power generation planning under uncertainties could be suggested for different decision makers with various risk preferences to achieve a tradeoff between system cost and risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an improved hybrid MADM method based on interval Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and interval regret theory are put forward to evaluate five renewable energy alternatives for Fujian province, China. Firstly, the volatility of the evaluation information and the subjectivity of experts or stakeholders are taken into account. Second, political factors are further considered based on existing research. Third, the influence of the subjective initiative of decision makers on the decision result has been paid attention to. Furthermore, the result of the analysis shows that the extended regret theory method should set different parameters to reflect the preferences of decision makers. The ranking results of renewable energy are different with different parameter settings. For example, when α = 0.1 , δ = 0.1 , the priority of clean energy in Fujian Province is hydropower, followed by wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, and biomass energy. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the model possesses good serviceability. Based on considering different parameter settings, the Fujian government should invest, in order of priority, in these renewable energy sources to obtain benefits. And the projects related to these renewable energy sources should be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explain the factors influencing the cost of biomass power in China, we applied an improved model of learning curves in this paper. The impact of cumulative installed capacity of biomass power and other factors on the cost of biomass technology were investigated. The results showed that installed capacity expansion has led to significant cost reduction. Meanwhile, the effect of economies of scale was observed in the analysis of generation cost. The ownership structure of the firm and the size of the developer had no influence on the learning effects and stronger policy support may, ironically, produce negative incentive effects on technology improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is facing a number of energy related challenges including a shortage of electricity supply, depletion of fossil fuels and environmental pollution. These challenges make it important to develop renewable energy resources. As per other renewable energy industries, the biomass power industry is facing a series of opportunities and challenges. Utilizing Michael Porter's Five Forces Model theory for analyzing the competitive environment and the competitive situation of an industry, this paper establishes a Five Forces Model for assessing the competitiveness of China's biomass power industry. Inputs for this model include semi-structured interviews with biomass power generation enterprises and a critical analysis of the national policy framework along with relevant literature and official statistics. Five major stakeholders of China's biomass power industry, namely competitors, suppliers, buyers, potential competitors, and substitutes are assessed to determine their influence on the biomass power generation industry. This assessment highlighted the current status, existing issues and future prospects of the biomass power industry. Similarly, it provides assistance to develop procurement strategies for the sustainable development of the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass is a sustainable and renewable energy source with relatively low pollution emissions. It can be transformed into gaseous, liquid and/or solid biofuels as well as other raw chemical materials and products. Among the biomass conversion technologies, densified solid biofuel is one of the means that is storable and transportable with low heating cost. In order to achieve the target of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 40–45% until 2020 as set at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and realize the goal of China׳s 12th Five-year Plan (2011–2015) for the development of biomass energy, given that carbon emissions will peak in 2030 as estimated in 2014 during Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference, China should vigorously develop densified solid biofuel, so as to sharply minimize the unorganized burning of crop residues. This paper introduces the current status of China׳s densified solid biofuel and the industry in following aspects: (a) the classification of densified solid biofuel; (b) development of densified solid biofuel industry; (c) molding technology of densified solid biofuel; (d) characteristics of densified solid biofuel combustion; (e) the problems faced during molding, handling, transportation and storage; (f) existing Chinese standards for densified solid biofuel and the assessment of densified solid biofuel; and (g) market analysis and perspectives of densified solid biofuel and the industry. Moreover, this study provides a comprehensive overview of the development of China׳s densified solid biofuel and the related industry, proposes some recommendations for further development of the industry for domestic and international biomass energy researchers as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the potential production of non-food biofuels in China. The evaluation is conducted for ethanol and biodiesel. The ethanol production is predicted based on the available amounts of energy crops, agricultural and forest residues and waste molasses, while the biodiesel is predicted to be produced from wood energy plants and waste cooking oil. The results indicate that China's potential capacity on non-food biofuels from 2015 to 2030 will be in the range between 75.60 and 152.13 million metric tons. In order to exploit this potential capacity, there is a long way to march. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the rural area of northern China, residents often use a traditional stove-Kang system to heat their homes, which is an effective way of using locally-produced biomass to solve the energy and environment problems. However, many of these homes are not heated sufficiently during the winter months. The current system is inefficient and requires high levels of fuel consumption. This paper researches the Kang system by creating a simplified and modular system modeling program with the aim to assist in accurate real-time design and optimization of the domestic Kang heating system. This part-1 introduces the structure, principles and the underlying equations of the modular simulation system. A variety of improvement measures were modeled and tested, upon the base model, including the use of a water heat exchanger and radiator system to the existing Kang set up, solar hot water system, bathing system, and the use of phase change material at the surface of the Kang. The program demonstrates good flexibility of implementing different technical solutions as well as fast simulation capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biomass stoves have been applied thousands of years in Chinese rural areas, while the thermal efficiency of the traditional biomass stove is low and redundant heat is utilized inadequately. In this paper, the multifunctional biomass stove which has the heat collector inside was designed and transformed based on the structure analysis of the traditional biomass stoves. Furthermore, the related performance indicators were proposed, which are applicable for the multifunctional biomass stove. In addition, the multifunctional biomass stove was compared with the traditional biomass stove in the thermal performance by testing. The results which were obtained by synthesizing the performance indicators showed that the thermal efficiency of the multifunctional biomass stove was 30.79% higher than the traditional biomass stove based on the kang surface temperature. The multifunctional biomass stove had a preferable thermal performance than the traditional biomass stove. Thus, the multifunctional biomass stove can reduce the energy consumption and is applicable in rural buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass, such as agricultural straw, can be converted into briquette fuel using technology to expand the possible applications of biomass and improve biomass utilization efficiency. The major machines required in a briquette fuel system, such as those used for drying, chopping, briquetting, and cooling, have become more efficient. However, a biomass briquetting fuel system requires special machines to reach a high character index, and all units in the system must match and be combined to produce an optimum system that satisfies multiple objectives, such as economy, environmental protection, stability, and large-scale operation. In this paper, a mathematical model for a synthesized evaluation was established according to theories of grey relational analysis (GRA) and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). This model was used to select a biomass briquette fuel (BBF) system scheme considering hierarchies of economy, cleanliness and environmental protection, production capacity, product quality, and production stability, along with 20 other indices, including capital investment, dust content, drying capability, briquette rate, and the machine repair cycle. The most significant factors influencing each hierarchy were analyzed using a sensitivity analysis. Based on the GRA and AHP theories, an optimal scheme was selected for a fully operational 2 × 10 4 t/a cornstalk briquette fuel plant in China. The optimum scheme included six sets of briquetting machines with a capacity of 2 t/h + three sets of chopping machines with a capacity of 5 t/h + six sets of drying machines with a capability of 2 t/h + 1 set of cooling machines with a capacity of 12 t/h. The evaluated indices and weight coefficients were chosen objectively, and the comprehensive and technical performances of the selected BBF system scheme improved. These results provide a reference for the scheme selection and operation of large-scale BBF systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing power consumption in China and the urgent demand for environmental protection, promoting the development of clean energy power generation industry is the only way to optimize the energy power generation structure. It is very important to effectively predict the development trend of China's clean energy power generation system with complex, changeable and limited data. To address this issue, this paper defines a novel fractional self-adaptive reverse accumulation sequence, and combines discrete modeling techniques and time power terms to propose a novel fractional self-adaptive reverse accumulation with time power terms. The parameter estimation and time response formula of the new model are derived. The matrix perturbation theory is used to prove that the new model satisfies the new information priority principle. The Grey Wolf Optimizer is used to optimize the self-adaptive parameter r and non-negative constant α. Finally, the prediction model is constructed for the power generation capacity of five representative types of clean energy in China: biomass, wind, nuclear, natural gas and hydro power, the prediction result shows that the new model has higher prediction accuracy and data applicability than the other five grey models. According to these prediction results, relevant suggestions on the development of China's clean energy are provided to decision makers. • A novel fractional order self-adaptive reverse accumulation sequence is proposed. • A novel fractional order self-adaptive discrete grey model is developed. • The case experimental results show that the new model is much better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial distribution of biomass resources is not uniform. At present, the zoning of biomass energy development suitability is primarily based on resource potential, whereas energy demand is ignored as an important factor affecting the degree of local energy self-sufficiency. Under the constraints of high transportation costs, solar energy with low geographical constraints can be a supplementary energy source for biomass despite its instability. Based on the energy utilization potential of solar energy and biomass resources, this paper evaluates the energy surplus factor (ratio of renewable resource potential to energy demand) of each city in the study area, takes meeting the specific energy surplus factor as the construction prerequisites of biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plants, calculates the biomass resource utilization rate and energy surplus factor in the study area under different conditions, and provides zoning suggestions and data reference for the unified planning of biomass CHP plants. The minimum energy surplus factor that is suitable for the development of biomass energy is set as the construction threshold of biomass CHP plants (The construction threshold is the minimum condition for the construction of biomass CHP plants. Only areas where the energy surplus factor reaches the preset construction threshold are allowed to build biomass CHP plants). The results show that the construction threshold is negatively correlated with the utilization rate of biomass resources. When the construction threshold is less than 1.4, the utilization rate of biomass resources decreases rapidly with the increase of the construction threshold; when the construction threshold is greater than 1.4, the utilization rate of biomass resources decreases slowly and tends to be flat. It is suggested that biomass resources should be developed in different regions and in stages, and priority should be given to developing areas with an energy surplus factor greater than 1.4. Areas with an energy surplus factor of 0.3–1.4 are considered secondary development areas, and areas with an energy surplus factor of less than 0.3 are not recommended for development; these can meet 31% and 59% of the total energy demand and reduce 50319380 tons and 180524400 tons carbon emissions so that the limited construction cost can meet higher energy demand and biomass resource utilization. • Priority development areas are identified based on solar and biomass potential. • Energy surplus factor is calculated to determine the development suitability. • Strategies for zoning and phased planning of biomass resources are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use and cover change is the key factor affecting terrestrial carbon stocks and their dynamics not only in regional ecosystems but also in urbanized areas. Using the typical fast-growing city of Changzhou, China as a case study, this paper explored the relationships between terrestrial carbon stocks and land cover within an urbanized area. The main objectives were to assess variation in biomass and soil carbon stocks across terrestrial land covers with different intensities of urban development, and quantify spatial distribution and dynamic variation of terrestrial carbon stocks in response to urban land use and cover change. On the basis of accurate spatial datasets derived from a series of Landsat TM images during the years 1986 to 2011 and reliable estimates of urban biomass and soil carbon stocks using the InVEST model, our results showed that carbon stocks per unit area in terrestrial land covers decreased with increasing intensity of urban development. Urban land use and cover change and sealing of the soil surface created hotspots for losses in carbon stocks. Total carbon stocks in Changzhou decreased by about 30% during the past 25 years, representing a 1.5% average annual decrease. We suggested potential policy measures to mitigate negative effects of land use and cover change on carbon stocks in urbanized areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past several years, the biomass power generation industry in China has witnessed notably rapid development. However, many biomass power generation manufacturers in China are currently making small profits or suffering losses, and the entire biomass supply chain does not function well, which not only poses a challenge for the stable operation of enterprises but also may impact the smooth development of the biomass power industry. From the perspective of supply chain risk, this paper explores the reasons for the current plight and the future obstacles that the Chinese biomass power generation industry may face. Identifying such risks as market risk, production risk, technology risk, economic risk and management risk in the upstream, midstream and downstream of the biomass supply chain and ordering the degrees of risk controllability by the government and enterprises, it is determined that joint effort by both the Chinese Government and the biomass power generation enterprises is an ideal choice for risk control coming out of the plight. However, at present, more problems should go to the government for solutions than to the enterprises. To guide the healthy development of the industry, the Chinese government should play a more prominent role in promulgating supporting policies in each stage of the supply chain and strengthening the supervision and control of biomass projects. Last, specific measures taken by the Chinese Government and the enterprises are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improvement of recovery rates is crucial for the supply chain management of waste cooking oil-to-biofuel conversion. This paper constructs a dynamic game model between biofuel enterprises and recyclers to compare the recycling modes and recycling rate decisions of waste cooking oil-to-biofuel conversion in China and Japan. Results demonstrate that: (1) the recovery rate of Chinese mode with recyclers as price leader is not necessarily lower than that of Japanese mode theoretically, indicating that the collection-storage-transportation integrated mode in several cities led by Chinese government may not be the optimal choice. (2) The subsidies for recyclers have insignificant impact on recovery rate, while the subsidies for biofuel enterprises can significantly improve the recovery rate. (3) Decreasing difficulty coefficient and expanding the market size can greatly improve the recovery rate. Therefore, reforming the beneficiary of subsidies, improving the recycling infrastructure, implementing strict technical and administrative control and creative sales policy of biofuel finished products may benefit the recovery rate in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing importance of lignocellulosic biomass as a renewable energy source has led to an acute need for reliable and detailed information on its assessment, consumption and supply. With the passage of China’s legislative targets for renewable portfolio standards, agricultural residue resources have the potential for an increasing role in meeting liquid fuels demand in China. An assessment of current and near future agricultural residue resources (including agricultural crop residues and secondary agricultural processing residues) in China at national scale was conducted. This paper gave the theoretical quantity, collectable quantity, usable quantity and potential quantity for liquid biofuel production of agricultural residues in China. The spatial and seasonal distributions of crop residues were analyzed. The theoretical output of crop residues in China at national scale in the near future were forecasted by means of an artificial neural network (ANN) model. The availability of agricultural residues in China was presented, as a result, the potential of liquid biofuels from agricultural residues was discussed. The ANN predicted results have shown that the theoretical output of crop residues in China at national scale will be up to 930.8 million tons in 2015. About 44 million tons per year of bioethanol or 131 million tons per year of bio-oil would have been produced, if the total usable output of agricultural crop residues were used to produce bioethanol through biochemical conversion process or bio-oil through fast pyrolysis, which could replace 26.9 million tons of gasoline or 58.2 million tons of diesel at national scale in 2015, respectively. The above results will be helpful for commercialization of bioenergy industry and their market-oriented development strategy, so as to accelerate the development of industrialization of biofuel technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forestry biomass resource has many advantages, which makes it a significant new energy to substitute fossil energy as an important role of biomass resources. For the utilization of China׳s forestry biomass resources, this paper analyzed the possibilities of its development from the aspect of policy, resource endowment, market and technology, and discussed its development challenges from the aspect of policy, economy, society, technology and resource endowment. Forestry biomass resources are very abundant in China. It has made a significant breakthrough in forest biomass resource utilization, with great prospects. Although there are still some difficulties and challenges in the policy, resource endowment and other aspects, these challenges are not insurmountable. Therefore, forestry biomass resources should develop in a way with Chinese characteristics considering the national condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural household energy consumption plays an essential role in the daily life of farmers, especially in developing regions. In this paper, we present a study of household energy consumption in terms of energy sources and energy end uses, and analysis of technical and economic issues associated with the use of biomass and renewable energy and the replacement of fossil fuels. Results show that energy from biomass represents the largest share of total energy supply, and that 41.15% of total energy is consumed for home heating and cooking. The average cost of household energy is 1259 RMB ($US193.6) and this expense is no longer subsidized by the government. It takes less than one year to make a solar stove profitable and less than two years to pay back the household cost of biogas digesters. An 8 m3 digester can produce as much energy as 500–550 kg of standard coal or 940 kg of firewood, while a solar stove can generate 1.76 × 103 MJ heat each year. Moreover, it is estimated that in rural China the annual reduction of CO2 and SO2 emissions in 2020, due to the replacement of fossil fuel by biomass, will be 68.86 × 106 and 54.37 × 104 tons, respectively. Overall, the investigations and analyses have revealed that the structure of rural household energy consumption is undergoing a transformation from traditional low-efficiency biomass domination to integrated consumption of traditional and renewable energies. Renewable energy will significantly contribute to the sustainable development of rural households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper systematically collects and sorts out China polices of biomass power generation policy, mainly from 2006 to 2012, based on the actual demand of the biomass power generation project. According to the effect of the policy implementation, it analyzes the problems about the policies, such as the development goal being too large, tax policies not being easy to implement, the relevance amongst some policies being poor, and provides some suggestions. Finally, it concludes that biomass power generation should be developed steadily in China, and fiscal supporting should not be introduced any more. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: At present, countries around the world set off a round of upsurge of exploitation and utilization of geothermal energy. As one of renewable energy resources, geothermal energy has the advantages of great resource potential, low carbon emissions, widespread distribution, easy development and so on. China׳s geothermal resources are enormous and have huge potential for exploitation. However, due to the lack of reasonable industry planning and policies support, and lag of technologies, the industrial development speed and scale are far behind the wind, solar and biomass energy. The 12th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People׳s Republic of China explicitly issues that in future China will vigorously develop the geothermal energy and provide more policy support for geothermal industry development from medium to longer term. This paper describes China׳s geothermal resource potential and status quo of geothermal industry, and analyzes the obstacles of the industry development. Then, it accordingly puts forward the development pattern of China׳s geothermal industry and gives out related countermeasures. At last, it outlines the prospects in this field. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Biomass can be relatively easily stored and transported compared with other types of renewable energy sources. Crop straw can be converted into densified solid biofuel via briquette fuel technology to expand its possible applications and enhance its utilisation efficiency. However, the potential economic, environmental and social impacts of crop straw briquette fuel need to be assessed before its large-scale use. This paper provides a comprehensive evaluation of these impacts for a fully-operating 2 × 104 t/a corn stalk briquette fuel plant in China. The results show that with a life time of 15 years, a purchase price of 150 RMB/t for corn stalk and the current sales price of 400 RMB/t for briquette fuel, the plant has a net present value of 9.6 million RMB or 1.5 million USD, an internal rate of return of 36% and a short investment payback period of 4.4 years. The life cycle greenhouse gas emissions are found to be 323 t CO2,e/year or 1 kg CO2,e/GJ, much lower than that of coal. Additionally, the process reduces pollution by decreasing the amount of corn stalk that is discarded or burnt directly in the field. In terms of social impacts, the use of corn stalk briquetting fuel plant is expected to play an important role in increasing local residents' income, improving rural ecological environments, alleviating energy shortages, guaranteeing energy security, and promoting socialism new rural reconstruction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: China’s forest bioenergy policies are evolving against the backdrop of pressing national energy challenges similar to those faced by OECD countries, and chronic rural energy challenges more characteristic of developing countries. Modern forest bioenergy could contribute to solutions to both of these challenges. However, because of limitations in current technologies and institutions, significant policy and resource commitments would be required to make breakthroughs in either commercializing forest bioenergy or modernizing rural energy systems in China. Given the potential attention, funding, and resource trade-offs between these two goals, we provide an argument for why the focus of China’s forest bioenergy policy should initially be on addressing rural energy challenges. The paper concludes with a discussion on strategies for laying the groundwork for a modern, biomass-based energy infrastructure in rural China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper develops three scenarios for the management of an existing, low productivity, collective forest plot in Southwest China: continuation of the status quo, transition to sustainable forest management (SFM), and conversion to a short rotation species for producing biomass for electricity generation. We examine how economic incentives vary across the three scenarios and how payments for CO2 sequestration and offsets affect incentives. We find that SFM is risky for forest managers and is highly sensitive to revenues from initial thinning; that carbon revenues can lower some of the risks and improve the economics of SFM; but that carbon revenues are effective in incentivizing management changes only if yield response to thinning is moderately high. Energy production from stem wood is too low value to compete with timber, even with revenues from CO2 offsets. However, conversion of existing forests into short rotation species for timber rather than energy is more profitable than any scenario considered here, highlighting the need for regulatory innovations to balance incentives for timber production with conservation goals. The results underscore the importance of improved public sector regulatory, planning, extension, and analysis capacity, as an enabling force for effective climate policies in China’s forestry sector. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The coal industry is an essential energy industry in China. From 2008 to 2020, the global economic crisis, the policy of de-capacity, and the decline of the coal industry all profoundly affected the development of coal mining areas. This paper combined emergy synthesis and super-efficiency Slacks-Based Measure-Data Envelopment Analysis (SBM-DEA) considering undesirable output to evaluate the eco-efficiency in the Longkou coal mining area's circular economy industrial chain from 2008 to 2020. This research finds that the eco-efficiency in the coal mining area was 0.73 in 2008 and then showed an upward trend from 2008 to 2020. The eco-efficiency was relatively effective in 2011, 2013–2016, 2018–2020. Due to the progress in mining technology and the decline in waste emission, the eco-efficiency showed an upward trend, and the peak eco-efficiency value was 1.26 in 2019. The circular industrial chain contributed a lot to the high eco-efficiency in general. The eco-efficiency in 2012, 2017 was low owing to the recession of the coal industry and the overcapacity of coal. According to the analysis results, the coal mining areas should develop circular economy, cleaner production, and extend the circular economy industrial chain. In addition, the coal mining areas ought to expand enterprise-scale, develop new energy industries (e.g., biomass energy, wind energy, photovoltaic power generation). • Evaluated eco-efficiency in the coal mining area's circular economy industrial chain. • Emergy synthesis combines undesirable super-efficiency SBM-DEA is verified. • Eco-efficiency showed an upward trend from 2008 to 2020. • The recession of coal industry and overcapacity of coal affected eco-efficiency. • Coal mining area should develop circular economy, cleaner production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Garden waste biomass is a potentially underutilized renewable biofuel feedstock, which is increasing dramatically with rapid urbanization worldwide. China has experienced fast-paced urbanization over the past three decades: the settlement area has increased at a rate of 6.1% annually, with greenspace increasing by 12.7% annually from 1996 to 2008. This paper provides a synthesis of literature and experimental data to trace the potential of garden waste biomass for green renewable energy production in China. Our results show that the total potential biofuel produced by garden waste biomass was estimated at 260 petajoules (PJ), accounting for 20.7% of China's urban residential electricity consumption, or 12.6% of China's transport gasoline demand in 2008. Thus the use of garden waste biomass for energy production will contribute to the construction of low-carbon cities. However, there are still many difficulties—the main challenges are how to quantify the available garden waste biomass accurately, and technical and financial issues with the exploitation of garden waste biomass for energy production. Finally, we provide several practical suggestions for the future development of garden waste biomass for energy production. The use of garden waste for energy production in urban areas could be a win–win approach for mitigating both the burden of disposed costs and the energy crisis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Effective spatial planning is crucial for cost-effectively and sustainably developing biomass energy resources due to the diffuse nature of biomass and high transportation cost. Using the spatial analysis technology, economic models and scenario analysis, this paper presents a spatial planning framework to identify the appropriate developing areas of biomass energy at regional level. The methodology is applied in a case study of Fujian Province, China. Firstly, spatial distribution of two kinds of biomass resources and the technical potential, i.e. the amount of power generation from agricultural and forestry residues in each supply area, were estimated by incorporating the spatial data and the statistical data. The results indicate that total technical potential of agricultural and forestry residues is estimated at 25.13TWhy−1, equivalent to approximately 19% of total electricity consumption in Fujian in 2010. In the second step, the economic analysis assesses the cost of biomass generation for each supply area on the basis of current market conditions. Ranking of the supply areas is then performed by using the priority development index (PDI), which can measure the priority of each biomass supply area by combining several influencing indicators. Finally, the selection of supply areas for power plants can be carried out according to its order in PDI until the total planed capacity in the region is met. The priority of the subregions and the corresponding cost of biomass generation for different planning scenarios can be explicitly visualized. The methodology can be applied to a wide area and can support the local authorities to define and implement a strategy for future biomass energy development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Converting waste cooking oil into biofuel represents a three-win solution, dealing simultaneously with food security, pollution, and energy security. In this paper, we encode the policy documents of waste cooking oil refining biofuel in China based on content analysis, and explore the related policies from the two dimensions as basic policy tools and enterprises supply chain. Research indicates the weak institution coordination of policy issuing entities. Also, the findings show that tools of regulatory control and goal planning are overused. Policies of government procurement, outsourcing and biofuel consumption are relatively scarce. Generally, government focuses more on formulating policies from the strategic, administrative and regulatory aspects, while less on market-oriented initiatives as funding input and financial support. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Nowadays, China is faced with many issues, such as increasing farmers’ income, protecting environment and adjusting energy structure, which may be solved by developing the biomass power generation industry. However, the lack of technical capability, inadequate raw materials and challenges for grid feed-in are all obstacles that prevent large-scale production and industrialization in the biomass power generation industry. Therefore, government should provide necessary policies to support and advance the biomass power generation industry. This paper systematically analyzes the current laws, regulations and policies implemented recently in China and provides a comprehensive review of the fiscal subsidies, reduction and exemption of taxes, tariff concessions, the policies of investment and financing and the support of R&D. Suggestions for relevant policies are proposed to address the existing problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Biomass, a renewable, sustainable and carbon dioxide neutral resource, has received widespread attention in the energy market as an alternative to fossil fuels. Thermal–chemical conversion of biomass to produce biofuels is a promising technology with many commercial applications. This paper reviewed the state-of-the-art research and development of thermal–chemical conversion of biomass in China with a special focus on gasification, pyrolysis, and catalytic transformation technologies. The advantages and disadvantages, potential of future applications, and challenges related to these technologies are discussed. Conclusively, these transformation technologies for the second-generation biofuels with using non-edible lignocellulosic biomass as feedstocks show prosperous perspective for commercial applications in near future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: China, like many other countries, is promoting the development of liquid biofuel, including bioethanol and biodiesel. The Chinese government has set biofuel development targets for the coming decade and sanctioned a series of supportive policies. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of current liquid biofuel development in China, related government policies, and the potential opportunities and challenges for its future expansion. Our assessment is based on two rounds of in-depth fieldwork and a thorough literature review. The assessment shows that the prevailing concern on food security has pushed China to move from cereal-based to non-cereal-based biofuel production. Emphasis has also been put on utilizing new marginal land for feedstock production. Our assessment indicates that the targets of China''s biofuel development are cautious and feasible, but on the other hand there are still severe challenges for the sustainability of such development. A better understanding of China''s experience in striking a balance between energy security, food security and environmental protection would inform the debates across country boundaries and contribute to the efforts for global sustainability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The accurate estimate of the availability of crop residue resources is very important for the development of bioenergy in China, a large agricultural nation. Previous efforts to evaluate the bioenergy potential from converting straws to energy were mainly based on agricultural statistical data on the provincial/county level. Straw yield calculations generated by most of those works significantly overstate the amount of crop straws for ignoring environmental requirement and harvest constrain. The paper presents a GIS-based approach for the assessment of the availability and distribution of crop residues in China, taking into account a number of conservation issues: resources (total amount, spatial and temporal distribution), economy (transportation costs), environment, and technology. All data are converted into unified geographic unit (100m×100m pixels), and integrated analysis is implemented with GIS software. The results indicate that considering conservation requirements, the production of net available crop residues is about 505.5 million tons per year. The bioenergy potential is about 253.7 million tons standard coal per year (7.4EJ/year), which account for 8.27% of total energy consumption of the country in 2009. The results and dataset will present significant support for energy planning both at national and regional scale. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Pistacia chinensis Bunge is one of ideal species for producing biodiesel. The tree has several outstanding characters: drought resistance, tolerance to cold climate, poor, acid or alkaline soils and widely distributed in China. These characters make P. chinensis as a prospective energy plant of second generation to substitute fossil fuels, solve energy crisis and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, its basic agronomic properties, biological characters and the taxonomic classification of the species are less known. In this paper, we described its distribution, basic morphology and biological characteristics, multiple uses and problems for large scale cultivation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]