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Among the regulatory policies, feed-in tariffs (FIT) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS) are the most popular to promote the development of renewable energy power industry. This paper uses system dynamics (SD) to establish models of long-term development of China's biomass power industry under FIT and RPS schemes, and provides a case study by using scenario analysis method. The model, on the one hand, not only clearly shows the complex logical relationship between the factors but also reveals the process of coordination between the two policy tools in the development of the industry. On the other hand, it provides a reference for scholars to study similar problems in different countries, thereby facilitating an understanding of biomass power's long-term sustainable development pattern under FIT and RPS schemes, and helping to provide references for policy-making institutions. The results show that in the perfect competitive market, the implementation of RPS can promote long-term and rapid development of China's biomass power industry given the constraints and actions of the mechanisms of RPS quota proportion, the TGC valid period, and fines, compared with FIT. At the end of the paper, policy implications are offered as references for the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biofuel as a promising pathway for substituting the traditional fossil fuels, mitigating environmental contaminations, and enhancing the energy security has attracted more and more attention in China. This study aims at identifying the critical success factors for promoting the sustainable development of biofuel industry and helping the stakeholders/decision-makers to draft the appropriate strategic measures for enhancing the sustainability of biofuel industry in China. A generic methodology in which the decision-makers are allowed to use linguistic terms to express their views and options, multiple decision-makers are allowed to participate in the decision-making, has been developed to prioritize the factors influencing the sustainability of biofuel industry and to identify the cause–effect relationships among these factors. The three factors, including government support degree, competitiveness, and local acceptability are identified as the most critical factors for promoting the sustainable development of biofuel industry in China, but they are all effects rather than the origins of the problems existed in the biofuel industry of China. In contrast, maturity, safety and reliability, complexity, conversion efficiency, and investment cost are the most important causes, and they are also the origins of the problems existed in the biofuel industry of China. Six effective strategic measures including popularizing the use of biofuels in large scales, subsidies and tax exemption policies, investing more on R&D on biofuel technologies, encouraging more private enterprises and joint ventures to participate in the biofuel industry, developing the integrated utilization manner of biofuels by further developing the byproducts of biofuels, and popularizing the use of biodiesel and bioethanol among the vehicle users through publicity and education have been proposed for promoting the sustainable development of China's biofuel industry according to the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

A rather young but rapidly accelerating biofuel industry has recently emerged in China. However, there is no legislation or policy specifically regulating biofuels or bioenergy. In addition, most of the regulatory functions are undertaken by policy initiatives rather than by law. As a result, the regulation and, in a broader context, governance of biofuels still face several major obstacles, including unclear development directions, ignored impact of biofuels development on society, environment and economy, and limited public participation. This paper argues that legislation on biofuels in the form of joint departmental rule is a departure for a comprehensive regulatory framework to overcome the current obstacles and to realize the sustainable development of the biofuels industry in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]