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In order to achieve the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization, we must vigorously develop renewable energy. As one of the important renewable energy sources, the development and utilization of biomass energy has a high cost, and it is difficult to compete with traditional fossil energy in the early stage of development. Therefore, it is necessary for the government to escort the development of the biomass energy industry through legal means. First of all, on the basis of fully analyzing the development prospects of China's biomass energy, the article sorts out the laws and regulations related to biomass energy in China, and finds the shortcomings. Secondly, this paper draws on the institutional experience of the United States, Brazil, Sweden and other countries with relatively developed biomass energy industry, and provides suggestions for improvement from three aspects: law, policy and administrative system, with a view to supporting China's development of biomass energy industry and realizing the "dual carbon target" theoretically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a significant difference in the performance of waste cooking oil-to-energy companies in China. Most biofuel companies face a loss while a few others have high recovery rates and strong profitability. To shed light on this phenomenon and to aide in formulating policy, this paper constructs a framework from the two dimensions of X-Y and investigates the impact of government intervention on biofuel companies' performance by taking two companies located in the kitchen waste-to-resource pilot cities of Changzhou and Suzhou. Results indicate that: (1) the basic policy instruments of information disclosed and fee and penalty mechanisms in Changzhou are inferior to those of Suzhou. On the other hand, capital investment and cooperation between stakeholders are better in Changzhou. As for the value chain dimension, the policies are similar in both cities. This means that companies involved in the recycling of waste cooking oil and biofuel production equally neglect research and development, preferential loan and product sales by government. (2) In terms of effectiveness, recycling rates and company profits for Changzhou Yueda Kate New Energy Co. Ltd. are far below those of Suzhou Clean Environmental Technology Co. Ltd. Whether the biofuel companies are authorized by government or not, fee and penalty mechanisms and information disclosure are the key determinants affecting performance of biofuel companies. (3) There is still some room to improve the performance of Suzhou Clean Environmental Technology Co. Ltd. Policies can focus on the following: strengthening R & D, which improves the technological supply and diffusion capability of biofuel companies; building the demand-typed policy frame and adjusting policy structure; improving the market structure of biofuel companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

This paper proposes the network data envelopment analysis (DEA) model accounting for negative externalities and applies it for decomposition of profit inefficiency in the biomass-agriculture circular system (Bio-AG system). A circular structure of the Bio-AG system which is different from the previously applied network structures is assumed. Since the negative externalities (i.e., pollutant emissions from the biomass industry) occur in the Bio-AG system, the property rights are taken into consideration to model the externalities-adjusted profits. Therefore, the changes in profits due to changes in the property rights (assuming no property rights, allocating property rights to agricultural sector, and allocating property rights to biomass power generation sector) are quantified. Further, the decomposition shows that the biomass power generation sector is less affected by technical inefficiency if contrasted to allocative inefficiency in terms of the profit loss. The findings suggest that the biomass power generation technology influences the profits of the biomass industry. What is more, the inefficient allocation of resources is now the key factor undermining performance of the biomass industry. Therefore, the government should adopt measures to improve the allocation of resources and prevent excessive investments or development of less efficient technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The voluminous literature on industrial catching-up in Southeast Asian countries has regularly argued that successful catching-up largely depended on a committed state, which orchestrated industry development with a relatively uniform set of policies, including R&D support, subsidies, trade restrictions, and local content requirements. In contrast, recent contributions from the technology lifecycle literature have argued that policies should be tailored to differing technological characteristics in industries for mass-produced standardized goods, complex engineered products, and—as we argue—complex product systems (CoPS). In this paper, we extend this argument by introducing a set of separate policy mixes for each industry type, which appears most capable of providing the key resources required for catching-up: knowledge, market access, financial investment and technology legitimacy. This framework is used to analyze catching-up patterns in China’s wind, solar PV, and biomass power plant industries, drawing mainly on policy documents and 106 interviews with key industry actors. We find that traditional top-down catching-up policies played a decisive role in the development of China’s wind industry, but were of limited importance in the early solar PV industry, and resulted only in a limited period of rapid growth in the biomass power plant industry. The relative progress achieved in these three industries is not related to top-down policy guidance alone, but also to private sector initiative, international interdependencies, and flexibility in adapting policy mixes to each industry’s technological characteristics. These results suggest that policy makers in newly industrializing countries (NICs) should avoid drafting generic sector plans, but should tailor plans to individual industries, and respond to changing policy support needs as technological capacities and global competitiveness develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of combating climate change and maintaining energy security, ambitious bioenergy development projects in emerging economies face considerable challenges, for example an overburdened bioenergy industry infrastructure due to the growing demand for bioenergy products. There are abundant studies on optimizing the bioenergy industry infrastructure. However, they fail to comprehensively simulate the interactions among the predominant actors of the infrastructure, especially the bioenergy plant operators in emerging economies. To fill this research gap, we develop a new dynamic agent-based model of optimized bioenergy industry infrastructure from the perspective of bioenergy plant operators. We then apply the model to Jiangsu Province of China to simulate the coordination of two types of bioenergy plants and project the optimal distribution of these plants and their corresponding transportation networks for the year of 2030. The model results suggest locating bioenergy plants closer to bioenergy feedstock source regions rather than to bioenergy products consumption sites, an answer to the classical facility location problem. A welfare analysis based on the extended model indicates that the biomass densification process aiming at mitigating the growing transport volumes incurred by the delivery of bulky bioenergy feedstock is not economically profitable in our case region. The experiences from this region further show that for emerging economies, a successful bioenergy industry infrastructure needs to take the benefits of smallholder farmers into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the insufficiency of biomass supply in the biomass power industry of China, this study developed a conceptual model of farmers' risk perceptions on straw supply (FROSS) activities by integrating influencing factors, namely, socio-demographic characteristics, policy guidance factors, economic factors, and trust factors, into the model ( Wang, 2015 ). The FROSS model was empirically tested in a survey on the risk perceptions of 275 farmers living around a biomass power plant in northeast China. The results of multiple regression analyses on the influencing factors indicate that the proposed model accounts for 67.4% of the variance in farmers' risk perceptions. The factors that dominantly influence farmers' risk perceptions were then identified, after which factor analysis that was conceptualized along personal- and environment-related risk perceptions was carried out. The influencing factors predict more than 80% of personal-related risk perceptions but only 16.2% of environment-related risk perceptions. Focusing on the initial stages of analyzing the factors that affect farmers' risk perceptions regarding straw supply activities improves our understanding of straw demand risks in China's biomass power industry. The implications of the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the existing biomass power plant location models and supply chain designs are developed only for the minimization of logistics cost, having neglected the pollutant emissions during biomass feedstock transportation. How to achieve a win-win situation between the two for optimal power plant locations has become a main research direction. This paper, integrating the economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, develops a bi-objective 0–1 integer programming model for optimal locations and corresponding feedstock supply chain designs of biomass power plants. Having made improvements to the existing location models, this model is developed basing on the relevant research data of Chinese biomass power generation. A numerical example analysis is done in order to validate the model and to highlight the practicality and effectiveness. It is expected that this model may provide scientific guidance for biomass power plant siting and improve their environmental performance while still remaining economically competitive. [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]

Biofuel production in China suffers from many uncertainties due to concerns about the government's support policy and supply of biofuel raw material. Predicting biofuel production is critical to the development of this energy industry. Depending on the biofuel's characteristics, we improve the prediction precision of the conventional prediction method by creating a dynamic fuzzy grey-Markov prediction model. Our model divides random time series decomposition into a change trend sequence and a fluctuation sequence. It comprises two improvements. We overcome the problem of considering the status of future time from a static angle in the traditional grey model by using the grey equal dimension new information and equal dimension increasing models to create a dynamic grey prediction model. To resolve the influence of random fluctuation data and weak anti-interference ability in the Markov chain model, we improve the traditional grey-Markov model with classification of states using the fuzzy set theory. Finally, we use real data to test the dynamic fuzzy prediction model. The results prove that the model can effectively improve the accuracy of forecast data and can be applied to predict biofuel production. However, there are still some defects in our model. The modeling approach used here predicts biofuel production levels based upon past production levels dictated by economics, governmental policies, and technological developments but none of which can be forecast accurately based upon past events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper focuses on the relationship between bioenergy industry and energy security. The situation of fuel ethanol, biodiesel, biogas and biomass power industry of China in recent years has been introduced comprehensively. With a quick look at the existing bioenergy industrial development policies, combined with China's energy security situation, we drew the following conclusions: (1) the bioenergy industry is an effective way to achieve China's energy security; (2) as for energy substitution from cost aspect, China has already had the ability to make bioenergy substitute for fossil fuels; (3) from technical aspect, however, China's bioenergy technologies are not mature, this means that in a very long period of time, biomass and fossil energy will jointly develop in a mutually beneficial way. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study presented life cycle water footprints (WFs) of biofuels from biomass in China based on the resource distribution, climate conditions, soil conditions and crop growing characteristics, life cycle WFs including blue, green and gray water were evaluated for the selected fuel pathways. Geographical differences of water requirements were revealed to be different by locations. The results indicated that water irrigation requirements were significantly different from crop to crop, ranging from 2- 293, 78-137, and 17-621 m3/ha, for sweet sorghum, cassava, and Jatropha curcas L., respectively. Four biofuel pathways were selected on this basis to analyze the life cycle WF: cassava based bioethanol in Guangxi, sweet sorghum based bioethanol in Northeast China, Jatropha curcal L. based biodiesel in Yunnan and microalgae based biodiesel in Hainan. The life cycle WFs of bioethanol from cassava and sweet sorghum were 3708, and 17 156 m3 per ton of bioethanol, respectively, whereas for biodiesel produced from Jatropha curcas L. and miaroaigae, they were 5787, and 31 361 m3 per ton of biodiesel, respectively. The crop growing stage was the main contributor to the whole life cycle of each pathway. Compared to blue and green water, gray water was significant due to the use of fertilizer during die growing of biomass. From the perspective of the WF, cassava based bioethanol in Guangxi and Jatropha based biodiesel in Yunnan were suitable for promotion, whereas die promotion for microalage based biodiesel in Hainan required improvement on technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: China currently is engaged in resolving many issues, which involve increasing peasants’ income, protecting environment and adjusting energy structure, which are able to be solved by developing the biomass power generation industry. This paper focuses on the development goal of 30GW for China’s biomass power generation, summarizes the industrial situation and policy environment, discusses the possibility of achieving the development goal, and introduces the way to achieve the goal. We draw the following conclusions: (1) there are still some obstacles to be overcome, such as the insufficient raw material supply, the low feed-in tariff, and the poor ability of technical research; (2) according to China’s current industrial situation, it is possible to achieve the development goal; (3) China’s policy tools is able to guarantee the industry development goal. At last, we offer several policy recommendations for adjusting the feed-in tariff and completing the Tradable Green Certificate system. [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]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including contextual elements for global economic transition, technological changes in the energy sector, and biofuels industry development in China.

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]

Abstract: Having 2.8×108–3.0×108 t/a of wood energy, 4.0×106 t/a of oil seeds, 7.7×108 t/a of crops straw, 3.97×109 t/a of poultry and livestock manure, 1.48×108 t/a of municipal waste, and 4.37×1010 t/a of organic wastewater, China is in possession of good resource condition for the development of bioenergy industries. Until the end of 2007, China has popularized 2.65×107 rural household biogas, established 8318 large and middle-scale biogas projects, and produced 1.08×1010 m3/a of biogas; the production of bioethanol, biodiesel, biomass briquettes fuel and biomass power generation reached to 1.5×106 t/a, 3.0×105 t/a, 6.0×104 t/a and 6.42×109 kWh, respectively. In recent years, bioenergy industries developed increasingly fast in China. However, the industrial base was weak with some dilemma existing in raw material supply, technological capability, industry standards, policy and regulation, and follow-up services, etc. From the viewpoint of long-term effective development system for bioenergy industries in China, a series of policy suggestions have been offered, such as strengthening strategy research, improving bioenergy industries development policies and plan, enhancing scientific research input, persisting in technology innovation, establishing product quality standard, improving industrial standard system, opening market and accelerating commercialization, etc. It is expected that the advices mentioned above could be helpful for the improvement of bioenergy industries development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

International development institutions have a long history of projects gone awry with unfulfilled promises. Their failure to recognize and integrate the local contextual details and to learn from mistakes are primary reasons why they typically fall short of projected goals. In this paper we take an ethnographic approach to a case study of a rural energy project in an urbanizing village in Northeast China. We present our findings from a social, economic and environmental impact assessment (SEEIA) of the project and show how cultural conflicts, institutional manipulation and false reporting functioned to eclipse SEEIA findings and preclude the chance for project success. Failure is bound to repeat itself in the absence of accountability to intended beneficiaries and stakeholders, and in the perpetuation of apolitical pretense in the institutional structure of the international development industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]