The Energy Structure and the Technology of Co-Firing Biomass and Coal in China

Abstract

Total reserves of coal in China are 1022.9 billion tons, ranking second in the world. China's total energy consumption in 2000 was 1075.3 Mtce, in which coal accounted for 63.8%. Coal is thus the dominant energy source in China, which fact has led to a serious air pollution problem. It is estimated that the total biomass energy resources in China are some 437 Mtec, in which 240 Mtec. of biomass energy resources was coming from agriculture crop residues in 2000. Biomass is a kind of clean energy, and there is great potential for China to convert biomass resources into energy to mitigate the use of coal, which will help that country to partially solve its energy and environmental problems. This article describes in detail China's energy structure; the status of coal in that structure, and the resources of agriculture, forestry, and other biomass. It then introduces a project for co-firing of biomass and coal, which is a specially designed internal circulating fluidized bed (ICFB) boiler with steam capacity of 35t/h (6MWe), based on the operation performance of ICFB. The potential and dissemination prospects of this technology for industrial and power applications are also discussed.