Crop residue based bioelectricity production prospect in China

Globally bioenergy interest has been greatly stimulated by the recent petroleum price increase and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Among the different ways to develop bioenergy, bioelectricity obvious shows great potential in both carbon offset effects and economic efficiency in utilizing crop residues. Basically this paper estimates the production prospect of crop residue in bioelectricity generation in China and answers the question if by 2020 we need to reach the preset goal for installed capacity of biomass electricity for 30,000 Megawatt, would the current agriculture production and economic situation in terms of crop residue be sufficient to support such a goal? This study finds that the crop residue as feedstock can support about 2/3 of total bioelectricity production goal and it won´t change the current consumption pattern for crop residue usage as well as the land allocation among crops. The production potential for using crop residue to generate electricity is huge.