China biomass-to-heat market evaluation and policy recommendations of development

CECEP Engineering Technology Research Institute, Beijing, China

^* Corresponding author: wangchao22@cecep.cn

Abstract

This research focused on comparative analysis on the economic efficiency of biomass-to-heat with that of traditional modes of heat production by coal, oil and natural gas in a bid to determine the competitiveness, and potential for scaling up and commercialization. The research showed that BMF-to-heat is competitive and its cost is equivalent to coal in some regions in China, especially where with a higher demand for clean energy, BMF will become the best alternative. However, in regions where coal price is low, BMF is less competitive and supportive government policies are required to further promote its application. Biomass gasification and biomethane/biogas are slightly less competitive than coal, but slightly more than gas. They are relatively promising to commercialize. Based on the market evaluation research results, this paper proposes the policy recommendations for the large-scale and commercial development of biomass energy heating in China.