A Study On Development, Utilization And Prediction Of Bio-energy In Gansu Province

Energy is the indispensable material foundation for the development of human society, economic growth and livelihood improvement. In recent years, however, along with the depletion of resources and the aggravation of environmental pollution, human beings are facing a severe energy crisis. Then, renewable and clean energy has been a choice for human beings. As an important source of the renewable and clean energy, bio-energy has a lot of advantages:(1) High oxygen content permits the energy easily to be burnt with low residual carbon content in the ashes, which is conducive to the improvement of the combustion efficiency;(2) Higher density makes the longer distance transport feasible;(3) The ash content is low, leading to little ash after burning. Especially, the ash can also be used as fertilizer to field;(4) The biomass fuel sulfur content is lower than0.10%, which reduces cost to set combustion gas desulfurization equipment to achieve discharge standards. Hence, bio-energy has become environmentally friendly energy, causing focal attention of international communities in alternative energy choices. China is a resource consuming country. With rapid economic development, the energy crisis has been increasingly severe. Therefore, the development of bio-energy has become an urgent issue. As one of China’s provinces, Gansu Province’s economic development is relatively slow. Exploring new energy sources and developing newly industry based on energy will promote a sound and rapid economic development. Therefore, it is very useful to conduct a study on the status quo of bio-energy, and to promote development of bio-energy industry in Gansu province.Firstly, a systematic study was conducted in the area of biomass energy development and utilization in both domestic and abroad, showing that current research on the development and utilization of bio-energy mainly focuses on energy crops, biodiesel, fuel ethanol, biomass power generation, biomass liquefaction, biogas, and biomass materials. In addition, research and development levels of bio-energy differ in different countries. Secondly, a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) was used to analyze whether Gansu Province is suitable for developing bio-energy industry based on the current status quo. Thirdly, the total bio-energy quantity was estimated from1985to2010. Fourthly, a data pool was established based on the statistical analysis. A linear regression model, a gray system GM (1,1) model and a combination of weight prediction model were used to predict the biomass quantity in the next40years in Gansu Province. Finally, recommendations on development of bio-energy were proposed based on above analysis. Recommendations for improving energy use are:To resolve development bottlenecks by relying on scientific and technological progress; To establish regional energy industry based on regional resource advantages; To improve the public’s environmental protection awareness and guide the public participation in environmental protection; and To strength capacity building by promoting international cooperation and exchange.