Northeast China's Jilin Province will open its first power plant
using biological materials at the end of the year.
"With a total investment of 520 million yuan (US$67.35 million)
and covering 8 hectares, the plant will convert 300,000 tons of
stalks into 300 million kilowatts of electric power annually," said
Wang Lingfang, chairman of the board of Shandong Luneng
Construction Group.
Stalks, the stems of plants, used as feed for livestock, can be
easily found in villages of China.
Construction of the Jilin Luneng Nongan Biology Power Plant, a
subsidiary of the Shandong Luneng Construction Group, started on
April 22.
Located in Nongan, one of the major grain production counties in
China, the annual output value of the power plant is expected to be
220 million yuan (US$28.5 million).
"Our annual grain production is 2.5 million tons, which accounts
for 10 percent of the whole Jilin Province. Each year, 7.5 million
tons of stalks are available in the county," Li Zhongbin, head of
Nongan county said.
The power plant will greatly boost development of the local
economy, and increase farmers' annual income by 60 million yuan
(US$7.8 million), he added.
More than 8,000 tons of ash fertilizer annually will also be
provided to farmers for free after the plant begins operations.
Statistics show China produces 350 million tons of vegetable
stalks every year, 24 percent of which is used as livestock feed,
15 percent as fertilizers, 40 percent as fuel, and 18.7 percent is
discarded.
The country has abundant biological resources, and together with
its stalks production, it exceeds 720 million tons, of which 604
million tons can be used as energy.
"Compared with coal, stalks have a low carbon and sulfur
content. To promote this type of power plant throughout the country
will not only improve the quality of the environment, but also
effectively solve the shortage of coal which many enterprises
face," Sun Li, director of the Energy Research Institute of
Shandong Academy of Sciences, said.
Shanxian County in East China's Shandong Province opened its
first biological power plant at the beginning of the year.
East China's Jiangsu Province and Heilongjiang Province in
China's Northeast are also embarking on plans to build such
plants.
Denmark was the first country in the world to build plants using
stalks to generate electricity. Its first plant opened in 1998.
Today, the largest power plant using stalks is the Elyan Power
Plant in England. It has a power generating capacity of 38
megawatts.
(China Daily May 8, 2007)