China to boost biomass energy development in 2016-2020

BEIJING - China will boost the development of biomass energy in the next five years to reduce coal consumption and improve air quality, the National Energy Administration said Monday.

China aims to achieve the target of using biomass energy equivalent of 58 million of tons of coal yearly by 2020, according to the administration's 2016-2020 biomass energy development plan.

The use of biomass energy will be more commercialized and industrialized by 2020, the plan said.

Biomass is defined as biological material--generally farm or forestry byproducts--that can be used directly to produce heat via combustion or indirectly after being converted to various biofuels.

Although China produces the biomass energy equivalent of about 460 million tons of coal annually, mostly for biogas, biomass power generation and biomass heating,the vast majority is not harnessed as the proper technology is not fully in place.

China is promoting non-fossil energy, including biomass energy, to power its economy in a cleaner, more sustainable fashion. The government aims to lift the proportion of non-fossil energy in the energy mix to 20 percent by 2030 from the current level of around 11 percent.

China's energy mix is currently dominated by coal.