Industrial Overview_Carbon Neutral Strategy & Biomass Energy Development

Carbon neutrality refers to achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be done by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "post-carbon economy"). It is used in the context of carbon dioxide-releasing processes associated with transportation, energy production, agriculture, and industry.

Although the term "carbon neutral" is used, a carbon footprint also includes other greenhouse gases, usually carbon-based, measured in terms of their carbon dioxide equivalence. The term climate-neutral reflects the broader inclusiveness of other greenhouse gases in climate change, even if CO2 is the most abundant. The term "net zero" is increasingly used to describe a broader and more comprehensive commitment to decarbonization and climate action, moving beyond carbon neutrality by including more activities under the scope of indirect emissions, and often including a science-based target on emissions reduction, as opposed to relying solely on offsetting.

 Energy activities are one of the main sources of carbon emissions. More than 90% of carbon emissions and 75% of greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries come from energy production and consumption activities. Therefore, improving the energy structure of national production and living activities is of great significance for achieving carbon peaks and carbon neutral targets. Biomass energy, as the only energy reserve in the form of chemical energy among new energy sources, has far-reaching and practical significance for achieving dual carbon targets.

 I. The status quo of the EU's energy structure and the advantages of the biomass industry

 The EU is the first region in the world to devote itself to low-carbon development. It has completed its carbon peak and is moving towards carbon neutrality. Its experience is worth learning and learning from.

The European Union's GDP accounted for 22.54% of the world's GDP, energy consumption accounted for 8%, and carbon emissions accounted for 8.79% during the same period. To achieve carbon neutrality in the energy system, renewable energy based on biomass energy was used instead of fossil energy. From the perspective of the overall energy structure of the 27 EU countries, biomass energy accounts for 65% of renewable energy; from the perspective of the contribution of carbon emission reduction, biomass energy accounts for 43%, ranking first.

 The reason: Biomass energy is chemical energy and the only renewable fuel. It can be stored and transported. In the face of diversified and multi-period heating needs, biomass fuels can be flexibly met, and biomass resources are abundant and distributed. It is widely used and economical, and it is more competitive for heating than fossil energy. For example, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland in Northern Europe have built a competitive biomass energy industry chain based on a wide range of agricultural and forestry wastes, and have become a share of the energy market The first type of energy; biomass energy is compatible with the existing fossil energy infrastructure, such as the UK’s largest coal-fired power plant, Drax, and all six 660MW coal-fired units are converted to biomass, achieving zero carbon emissions and obtaining huge amounts of carbon. Emission reduction benefits; Biomass energy is the only renewable energy variety that can completely replace fossil energy. It can not only meet the three major terminal power, electricity, and heat needs of energy, but also produce bio-based materials to replace petroleum-based materials. This is other Renewable energy cannot be achieved. Currently, bio-refinery based on biomass resources is becoming a new industry replacing petroleum refining in the EU.

II. The status quo, development trend of China's energy structure and the direction of achieving carbon neutrality strategy

 After the reform and opening up, China has become the largest manufacturing country with the most complete industrial categories and the second largest economy in the world through more than 30 years of development. Data show that from 2013 to 2018, China's manufacturing energy consumption accounted for 68.4%-65.95% of total energy consumption, and the total energy consumption of the manufacturing industry increased from about 2 billion tons of standard coal in 2013 to about 3 billion tons of standard coal . Therefore, as China's manufacturing industry continues to strengthen, energy consumption continues to increase. Developed countries approach carbon neutrality by adjusting their industrial structure and exporting high-energy-consuming manufacturing, but it is difficult for China to replicate this path. It is expected that China's manufacturing industry will continue to strengthen and its share in the world will continue to increase. If the energy structure remains unchanged, it means that the increase in carbon emissions will become inevitable. Therefore, not only meeting the energy demand of the sustainable development of China's manufacturing industry, but also controlling carbon emissions is the main contradiction in China's carbon neutrality.

 The energy demand structure of China's manufacturing industry, that is, the ratio of electricity to heat has changed from 3:7 in 2013 to 4:6 in 2018. The proportion of electricity has increased significantly, but it has not changed the basic fact that heat is used more than electricity. In other words, more than 60% of the energy demand in the manufacturing industry is heat. The main fuel for cogeneration is coal, which is relatively cheap and can provide low-cost heating. Therefore, the key to resolving the contradiction is to choose which renewable energy to replace coal and meet the thermal demand of the manufacturing industry.

 At present, among conventional energy sources, natural gas, solar thermal, hydrogen energy, and nuclear energy can be used as alternatives. Among them, natural gas has fast response and high energy density, but it has three disadvantages: first, the total amount is insufficient. The total 

annual global natural gas trade is 1,200 billion cubic meters. China's apparent natural gas consumption in 2019 is 306.4 billion cubic meters, accounting for total energy consumption. It is theoretically estimated that even if the global natural gas is all supplied to China, it can only solve 32% of the total energy consumption; second, the cost is too high. Although the price of natural gas varies from place to place, it is generally 2-3 times that of coal. All natural gas is used, and manufacturing costs will rise instantly. It is understandable to increase the necessary costs for carbon reduction, but too large an increase will inevitably lead to a decline in the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry or move abroad; third, natural gas itself is a high-carbon fossil energy, although carbon emission intensity Lower than coal, but the carbon emission problem is only alleviated but not solved. Therefore, it is difficult for natural gas to become the main alternative.

 In contrast, the energy density of light and heat cannot meet the needs of high-energy-density users such as a large amount of steam, nor can it guarantee the continuous and stable heat use in the manufacturing industry, and it is not competent from a technical point of view. Nuclear energy has advantages for continuous and stable power generation. It can also be used as an alternative for heating demand in the north. However, for the diversified and diversified heating demand of the manufacturing industry, its technical and economic characteristics are difficult to match. The advantages of hydrogen energy in the transportation field are emerging. Although there are successful cases for special heating needs such as steelmaking to replace coal, the economics of heating demand for a wide range of manufacturing industries still need time to verify. In addition, even if the above energy types achieve economic efficiency, there is still a common shortcoming-the existing coal-fired energy infrastructure is facing obsolescence.

 In general, the three paths of China's carbon neutrality—electricity carbon neutrality, thermal carbon neutrality, and power carbon neutrality. Biomass energy can all play an important role.

 Among them, in terms of power carbon neutrality, the future power system will be dominated by renewable energy. At present, wind energy and photovoltaic have competitive advantages, but the number of power generation hours is low (about 2000 hours per year) and unstable. The main solution is to build storage Energy power station, peak shaving for the scenery field station. However, it should be noted that there are a large number of coal-fired generating units in China. If coal-burning is changed to biomass-fired, peak shaving for wind and solar power generation will not only save investment in new energy storage power stations, but also help coal-fired units in the premise of reducing carbon emissions. To achieve maximum utilization of the power system, reduce the huge waste of social wealth caused by the direct elimination of the original energy system.

 In terms of thermal carbon neutrality, the heating demand of China's manufacturing industry can be fully met by biomass energy, and the demand for distributed heating can be achieved through professional biomass thermal energy equipment supporting forming fuels. Of course, with the 

volume of China's energy consumption, it is difficult to meet demand with its own resources alone. Therefore, it is possible to establish a framework with biomass renewable fuels as the core and renewable energy cooperation under the “Belt and Road” initiative as the goal. For China, a large number of imports of renewable fuels to replace fossil fuels can not only maintain the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry, but also solve the problem of carbon emissions constraints, and will help promote the export of energy equipment and services. At the same time, it will help the countries and regions of the “Belt and Road” to establish green energy infrastructure, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, and build a community of destiny for green development.

 In terms of power carbon neutrality, the current solutions for transportation power include electric power, hydrogen energy, and biomass fuel. It is recommended that the market choose instead of excessive administrative intervention. More administrative resources should be invested in the construction of the market guarantee system, such as the construction and operation of the carbon market. At that time, there will be a carbon-neutral power plan that adapts to the national conditions to stand out.