Biomass to Refine Fossil Fuel
Photograph by Toby Smith, Reportage by Getty Images
Flues reach to the sky at an oil and gas refinery in Boxing, Shandong Province. A portion of the facility's energy needs is supplied by thermal energy from a neighboring biomass power plant .
Completed in 2010, the 15-megawatt biomass plant uses agricultural waste products—cotton stalks, mostly—to generate electricity for local paper mills, chemical plants, and the power grid. Although carbon is released by biomass feedstocks when burned, the government considers them carbon-neutral, because the fuel is renewable.
Hong Kong-based power company CLP Group, majority owner of the facility, noted in a December 2010 report to investors that the Chinese government has offered tariff subsidies and tax incentives "to lure investment in biomass power stations." Yet, according to CLP, "Ensuring the quality, quantity and fair pricing of feedstock deliveries is a daily challenge. The commercial viability of this project is thus fragile, even with tariff support."
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