A time-geographical approach to biogas potential analysis of China

Biogas is a renewable energy source by converting biomass energy into convenient, accessible and clean energy for diverse applications. In China, with vast grassland and arable land, the biogas potential is quite high, owing to tremendous amount of organic waste from agriculture and husbandry. Yet, without proper and timely treatment, the organic waste has been resulting in severe environmental hazards and health risks to take away the major part of economic achievements from agriculture and husbandry. It has been the important task to speed up the development of biogis industry and to fully extend the utilization of biogas for both central and local governments, with great efforts and enormous investment. In order to facilitate the development of biogas industry, to increase the exploitation and utilization of biogas, and to improve the return on investment on biogas production, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the biogas potential of crop straw and livestock manure through time-series analysis and geographical approach. Biogas potential of different crops and animals in various regions are estimated to learn the geographical characteristics and regional differences. In addition, actual biogas production and biogas production from large- and medium-scale biogas engineering projects are compared with biogas potential to learn the exploitation and utilization rate of biogas. Biogas potential density and biogas production density are also analyzed to learn the biogas potential efficiency and biogas production efficiency in various regions. Finally, some recommendations are provided for instituting corresponding policies and strategies to promote the development of biogas industry in China. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.