Bioenergy has an essential role to play in China's efforts of reaching peak carbon before 2030, and carbon neutrality before 2060, according to senior professor and vice president of Beijing Institute of Technology Wei Yiming.
China Daily reported on the comments Yiming made during an online forum on Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), held by the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences. The forum featured top carbon-reduction experts in China to discuss how to better capture carbon for the nation's acceleration of carbon neutrality.
To realise the "dual-carbon goals", China must lower the carbon emissions of extant industries in the near future, as well as capture carbon dioxide back with Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) technologies, Yiming said.
He proceeded to quote data from Beijing Institute of Technology's Centre for Energy & Environmental Policy Research, which estimated 23.9 billion to 33.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide need to be captured back from the air from 2030 to 2060.
Yiming affirmed that bioenergy is the most effective option for the Chinese energy department to drastically reduce carbon levels.
Three possible ways for the advancement of bio energy were posited by Yiming.
The first was to provide zero-carbon fuels for the industrial sectors that rely heavily on energy - such as aviation.
The second was to provide clean, zero-carbon raw materials for the chemical industry.
The third was to capture carbon dioxide from the air - because, to procure biological fuels, people need to plant more trees which will capture more carbon dioxide and help mitigate what is produced via fuels.
Bi Haibin, vice president of the National Academy of Innovation Strategy, proceeded to emphasise technology's role in realising carbon neutraility. "To realise the goals, we must not only cut the percentage of fossil fuels, but also fix the already emitted carbon dioxide; Bio-energy sources will help in both aspects," Haibin said, according to China Daily.
The publication further reported host Liu Hongzhi, vice secretary of the CSES, calling for deeper studies in the BECCS technologies, as it is a field with enormous potential for young researchers.
Hongzhi also announced the launch of CSES' initiative called "Claim 100 million trees". This encourages the public to support the path towards carbon neutrality by claiming trees and supporting the planting agencies to plant trees.
"Our goal is to realise the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals abiding with the schedule, and we hope more people in this society could render their efforts," Hongzhi said.
Beijing Institute for Technology emphasises bioenergy’s importance for China
