Assessment of the Potential Biomass Supply from Crop Residues in China

Using a mathematical programming model, this study estimates the potential biomass supply from crop residues in China at various exogenously-given biomass prices and identified the areas that are likely to produce crop residues. The analysis indicated that China can potentially produce about 153.0-244.2 million dry metric tons of crop residues per year when biomass prices are larger than $90 per metric ton.

Rice straw is expected to account for about 47% of total residue production across the different biomass prices and residue production scenarios that were considered. Corn stover and wheat straw contribute 28% and 25%, respectively, to total biomass production in China.