Biofuel use and its emission of noxious gases in rural China

This article discusses biomass resources and its consumption in China’s farming area. In 2000, the annual yield of crop-straw was about 6900 Mt, of which 54% could be used as a source of energy. The reasonable supply of firewood was about 150 Mt. The total consumption of biofuel in China’s rural area was 219 Mtce, among which crop-straw and firewood accounted for 44 and 56%, respectively. The proportion of the available heat from commercial energy over the total available heat consumed in the countryside was 0.513, and biofuel consumption decreases 3.8% annually. China is at a transition point from a period of non-commercial energy to a period of commercial energy being the main source of energy. This article discusses the effect of the discharge of noxious gases caused by the consumption of biofuel.