Designing models and screening biomass residues for facilitating the implementation of local biomass energy technologies

This article emphasises that biomass can be not only used to produce renewable energy, but also to recover and re-use all types of biomass residues from various sources, and to select energy technologies and systems that allow for the most optimal use of these resources. It focuses on the importance of seeking the highest environmental benefits possible from the use of biomass residues. We argue that this can be achieved by applying the principles of Industrial Ecology in the design of models to enable a transformation to the use of biomass for energy production in local communities. This article develops four such energy-and-business models to be adopted by communities, each dependent on the local context and type of biomass available. The article further exemplifies a screening of relevant biomass residues appropriate for energy production, which might be available in a Chinese context, and thus be utilized in one of the four models developed.