Once upon a time, heating in winter in rural areas mainly relied on old methods such as wood burning and coal burning. Due to heavy pollution and other reasons, this method will gradually be "eliminated".

Previously, the "Shandong Province Winter Clean Heating Plan (2018-2022)" issued by Shandong mentioned that it will take about five years to basically build a new development pattern of centralized heating in urban areas, diversified heating in villages and towns, and cleaner heating in the province. The "2019 Shandong Province Clean Heating Work Plan" pointed out that in 2019, the province's cities (county towns) added 73,203,400 square meters of clean heating area, and 885,900 households in rural areas.

According to statistics, Shandong's heating energy is mainly coal-fired. As of the end of 2017, the province's heating coal consumption was about 43 million tons, of which about 10 million tons of scattered coal was used for heating, mainly in rural areas; heating natural gas consumption About 2.0 billion cubic meters. The average comprehensive energy consumption for heating in urban areas is about 18.0 kg of standard coal per square meter, and in rural areas is about 24.0 kg of standard coal per square meter.

In recent years, in order to improve the quality of the atmospheric environment and meet the clean heating needs of users, Shandong has accelerated the clean use of coal and other traditional energy sources while actively promoting the replacement of clean energy such as natural gas, electric power, and renewable energy. Clean heating in urban and rural areas has developed rapidly. Among them, biomass energy clean heating refers to the use of various biomass raw materials and solid, gas, and liquid fuels formed by processing and transformation, and special equipment to achieve clean heating, including biomass heat and power that meets the corresponding environmental protection emission requirements, Biomass boilers, biomass molding stoves, etc.

Yangxin County began to explore the path of clean biomass heating in rural areas in 2017. This year, Yangxin has newly promoted 20,672 biomass stoves, and nearly 47,000 farmers use biomass for heating. In addition to the 13,000 households that implemented the "coal-to-gas" and "coal-to-electricity" reforms in 2017, half of the farmers in Yangxin will not burn coal for heating this winter. After three years of exploration, what experience has Yangxin tried and what problems are still facing?

After exploration, there are three main methods for biomass energy clean heating in Yangxin County:

Gao Binghai said that the government subsidizes 2,000 yuan for stoves, and generally stoves do not cost money. The government subsidies 600 yuan per ton of pellets, and the limit is 2 tons per household per winter; villagers pay 500 yuan per ton. Last year, there were no more than 80 households in the village who burned more than 2 tons. 1,000 yuan per winter is enough to burn.

The general manager of Biomass Company introduced that with the “distributed” biomass heating of “biomass fuel + special stoves”, Yangxin County renovated more than 1,000 households in 2017, promoted 18,771 households in 2018, and promoted 20,672 households this year. Different from the "dry-burning stoves" used in previous years, more than 70% of farmers installed "water heaters" with radiators this year.

On October 17, a certain Biomass Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Biomass Company") in Yangxin County, located in Yangxin Economic Development Zone, was busy. The machines roared next to the hill-like "firewood pile". Dry branches and waste wood were crushed, dried, and extruded to form biomass particles of the size and thickness of cigarette butts. Gao Binghai, director of the Fanjia Village Village Committee, Jinyang Subdistrict, and three others went to the biomass company to "watch the materials" and test the burning. Gao Binghai said that Fanjiacun’s biomass stove was replaced last year. "The stove is easy to burn, clean, warm, and save money."
In Zhanggufeng Village, River Town, the boiler room and the black heating pipes on the main street are particularly conspicuous. The 70-year-old villager Huang Yuzhi’s "green on one side" earthen house has 1 set of radiators in the bedroom and 2 sets in the main hall. She said that the heating was turned on last year, and the temperature in the room was 19°C at night. The kang had not been ordered, the quilt was put away, and the sweater was enough to wear at home. The heating fee is 600 yuan for the first group, 200 yuan for each group above the second group, and 1,000 yuan for her. In the past, burning coal would cost 1,500 yuan a winter.

The "distributed" biomass heating with "biomass fuel + boiler unit" like Zhang Gufeng Village has 23 villages and 3550 households in Yangxin.
A bio-thermal power company located in Wendian Town, uses corncob residue from the production of furfural and xylose to generate electricity. Last year, a new boiler was installed and it had spare power to provide heating to 2,713 farmhouses in 14 villages in Wendian Town.

Each of the three methods has its advantages and disadvantages, but only economical accounts, it seems "uneconomical" to burn the boiler. Relevant staff in Hei Town told reporters that the boiler room in Zhanggufeng Village, two boilers (one used and one prepared for non-extreme cold weather) invested 1.05 million yuan, and the pipeline network invested more than 3 million yuan, which supplied more than 300 households in 2 villages. People. In the winter of last year, the depreciation of the boiler with working materials and boilers cost about 1 million yuan in operating costs. The heating fee income is less than 400,000 yuan, and the government subsidy (each household is 2 tons of pellets, the subsidy is 1,200 yuan) is more than 300,000 yuan, and the operating fund gap is about 1/3. The main reasons are unprofessional burning and extensive management.

After three years of exploration, Yangxin County has formed a relatively complete industrial chain from the collection, storage, processing, sales, and use of straw, weeds, and dead branches around the clean heating of biomass.

Of course, the purchasing and storage system has also "tried" certain problems. First, there is no waiting for people during farming, and there is not enough machinery, so straw cannot be recycled. Second, it is difficult to find land for processing sites. Raw material storage yards are required for processing pellets, and each plant needs at least 30 acres of land, and land supply has become a problem.

Biomass heating is cheaper than the conversion of "coal to gas" and "coal to electricity" transformation. Cheap is cheaper, but is decentralized biomass heating clean? This seemingly "not a problem" issue is related to the overall policy environment of the Yangxin experiment.

In addition, this year's Yangxin test has been carried out to the third year. Although whether the subsidy policy will continue or be adjusted is inconclusive, once the subsidy is withdrawn, can the people afford to burn the biomass pellets currently priced at 1,100 yuan/ton? It is also a real problem.

Currently, companies are exploring a variety of ways to reduce costs, such as using sufficient funds to "buy" raw materials on dips, setting up more storage and processing outlets, shortening transportation distances, and reducing costs. Some companies are also exploring the construction of production lines for producing biomass pellets from cow dung, which are cheaper in the sales market. There are also entrepreneurs who suggest that "work to lead farmers". Chemical industry is Yangxin’s largest industry, with a large demand for heat. Biomass heating is 30%-50% cheaper than natural gas. The large and stable industrial heat market will lead to the industrial chain, so that farmers can sell straws stably. To make money, you don’t have to worry about burning pellets.

Yangxin plans to extend the industrial chain and "compensate agriculture with industry". Unwilling to become a "user", Yangxin plans to set up an enterprise under the County Finance Group, select the best to cooperate with stove and boiler manufacturers, and place them in local manufacturing. Moving forward, it is also preparing to combine with poverty alleviation, using saline-alkali land to try out "energy grass" such as reeds to form a complete industrial chain integrating "planting, raising, storing, and adding", and subsidizing rural heating expenditures with the money earned by state-owned enterprises. This will not only get rid of the dependence on "subsidy walking sticks", it is also expected to cultivate a green sunrise industry.

Although some difficulties have been encountered in the promotion, clean biomass heating should become an indispensable way to realize the diversification of heating in villages and towns. The widespread promotion of biomass clean heating will have a ripple effect on all aspects of society. Biomass clean heating can not only promote the development of biomass plants, not only agricultural and forestry wastes such as straws, but also the production of high-yielding materials in areas that are not suitable for food cultivation. On the other hand, through the production of energy plants, industry can nurture agriculture, and after large-scale market applications, it can better promote rural employment. Third, clean biomass heating is also easier to connect with targeted poverty alleviation.　

Yangxin County actively explores and implements pilot projects for biomass clean heating and transformation, and has achieved many benefits in terms of energy saving and emission reduction, waste utilization, and increase in people's income. In 2018, Yangxin was identified by Shandong Province as a pilot county for the promotion and application of biomass energy in the province, and a promotion meeting was held in Yangxin to accelerate the promotion and application of biomass energy for heating. This year, the China Rural Energy Industry Association awarded Yangxin the "Northern Rural Clean Heating Model Demonstration Base", and there are only three in the country. The case of biomass clean heating in Yangxin County was also selected into the "Compilation of Typical Cases of Clean Heating in Winter in Northern China" compiled by the Clean Heating Office of the National Energy Administration. (Reported by Dazhong Daily client reporter Yang Xueying and Jiang Xingkun)