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Promoting Bioenergy Development in China

Benefiting from the large stock of raw materials and the support of policies, China’s biomass utilisation grew rapidly in recent years. In particular, the Chinese government advocates the transformation from coal to renewable energy electricity generation, where biomass will play an important role. However, the development of biomass energy faces challenges, such as over-reliance on subsidies and immature technology. Germany, with extensive experience in biomass policies and cutting-edge biomethane technologies, stands as a valuable partner for China's aspirations.

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To reduce green-house gas emissions from fossil electricity production, renewable energy sources have been strongly promoted for electricity generation since 1991 in Germany. In 2000 the first renewable energy act came into force, and provided payments to producers of electricity from biogas and in turn made investments into biogas plants attractive. The German National Biomass Strategy is currently under development and will likely be published later in 2024. It will includes concrete proposals for measures that will enable future biomass production and use to make a positive and effective contribution to climate protection, while securing biodiversity, land-use and ecological needs.

Our goal

The Sino-German Energy Partnership aims to support China’s policy framework for bioenergy and connect both countries’ private sectors by promoting the exchange on policy, standard and business models between China and Germany. 

Our partners

  • Institute for Biogas, Waste Management & Energy in Germany
  • Biomass Energy Industry Promotion Association in China (BEIPA)

Our outputs and impact

Our cooperation has centered around advancing the bioenergy sector development in China by sharing German experiences on policies, markets, and business models.

Biomethane trading systems in Europe and Germany – Experiences for China

Integrated and transparent renewable gas certificates are fundamental for biomethane trade in Europe. The certificate system creates trust in the market and ensures product quality. The Energy Partnership published a report on the biomethane certificate trading system in Europe, with focus on Germany, and discusses its inspiration for the development of the biomethane trading market in China. Typical European case studies serve to provide examples for establishing a trading system for the Chinese bioenergy market.

The non-electric use of renewable energy in China still faces difficulties and challenges. China has established a green power certificate trading system, but corresponding certification and trading systems for non-electric utilisation of renewable energy are lacking. Against this background, BEIPA has launched the Zero Carbon Energy Certification Platform, aiming to build a certification system for the non-electric use of renewable energy. The German experience is reflected in the development of both trading rules and standards.

Our publications

  • Biomethane trading systems in Europe and Germany - Experiences for China
  • Biomethane production and grid injection: German experiences, policies, business models and standards (2020)
  • China 2030/2060-Goal Low-Carbon Biomass Development Blue Paper - Assessment of the potential of China’s biomass sector to contribute to the country’s 2030 carbon peaking and 2060 carbon neutrality goals. According to the report, China’ biomass sector can help to reduce over 900 million tons and 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions until 2030 and 2060, respectively.