Environmental Engineering Reference
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Figure 1.6. Typical cereal agricultural land in northern Europe (Nibble Farm, Vasteras, Sweden. Photo E.
Dahlquist).
according to official figures. With reasonable improvements in the growth rate due to selection
of crops with higher yields, improved irrigation and addition of nutrients, the production should
at least be possible to reach 12,500TWh/y of biomass in the EU region. By implementing energy
efficiency improvements in transportation, buildings and industry it should be possible to reduce
the need for primary energy to around 12,500TWh/y. Together with hydro power, solar power
and wind power the balance between available renewable resources and consumption should then
be possible to reach without the need for fossil fuels.
In Europe cereals like wheat is the most important crop. A typical view of farmland for cereals
is seen in Figure 1.6. In this case, we see a field with spring wheat as well as autumn wheat.
1.5.2 China - today and in year 2050
The Chinese Academy of Engineering has made predictions for the energy utilization in China
until the year 2050 (Du Xiangwan, 2008). The prediction is that renewable energies should deliver
0.88-1.71 billion tce 2050 (tce= tonne coal equivalents), reaching 17-34% share of the national
total demand. Including hydropower, the renewables will give 1.32-2.15 billion tce providing
26-43% of the national total energy demand. Assuming the 1.7 billion tce total renewables in
2050, 26% will come from hydropower, 20% from biomass, 34% from solar power and 18%
from wind power. Other renewable energies will contribute to 2% in this scenario where the total
utilization is predicted to be 5 billion tce 2050. The production of bio pellets and briquettes will
increase to 50 million tonnes by 2050. The increase of electric power from biogas-fueled power
plants will be 20 GW by 2020 and 40 GW by 2030. Some of this will be through co-firing of
biomass in coal-fired power plants. In addition, CHP will most probably increase to enhance
the total efficiency for both coal and biomass fuels. Only 200MW electricity was installed 2006
using biomass fuels, but the capacity is increasing fast.
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