Reducing Expenses and Boosting Incomes with Biogas in Funan County

Liu Ming, head of the biogas station in Miaoji Township, Funan County, Fuyang City, Anhui Province, uses a special computerised system to inspect various operations data at the facility. (Photo by You Yi/People's Daily)

Implementation of the policies that reward traders; formation of a collection, storage, and transportation system that extends through the county, township, and village levels; production of various straw-based products; utilisation of remote sensing satellite equipment to enforce a burning ban; and other measures have enabled Funan County of Fuyang City, Anhui Province, to make comprehensive use of its straw. Please refer to the following links for more information:

Funan County Unlocks the Power of Straw

Funan-Based Driver Launches Fruitful New Career as Straw Trader

In May 2017, a public-private partnership involving the construction of a central biogas production station and eight distributed ones located throughout Funan's borders with RMB1.044 billion of total investment and the technical support of the Shanghai Linhai Ecological Technology Company designed to facilitate the utilisation of agricultural waste and development of the county's biogas industry was approved. It was expected that 360,000 tonnes of straw would be consumed, more than 50 million cu. m of biogas would be produced, and 550 million kwh's worth of carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants would be neutralised per year when the system is fully operational.

Funan franchised four different project rights for a 30-year period, including the right to supply biogas and collect agricultural waste across the entire county, in order to fully mobilise the enthusiasm of all parties involved with the project and build an industry chain and value chain that balance their interests. The county also awards RMB48 of subsidies per tonne of straw to enterprises that utilise more than 500 tonnes of it per year.

A third of Funan's permanent residents now have access to locally produced biogas at about half the cost of liquefied natural gas.

Li Guoling, a 58-year-old beneficiary who lives in Wangzhai Village, Wanghua Township, used to use straw as fuel when cooking for the past few decades, but now uses biogas that she "grew." Her family cultivated wheat on 26 mu of land in 2022 and sold all of the straw that was produced to the Funan Haijian Agricultural Machinery Cooperative, according to the contract they signed prior to the summer harvest season.

The cooperative then sells the straw that it collects to the biogas station in Funan's Miaoji Township. The station is composed of straw defibring, solid-liquid separation, biogas generation, and other plants; consumes 150 tonnes of straw per day; and can produce biogas around the clock. Straw is ground into pieces that are around 5 mm long, mixed with livestock and poultry manure, and digested anaerobically. The resulting biogas can be incorporated into the gas supply pipeline network once desulfurisation, decarbonisation, and purification bring its methane content above the 96% threshold.

In March 2021, the Fuyang municipal government, Anhui Province Energy Group, and Shanghai Linhai Ecological Technology Company signed a cooperative framework agreement designed to spread Funan's biogas model throughout the province of Anhui.

For more information, please contact WFP China COE (wfpcn.coe@wfp.org)

Related Links:

1.Funan County Unlocks the Power of Straw

http://www.wfpchinacoe.net/2022-08/29/content_78394533.shtml

2. Funan-Based Driver Launches Fruitful New Career as Straw Trader

http://www.wfpchinacoe.net/2022-08/29/content_78394588.shtml

Source：https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1738376783931871140&wfr=spider&for=pc