Biotech Updates

Chinese Electricity Generation Plant to be Powered By Biomass from Native Shrubs

April 30, 2009
http://www.cleantech.com/news/4367/china-get-first-biomass-plant-using
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/chinese-biomass-power-plant-will-use-native-plants-replace-80000-tons-coal.php

 The Cleantech website reports that a Chinese company (Baotou Kaidi Sunshine Energy Investment Company) announced plans for the construction of an electricity-generating power plant which utilizes two native shrubs as raw material: (1) sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) and (2) Siberian pea shrub (Caragana arborescens). The power plant (to be located in Inner Mongolia) costs about US$ 147 million, is expected to produce 150 million kilowatts (kW) of electricity per year from 130,000 tons of the biomass. The shrubs are reportedly robust and can tolerate stress conditions (such as drought and cold temperatures). Once the power plant is operational, the use of this native-shrub biomass is expected to replace about 80,000 tons per year of (fossil-fuel based) coal.

Related information on sea buckthorn and caragana
http://www.ienica.net/crops/seabuckthorn.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippophae_rhamnoides
http://www.mnpower.com/treebook/fact19.html