Analysis of carbon emissions for district heating using biomass straw instead of coal: A case study

ABSTRACT

Decarbonizing district heating requires utilization of low-emitting energy sources. However, earlier studies did not fully consider the district heating potential and CO₂ reduction impacts of limited biomass sources. This study presents a new model that examines the potential for utilizing biomass straw sources as fuel for biomass boilers and thermal power plants, with a case study conducted in Heilongjiang Province, China. Results from the model show that the available biomass straw supply increases from 83,799 kilotons to approximately 127,939 kilotons before declining to around 90,000 kilotons. By employing biomass straw as fuel for district heating, an area between 99.4 and 469.8 million m² can be served by biomass boilers and thermal power plants, leading to CO₂ emission reductions ranging from 15.21 to 30.41 million tons. This reduction represents 19–38% compared to the initial CO₂ emissions, indicating potential positive carbon reduction benefits. The developed model can be useful for policy makers and industry stakeholders seeking efficient strategies for decarbonizing district heating.

KEYWORDS:

• CO₂ emissions
• biomass energy
• crop straw
• district heating
• Heilongjiang

Acknowledgements

This work is supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 62276080).

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 62276080].

Notes on contributors

Cun Wei

Cun Wei, Certified Energy Manager by the American Association of Energy Engineers, currently pursue his PhD degree in Energy Engineering field at Harbin Institute of Technology. He obtained his master degree from Shanghai Maritime University. His research interests are development and application of low-carbon energy.

Zhigang Zhou

Zhigang Zhou, Professor/doctoral supervisor, currently serves as director of the Department of Thermal Energy Engineering, School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology. His main research directions are urban low-carbon smart heating technology, digital platform of multi-energy complementary supply system, etc.

Ming Ni

Ming Ni is currently working as associate professor in Qingdao Technical College. He obtained his bachelor degree from Qufu Normal University and his graduate degree from Central China Normal University. His research interests are linguistics and management. He has teaching and research experience of 30 years.

Rixin Wang

Rixin Wang is currently pursuing her PhD degree in Civil Engineering field at Harbin Institute of technology. Her research interests are smart heating and intelligent control technology.

Mingyang Cong

Mingyang Cong is currently pursuing her PhD degree in Civil Engineering field at Harbin Institute of technology. She obtained her master degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests are occupancy-based building control and intelligent energy system.

Dayi Yang

Dayi Yang is a lecturer at Harbin Institute of Technology, mainly focuses on software engineering, service computing, smart heating and clean energy technology, and leads the research and development of an intelligent heating service platform.

Jing Liu

Jing liu is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Harbin Institute of Technology. He graduated with a doctoral degree from Northeastern University in Japan. The main research directions are: measurement and simulation evaluation of thermal environment at different scales inside and outside buildings, development of building energy-saving related equipment and technology, urban regional energy and climate planning, etc.