a quantitative assessment of crop residue feedstocks for biofuel in north and northeast china

12
A quantitative assessment of crop residue feedstocks for biofuel in North and Northeast China LU YANG* 1 , XIAO YU WANG* 1 , LI PU HAN* , HUUB SPIERTZ § , SHU HUA LIAO*, MAO GUI WEI* and GUANG HUI XIE* *College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China, National Energy R&D Center for Biomass, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050022, China, §Center for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, Wageningen, AK 6700, The Netherlands Abstract Crop residue resources may affect soil quality, global carbon balance, and stability of crop production, but also contribute to future energy security. This study was performed to evaluate the spatial and temporal variation in residue quantities of field crops in five provinces of North China (NC) and three provinces of Northeast China (NEC). The availability of biomass resources was derived from statistical data on crop yields for all crops on the provincial and even county level. We found that cereals wheat, maize, and rice were the biggest resource of crop residue feedstock. The ranking of these crops as a source of biomass for bioenergy is determined by the acreage in each region and the crop-specific yield. Annually, the average amount of total residue of 83.0 Mt (Mt = Mega tonnes) in NC (16.9 Million ha) comprised 76.6 Mt field residues and 6.4 Mt process residues on an air-dried basis. The aver- age amount of total biomass residue of 105.7 Mt in NEC (19.8 Million ha) comprised 92.8 Mt field residues and 12.9 Mt process residues. Averaged for 2008, 2009, and 2010, the total standard coal equivalent (SCE) in NC amounted to 46.4 Mt, which comprised 42.4 Mt field residues and of 3.9 Mt process residues. In NEC, the SCE value of 57.0 Mt comprised 49.7 Mt field residues and 7.4 Mt process residues. The temporal availability of field residues was mainly concentrated in the period between July and September, followed by the period between October and December. In the period between July and September, the amount of field residue available amounted to 40.9 and 53.1 Mt in NC and NEC, respectively. An accurate assessment of field residues may guide policy makers and industry to optimize the utilization of the crop residue resource. Keywords: availability for biofuel, crop residue utilization, field residue, process residue, regional and seasonal variation, regional residue productivity Received 12 May 2013 and accepted 4 June 2013 Introduction The development of renewable energy to reduce the use of fossil fuels and decrease of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is of considerable interest nationally and glob- ally. Bioenergy can play a significant role in meeting Chi- na’s rapidly growing energy demand while substantially reducing GHG emissions (Sang & Zhu, 2011). Non-food feedstock ligno-cellulosic biomass has been used to pro- duce biofuel, biogas, and solid fuel commercially in Chi- na’s rural areas (Chen et al., 2009; Feng et al., 2009; Shen et al., 2010; Zheng et al., 2010). Recently, the Chinese gov- ernment has given a high priority to technology develop- ment for producing liquid fuel (ethanol and butanol) from cellulosic materials (Deng et al., 2008; Fang et al., 2010; Wu et al., 2010; Qiu et al., 2012). Crop residue has been recognized as an important potential cellulosic feedstock due to its bulk of biomass and not being in competition with food availability (Xie et al., 2010). This article is one of our reports on the assessment of crop residues in China. According to China Statistics Yearbook (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2009, 2010, 2011), crop production in China has been divided up into six regions. In this study, we ana- lyzed the field crop residue feedstocks for biofuel in the North (NC) and Northeast (NEC) region with an average field crop area of 16.9 and 19.8 M ha, respectively, in the period from 2008 to 2010 (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2009, 2010, 2011). The two regions differ in agro- ecological conditions and in cropping patterns. North China is dominated by maizewheat cropping systems, while in Northeast China rice and maize are the most important crops in terms of land use. 1 Lu Yang and Xiao Yu Wang contributed equally to this work. Correspondence: Guang Hui Xie, tel. +86 10 62734850, fax +86 10 62734851, e-mail: [email protected] © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1 GCB Bioenergy (2013), doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

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A quantitative assessment of crop residue feedstocks forbiofuel in North and Northeast ChinaLU YANG* † 1 , X IAO YU WANG* † 1 , L I PU HAN* ‡ , HUUB SP I ERTZ § , SHU HUA L IAO * ,

MAO GU I WE I * † and GUANG HUI XIE*†

*College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China, †National Energy R&D Center

for Biomass, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China, ‡Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of

Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050022, China, §Center for Crop Systems

Analysis, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, Wageningen, AK 6700, The Netherlands

Abstract

Crop residue resources may affect soil quality, global carbon balance, and stability of crop production, but also

contribute to future energy security. This study was performed to evaluate the spatial and temporal variation inresidue quantities of field crops in five provinces of North China (NC) and three provinces of Northeast China

(NEC). The availability of biomass resources was derived from statistical data on crop yields for all crops on the

provincial and even county level.

We found that cereals – wheat, maize, and rice – were the biggest resource of crop residue feedstock. The

ranking of these crops as a source of biomass for bioenergy is determined by the acreage in each region and the

crop-specific yield. Annually, the average amount of total residue of 83.0 Mt (Mt = Mega tonnes) in NC

(16.9 Million ha) comprised 76.6 Mt field residues and 6.4 Mt process residues on an air-dried basis. The aver-

age amount of total biomass residue of 105.7 Mt in NEC (19.8 Million ha) comprised 92.8 Mt field residues and12.9 Mt process residues. Averaged for 2008, 2009, and 2010, the total standard coal equivalent (SCE) in NC

amounted to 46.4 Mt, which comprised 42.4 Mt field residues and of 3.9 Mt process residues. In NEC, the SCE

value of 57.0 Mt comprised 49.7 Mt field residues and 7.4 Mt process residues. The temporal availability of field

residues was mainly concentrated in the period between July and September, followed by the period between

October and December. In the period between July and September, the amount of field residue available

amounted to 40.9 and 53.1 Mt in NC and NEC, respectively. An accurate assessment of field residues may guide

policy makers and industry to optimize the utilization of the crop residue resource.

Keywords: availability for biofuel, crop residue utilization, field residue, process residue, regional and seasonal variation,

regional residue productivity

Received 12 May 2013 and accepted 4 June 2013

Introduction

The development of renewable energy to reduce the use

of fossil fuels and decrease of greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions is of considerable interest nationally and glob-

ally. Bioenergy can play a significant role in meeting Chi-

na’s rapidly growing energy demand while substantially

reducing GHG emissions (Sang & Zhu, 2011). Non-food

feedstock ligno-cellulosic biomass has been used to pro-

duce biofuel, biogas, and solid fuel commercially in Chi-

na’s rural areas (Chen et al., 2009; Feng et al., 2009; Shen

et al., 2010; Zheng et al., 2010). Recently, the Chinese gov-

ernment has given a high priority to technology develop-

ment for producing liquid fuel (ethanol and butanol)

from cellulosic materials (Deng et al., 2008; Fang et al.,

2010; Wu et al., 2010; Qiu et al., 2012).

Crop residue has been recognized as an important

potential cellulosic feedstock due to its bulk of biomass

and not being in competition with food availability (Xie

et al., 2010). This article is one of our reports on the

assessment of crop residues in China. According to

China Statistics Yearbook (National Bureau of Statistics

of China, 2009, 2010, 2011), crop production in China has

been divided up into six regions. In this study, we ana-

lyzed the field crop residue feedstocks for biofuel in the

North (NC) and Northeast (NEC) region with an average

field crop area of 16.9 and 19.8 M ha, respectively, in the

period from 2008 to 2010 (National Bureau of Statistics of

China, 2009, 2010, 2011). The two regions differ in agro-

ecological conditions and in cropping patterns. North

China is dominated by maize–wheat cropping systems,

while in Northeast China rice and maize are the most

important crops in terms of land use.

1Lu Yang and Xiao Yu Wang contributed equally to this work.

Correspondence: Guang Hui Xie, tel. +86 10 62734850,

fax +86 10 62734851, e-mail: [email protected]

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1

GCB Bioenergy (2013), doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

Crop residue has been used for different purposes

such as fuel, feed, paper industry, substrates for mush-

room cultivation. It has also been recognized as a poten-

tial feedstock for biofuel (Liu et al., 2012). During the

last decades, various crop residue assessments for

China have been reported. However, due to inappropri-

ate definitions for crop residues and residue factors,

those reports exhibited a large variability in crop resi-

due quantities (Xie et al., 2010). Previous studies of our

group identified more accurate residue parameters for

all field crops based on sampling a total of 212 and 126

sites, respectively (Guo et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2012). In

earlier reports, maize residue mass was estimated

mostly by using a residue factor of 2.0 which was

derived from 23-year-old literature (Zhang & Zhu, 1990;

Xie et al., 2010). We reported that the field residue factor

varied between 0.93 and 1.30 depending on site (Wang

et al., 2012). In addition, we took maturity dates of main

field crops for different regions of China into account

(Wei et al., 2012a) to assess the seasonal distribution in

crop residue availability.

This article presents a detailed assessment of residue

quantities for all field crops for each province in North

China (NC) and Northeast China (NEC). The objectives

of this study are (i) to assess field crop residue quanti-

ties for all crops grown from 2008 to 2010 in the prov-

inces and counties of the NC and NEC regions; (ii) to

analyze the spatial and seasonal distribution in field

crop residue mass; and (iii) to assess the quantity of

crop residues available for biofuel production. The out-

come of the study aims at providing a quantitative

assessment of the potential of crop residues as a feed-

stock in bioenergy processing.

Materials and methods

Data collection

The data for field crops were derived from the China Statistical

Yearbook. The same applies for the data at the provincial level

(National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2009, 2010, 2011),

whereas the data at the county level were collected from the

Information Centre of Ministry of Agriculture.

The heat values, conversion factors, and crop maturity dates

for different crops were derived from literature (Guo et al.,

2012; Wei et al., 2012a). Data concerning the use of crop resi-

dues in the regions of NC and NEC (Fig. 1) were derived from

the literature published between 2002 and 2011. Microsoft Excel

2007 and GIS was used to manage data, perform calculations,

and mapping.

Calculations

Crop residues consist of the aboveground biomass left on a

field after the crop has been harvested. In the case of cereals it

will be straw, stover and stubbles; however, for sugar beet it

will be green leaves and heads of the harvested roots. The field

residue mass (FRM) of all crops on an air-dried basis with a

moisture content of 15%, except sugarbeet, was calculated

using Eqn (1). The data on the field residue of sugar beet are

presented as fresh weight in the China Statistical Yearbook; its

FRM was calculated using Eqn (2):

FRM ¼ ACP� FRI ð1Þ

FRM ¼ ACP� FRI� ð100�MÞ=100; ð2Þ

where FRM is the field residue weight of a field crop, ACP is

the average annual crop production, FRI is a field residue

index, and M is the moisture content, that is, 75% for

sugarbeet roots (Yu, 2003; Zhang et al., 2005). The field resi-

due index is defined as the ratio between field residue mass

and total aboveground biomass according to Wang et al.

(2012).

Process residue mass was assessed for five field crops. The

quantity of rice hull, maize cob, and peanut husk were esti-

mated using Eqn (3), whereas cotton seed hull was estimated

using Eqn (4), and sugarbeet bagasse Eqn (5). The equations

are as follows:

PRM ¼ ACP� PRI ð3Þ

PRM ¼ ACP� ð1=GOC� 1Þ � PRI ð4Þ

PRM ¼ ACP� PRI� ð100�MÞ=100; ð5Þ

where PRM is the process residue mass of a field crop, ACP

is the average annual crop production, PRI is the process resi-

due index defined as the process residue weight to crop pro-

duction ratio (Guo et al., 2012), GOC is the ginning outturn of

cotton at a value of 0.38 (Yu, 2003), and M is the moisture

content, which was 75% for sugar beet roots (Yu, 2003; Zhang

et al., 2005).

The potential energy value of field residues as biofuel was

assessed by calculating the standard coal equivalent (SCE). The

average annual SCE of each crop was derived from the heat

value and the conversion factor for the residue (Wei et al.,

2012b). Residue yield was the quotient of the total residue

quantity divided by the harvested area of each crop in each

province and region. Regional residue productivity (RRP) was

the total residue quantity divided by the area in each province

and region.

The average amount of soil amendments was derived from

the assessments of crop residues and of stubbles left after the

harvest. The latter was determined by field observations

carried out between 2009 and 2012.

The qualitative assessment on categorizing the feasibility of

field crop residues as feedstock for biofuel was mainly based

on five parameters: regional residue productivity (RRP), sur-

plus amount, harvest duration, traffic conditions, and crop suit-

ability to resource availability. These parameters turned out to

be appropriate for six regions in China. The symbol and the

number of ‘+’ represent the amount of residue available on the

county level of each province. The term ‘favorable crop’ was

used for the crop with the largest cultivated area in a province

or region.

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, GCB Bioenergy, doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

2 L. YANG et al.

Results

Yields and densities of field crop residues

In the NC region, average annual yields of field resi-

dues varied between 1.5 and 6.1 t ha�1, while average

regional field residue productivity (RRP) varied

between 0.01 and 24.7 t km�2 among all field crops

from 2008 to 2010 (Table 1a). Maize, rice, wheat, and

sugar beet produced 5.2, 6.1, 5.4, and 5.9 t ha�1 of crop

residue, respectively. Maize and wheat showed residue

RRPs of 24.7 and 13.7 t km�2, respectively, much higher

than for any of the other crops. Among the provinces,

the highest RRP of field residue was found for maize,

ranging from 13.9 t km�2 in Inner Mongolia to

70.2 t km�2 in Hebei. The RRP of Beijing and Tianjin

were low, and the major reason was that Beijing and

Tianjin are urban areas. For Inner Mongolia, the value

was low due to the limited productivity per unit of land

on a huge area.

We also estimated the amount of process residues

for five crops: rice hull, maize cob, cotton seed hull,

peanut hust, and sugar beet bagasse (Table 1a). Wheat

bran was not taken into account. Maize cob residue

did not show the highest yield per ha, but had the

highest RRP at 3.3 t km�2. Rice hull was highest in

process residue yield per unit of land with an average

value of 1.1 t ha�1 for the whole region. Within the

region the yield of process residue ranged from 1.0

(Tianjin and Shanxi) to 1.3 (Inner Mongolia) t ha�1,

ane the residue densities ranged from 2.0 (Inner

Mongolia) to 16.7 (Tianjin) t km�2. On average, the

amount of process residues was less than 10% of the

field residues.

Among field crops in the NEC region, average annual

yields of field residues ranged from 1.7 (tobacco) to 6.6

(rice) t ha�1 and residue densities between 0.01 (Canola)

and 59.6 (maize) t km�2 (Table 1b). The RRP of beans

in Heilongjiang province was higher than in other prov-

inces and for other crops, reaching 38.0 t km�2. Rice

and maize showed the highest average field residue

densities: 31.6 and 59.6 t km�2, respectively. The field

residue yields of rice and maize amounted to 6.6 and

5.3 t ha�1. Like the NC regions, there were big differ-

ences between provinces in field residue yield and resi-

due densities. In both regions, NC and NEC, the

acreage of the crop is more important for the RRP per

region or province than the yield.

Process residue of maize cob showed an average

RRP of 9.6 t km�2. Among provinces and crops the

process RRP varied from 0.01 to 16.6 t km�2. Process

residue yields in these three provinces ranged from 1.0

to 1.6 t ha�1. Compared to the NC region process resi-

dues contributed relatively somewhat more; the

amount of process residues was about 13% of the field

residues.

Table 1a Annual yield and regional productivity (RRP) of field crop residues for provinces in North China (NC) averaged for the

years 2008 to 2010

Residue

type

NC Beijing Tianjin Hebei Inner Mongolia Shanxi

Yield RRP Yield RRP Yield RRP Yield RRP Yield RRP Yield RRP

(t ha�1) (t km�2) (t ha�1) (t km�2) (t ha�1) (t km�2) (t ha�1) (t km�2) (t ha�1) (t km�2) (t ha�1) (t km�2)

Field residue 4.4 49.8 5.3 76.0 4.8 153.6 4.6 173.7 4.6 19.5 3.4 67.5

Rice 6.1 0.8 7.8 0.9 9.0 12.1 6.3 2.9 5.5 0.5 2.8 0.02

Wheat 5.4 13.7 6.8 25.1 5.6 51.8 6.3 79.4 3.5 1.6 4.0 18.5

Maize 5.2 24.7 5.2 47.7 4.4 61.7 4.5 70.2 6.5 13.9 4.7 43.5

Beans 1.8 2.0 2.6 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 2.9 1.8 1.8 1.1 2.4

Tubers 1.5 1.1 2.7 0.5 1.7 0.1 1.5 2.0 1.7 1.0 0.8 0.9

Cotton 3.0 1.5 4.6 0.2 3.6 16.9 2.8 9.3 6.3 0.00 3.4 1.6

Peanut 2.9 0.8 2.9 1.0 2.8 0.2 3.0 6.3 1.7 0.03 1.9 0.1

Canola 2.6 0.4 3.7 0.4 2.5 0.5 3.1 0.1

Sugarbeet 5.9 0.2 5.1 0.3 6.0 0.2 6.7 0.2

Tobacco 1.8 0.01 1.5 0.02 2.2 0.01 1.7 0.04

Process residue 0.4 4.2 1.1 8.0 1.0 16.7 1.1 14.4 1.3 2.0 1.0 6.6

Rice hull 1.1 0.2 1.2 0.03 1.2 1.6 1.1 0.5 1.1 0.1 0.49 0.01

Maize cob 0.7 3.3 0.8 7.6 0.7 10.2 0.6 9.3 0.8 1.8 0.6 6.0

Cotton seed hull 0.9 0.4 1.4 0.1 1.1 5.0 0.8 2.7 1.8 0.01 1.0 0.5

Peanut hust 0.9 0.2 0.9 0.3 0.9 0.1 0.9 1.8 0.5 0.01 0.6 0.04

Sugarbeet

bagasse

2.1 0.1 1.8 0.1 2.1 0.1 2.3 0.1

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, GCB Bioenergy, doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

A QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF CROP RESIDUE 3

Quantity of crop residue and its regional variation

The annual total amount of crop residue produced in

NC from 2008 to 2010 varied between 80.3 and

85.8 Mt (Mega tonnes; Table 2). This amount consisted

on average of 76.6 Mt field residue (92%) and 6.4 Mt

process residue (8%) (Table 3a). The total amount of

field residues among the five provinces ranged from

1.2 Mt in Beijing to 34.0 Mt in Hebei. The provinces

Hebei and Inner Mongolia contributed the largest part:

44.3% and 36.6%, respectively (Table 3a). The fractions

of field and process residue of the total residue

amount in the same province did not much differ

between years.

Maize produced the largest quantity of total residue

including 38.4 Mt field residue and 5.1 Mt cob resi-

due (Table 3a). Wheat had the second largest total

residue quantity at 20.7 Mt. Together, wheat and maize

accounted for approximately 77.2% of the total amount

of field residue. This ranking was mainly determined by

the acreages of the two most important cereal crops:

maize and wheat. The provinces of Shanxi and Inner

Mongolia contributed an amount of field residues of

11.5 and 28.1 Mt, respectively. Most of the variation in

crop residue production between provinces was due to

differences in acreage, yield, and cropping systems.

Process residues comprised for approximately 80% of

maize cob. The average annual production of process

residues in the five provinces varied between 0.1 (Beij-

ing) and 2.7 Mt (Hebei). The province of Hebei had the

greatest amount of process residues with 2.7 Mt, which

was mainly derived from maize cobs (Table 3a).

The spatial variation in total field residue mass

between counties in the NC region varied between 0

and 2.4 Mt per county (Fig. 2a). Of a total of 423 coun-

ties, only 19 had a field residue mass higher than

1.0 Mt, and 155 counties had a field residue mass

greater than 0.5 Mt. The counties with a field residue

mass higher than 0.5 Mt were mainly located in Hebei

(Fig. 3).

The annual average total residue biomass in the NEC

region was estimated at 105.7 Mt, composed of an aver-

age annual production of field residue and process resi-

due of 92.8 and 12.9 Mt, respectively (Table 3b). The

average annual amount of field residues varied between

17.7 Mt (Liaoning) and 46.8 Mt (Heilongjiang). In the

NEC region, maize field residues were highest, reaching

49.1 Mt (52.9%) (Table 3b). The two main cereal crops –

maize and rice – made up about 80.0% of the total

residue production.

The average annual production of process residues in

the three provinces varied between 2.6 (Liaoning) and

6.3 Mt (Heilongjiang) (Table 3b). Maize cob residue was

7.9 Mt and rice hull residue 4.6 Mt, which accounted

for 61.5% and 35.4% of the total process residue in this

region, respectively.

The annual field residue mass of field crops varied

between 0.6 Kt and 2.0 Mt among counties (Fig. 2b). Of

the 183 counties, there were 16 counties with a residue

mass greater than 1.0 Mt and 58 counties with a residue

Table 1b Annual yield and regional productivity (RRP) of field crop residues for provinces in Northeast China (NEC) averaged for

the years 2008 to 2010

Residue type

NEC Heilongjiang Jilin Liaoning

Yield RRP Yield RRP Yield RRP Yield RRP

(t ha�1) (t km�2) (t ha�1) (t km�2) (t ha�1) (t km�2) (t ha�1) (t km�2)

Field residue 4.7 113.2 4.0 222.3 6.0 57.6 5.2 108.9

Rice 6.6 31.6 5.8 74.4 8.5 12.3 7.9 35.2

Wheat 3.8 1.5 3.7 5.7 4.3 0.04 6.5 0.4

Maize 5.3 59.6 4.8 99.9 6.3 40.9 4.9 64.9

Beans 1.8 11.7 1.7 38.0 2.5 3.2 3.0 3.7

Tubers 1.9 1.1 1.6 2.3 1.7 0.4 2.9 1.8

Cotton 5.6 0.02 5.9 0.02 5.1 0.03

Peanut 1.8 1.0 1.7 0.3 2.3 0.6 1.6 2.9

Canola 3.6 0.01 3.0 0.03 6.4 0.02

Sugarbeet 4.3 0.4 4.1 1.4 9.3 0.1 5.4 0.1

Tobacco 1.7 0.2 1.5 0.3 2.0 0.1 1.8 0.2

Process residue 0.6 15.6 1.0 31.0 1.6 8.7 1.2 16.9

Rice hull 1.2 5.6 1.1 13.8 1.4 2.0 1.3 5.8

Maize cob 0.9 9.6 0.8 16.6 1.0 6.5 0.8 10.2

Cotton seed hull 1.6 0.01 1.7 0.01 1.5 0.01

Peanut hust 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.1 0.7 0.2 0.5 0.9

Sugarbeet bagasse 1.5 0.1 1.5 0.5 3.3 0.02 1.9 0.02

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, GCB Bioenergy, doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

4 L. YANG et al.

mass greater than 0.5 Mt. The counties with a field resi-

due mass greater than 0.5 Mt were mostly located in

the southern part of Heilongjiang, the central part of

Jilin, or the northeast part of Liaoning (Fig. 3).

Seasonal variation in the amount of crop residues

The seasonal distribution of the amount of field residues

in the North China region exhibited the following order:

July to September (40.9 Mt) > October to December

(27.9 Mt) > April to June (7.9 Mt) (Table 4). No crop

residues were harvested from January to March. In

Inner Mongolia, crop residues were harvested in the

period between July and September and the period

between October and December. The total average

quantity of field residue from crops harvested in the

NEC region in the period between July and September

was estimated at 53.1 Mt (Table 4). The quantity of field

residues harvested in the period between July and Sep-

tember was 25.5 Mt in Heilongjiang, 16.6 Mt in Jilin,

and 11.1 Mt in Liaoning. The amount field residues in

the period between October and December were esti-

mated at 6.5 Mt in Liaoning, 11.7 Mt in Jilin, and

21.3 Mt in Heilongjiang. In Jilin province field residue

were only harvested in the period between July and

September and the period between October and Decem-

ber. There were no crop residues harvested from Janu-

ary to March.

The SCE value of field crop residues during the per-

iod between July and September amounted to 40.9 Mt

and 53.1 Mt in NC and NEC, respectively. The quantity

of field residue and its SCE in the period between Octo-

ber and December were 39.6 Mt (42.7%) and 21.1 Mt

(42.6%) in NC and NEC, respectively. More than 99% of

field crop residues were present in the period between

July and December because of the single cropping

system in NEC.

Standard coal equivalent of crop residues

The annual total SCE in the NC region amounted to

46.3 Mt, which comprised 42.3 Mt field residues and

3.9 Mt process residues (Table 5). Maize produced the

largest SCE equaling 50.1% of the total produced in this

region. Wheat produced the second highest SCE. SCE

values of field residues varied between 0.7 and 18.7 Mt

among the five provinces (Table 5). The annual SCE of

process residues per province ranged from 0.1 to

1.6 Mt, which corresponds closely to the relative contri-

butions of field residues. The SCE value of process

derived from maize cob was estimated at 3.1 Mt or 79%

of the total process residue.

The annual average SCE for field crops residue in

NEC was estimated to be 49.7 Mt for field residues andTab

le2

Quan

tity

andpercentageoffieldan

dprocess

residues

ofcropsgrownfrom

2008

to2010

inprovincesofNorthChina(N

C)an

din

provincesofNortheast

China(N

EC)

Reg

ionan

d

province

Field

residue

Process

residue

Totalresidue

2008

2009

2010

2008

2009

2010

2008

2009

2010

Amount

(106

t)

Percent

(%*)

Amount

(106

t)

Percent

(%*)

Amount

(106

t)

Percent

(%*)

Amount

(106

t)

Percent

(%*)

Amount

(106

t)

Percent

(%*)

Amount

(106

t)

Percent

(%*)

Amount

(106

t)

Percent

(%*)

Amount

(106

t)

Percent

(%*)

Amount

(106

t)

Percent

(%*)

NC

77.2

100

74.1

100

79.4

100

6.5

100

6.2

100

6.4

100

83.7

100

80.3

100

85.8

100

Beijing

1.3

1.6

1.3

1.7

1.2

1.5

0.1

2.0

0.1

2.10

0.1

1.9

1.4

1.7

1.4

1.7

1.3

1.5

Tianjin

1.7

2.2

1.8

2.4

1.8

2.2

0.2

3.1

0.2

3.24

0.2

2.8

1.9

2.3

2.0

2.4

1.9

2.3

Heb

ei34.0

44.1

33.8

45.6

34.4

43.3

2.8

42.7

2.7

43.2

2.5

39.6

36.8

44.0

36.5

45.5

36.9

43.0

Inner

Mongolia

28.7

37.2

26.6

35.8

12.7

16.0

2.3

35.9

2.2

35.4

1.1

17.6

31.0

37.1

28.7

35.8

31.8

37.1

Shan

xi

11.5

14.9

10.7

14.5

29.4

37.0

1.1

16.3

1.0

16.0

2.4

37.9

12.6

15.0

11.7

14.6

13.8

16.1

NEC

93.4

100

86.1

100

99.7

100

12.7

100

12.0

100

13.9

100

106.1

100

98.2

100

113.6

100

Heilongjian

g45.1

48.3

44.6

51.8

51.6

51.4

5.8

45.8

6.0

50.0

7.2

51.7

50.9

48.0

50.7

51.6

58.4

51.4

Jilin

29.3

31.4

25.4

29.5

30.2

30.3

4.2

33.2

3.7

30.4

4.1

29.3

33.6

31.6

29.1

29.6

34.3

30.2

Liaoning

19.0

20.3

16.1

18.6

18.3

18.3

2.7

20.9

2.4

19.6

2.7

19.0

21.6

20.4

18.4

18.8

20.9

18.4

*Thepercentagewas

calculatedforeach

province

within

aregionforeach

year.

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, GCB Bioenergy, doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

A QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF CROP RESIDUE 5

7.4 Mt for process residues (Table 5). Crop residues pro-

duced in the three provinces of this region exhibited

SCE values ranging between 10.8 and 28.7 Mt (Table 5).

The SCE of process residues derived from maize cob

and rice hull amounted to 4.8 Mt and 2.2 Mt, account-

ing for 65.7% and 30.4% of the total process residue in

this region, respectively.

Discussion

Crop cultivation is influenced by agroecological, socio-

economic, and technological conditions (Inthavong

et al., 2001). The spatial distribution of field crop resi-

dues has significant regional characteristics as is shown

by the quantity and distribution of field crop residue

produced in the NC and NEC regions. This study pre-

sents a comprehensive assessment of the quantities of

field crop and process residues and their distribution in

the NC and NEC regions. These assessments are based

on statistical data for crop acreage and yields in 3 years

and crop-specific field and process residue indexes. The

variation in field residues was huge, not only in quan-

tity – ranging from 1.2 (Beijing) to 46.8 Mt (Heilongji-

ang) but also in RRP – ranging from 19.5 (Inner

Mongolia) to 222.3 t km�2 (Heilongjiang). The temporal

distribution of the availability of feedstock is character-

ized by the crop harvests in the period between July

and September and the period between October and

December. Most of the field residue feedstock becomes

available in the period from July to September: 60.7%

and 65.3% in the NC and NEC regions, respectively.

Table 3a Average annual amount of field crop residues in provinces of North China (NC) from 2008 to 2010

Residue

type

NC Beijing Tianjin Hebei Inner Mongolia Shanxi

Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent

(103 t) (%*) (103 t) (%*) (103 t) (%*) (103 t) (%*) (103 t) (%*) (103 t) (%*)

Field residue 76591.5 100 1226.2 100 1740.7 100 34026.5 100 28068.3 100 11529.8 100

Rice 1263.3 1.6 2.7 0.2 146.1 8.4 529.6 1.6 581.2 2.1 3.7 0.03

Wheat 20737.5 27.1 396.2 32.3 617.5 35.5 14975.1 44.0 1847.4 6.6 2901.5 25.2

Maize 38375.5 50.1 768.2 62.6 753.0 43.3 13395.5 39.4 16308.3 58.1 7150.4 62.0

Other

cereals

4483.0 5.9 10.9 0.9 3.1 0.2 1074.3 3.2 2785.5 9.9 609.2 5.3

Beans 3034.1 4.0 21.9 1.8 22.1 1.3 518.3 1.5 2107.5 7.5 364.2 3.2

Tubers 1615.3 2.1 6.9 0.6 1.8 0.1 382.0 1.1 1091.0 3.8 133.7 1.2

Cotton 2092.8 2.7 2.8 0.2 189.1 10.9 1669.3 4.9 4.6 0.02 227.1 2.0

Peanut 1221.4 1.6 15.5 1.3 3.2 0.2 1156.1 3.4 28.0 0.1 18.6 0.2

Canola 655.9 0.9 80.2 0.2 556.7 2.0 19.0 0.2

Sesame 37.0 0.1 18.7 0.1 11.2 0.04 7.1 0.1

Other oil crops 2784.2 3.6 1.2 0.1 4.8 0.3 178.3 0.5 2530.7 9.0 69.3 0.6

Other fibers 71.1 0.1 0.4 0.01 70.7 0.3

Sugarbeet 197.7 0.3 42.9 0.1 135.8 0.5 18.9 0.2

Tobacco 21.4 0.03 4.6 0.01 9.8 0.04 7.1 0.1

Process residue 6412.5 100 128.3 100 199.1 100 2709.1 100 2311.4 100 1064.6 100

Rice hull 233.5 3.6 0.4 0.3 18.7 9.4 94.8 3.5 119.0 5.1 0.6 0.1

Maize cob 5103.0 79.6 122.2 95.2 124.0 62.3 1766.4 65.2 2108.8 91.2 981.4 92.2

Cotton seed hull 612.5 9.6 0.8 0.6 55.3 27.8 488.6 18.0 1.3 0.1 66.5 6.2

Peanut hust 356.6 5.6 4.9 3.8 1.0 0.5 336.1 12.4 8.8 0.4 5.8 0.5

Sugarbeet

bagasse

106.9 1.7 23.2 0.9 73.4 3.2 10.2 1.0

Total residue 83004.0 1354.5 1939.8 36735.6 30379.7 12594.4

*The percentage was calculated for different residues within a province or a region.

Fig. 1 Spatial distribution in North China and Northeast

China.

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, GCB Bioenergy, doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

6 L. YANG et al.

(a) (b)

Fig. 2 Spatial distribution of the average field residue quantities for counties in North China (a) and Northeast China (b) for the

years 2008 to 2010.

Table 3b Average annual amount of field crop residues in provinces of the Northeast China (NEC) from 2008 to 2010

Residue type

NEC Heilongjiang Jilin Liaoning

Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent

(103 t) (%*) (103 t) (%*) (103 t) (%*) (103 t) (%*)

Field residue 92804.3 100 46817.0 100 28312.6 100 17674.7 100

Rice 25856.1 27.9 15138.3 32.3 5673.6 20.0 5044.3 28.5

Wheat 1114.3 1.2 1044.1 2.2 16.8 0.1 53.4 0.3

Maize 49098.1 52.9 20626.5 44.1 18673.8 66.0 9797.7 55.4

Other cereals 3476.3 3.7 978.9 2.1 1187.6 4.2 1309.8 7.4

Beans 9155.8 9.9 7109.0 15.2 1522.5 5.4 524.4 3.0

Tubers 1093.8 1.2 551.1 1.2 261.8 0.9 280.9 1.6

Cotton 14.3 0.02 10.8 0.04 3.5 0.02

Peanut 900.7 1.0 48.5 0.1 294.1 1.0 558.1 3.2

Canola 7.2 0.01 5.0 0.01 2.2 0.01

Sesame 27.8 0.03 4.0 0.01 20.3 0.1 3.6 0.02

Other oil crops 1232.4 1.3 578.5 1.2 584.6 2.1 69.3 0.4

Other fibers 510.9 0.6 504.3 1.1 6.6 0.02

Sugarbeet 185.7 0.2 168.0 0.4 11.9 0.04 5.7 0.03

Tobacco 130.9 0.1 60.8 0.1 48.3 0.2 21.9 0.1

Process residue 12881.1 100 6341.1 100 3986.8 100 2553.1 100

Rice hull 4566.3 35.4 2797.3 44.1 936.4 23.5 832.5 32.6

Maize cob 7927.5 61.5 3437.8 54.2 2948.5 74.0 1541.2 60.4

Cotton seed hull 4.2 0.03 3.2 0.1 1.0 0.04

Peanut hust 282.8 2.2 15.2 0.2 92.3 2.3 175.2 6.9

Sugarbeet bagasse 100.4 0.8 90.8 1.4 6.4 0.2 3.1 0.1

Total residue 105685.4 53158.1 32299.4 20227.8

*The percentage was calculated for different residues within a province or a region.

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, GCB Bioenergy, doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

A QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF CROP RESIDUE 7

Though there are different residue types in different

regions or provinces, the same pattern in distribution

was found (Liao et al., 2004; Elmore et al., 2008; Liu

et al., 2008; Jiang et al., 2012). We found that cereals

were the biggest resource of crop residue feedstock:

wheat and maize in the NC region and rice and maize

in the NEC region. The ranking of these crops is deter-

mined by the acreage in a specific regions and the crop

residue yield. This finding can be used to validate the

scaling up of the geospatial distribution of field residues

in China (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2009,

2010, 2011). Second favorable crop for the NC region

was soybean, rice for Tianjin, millet for Shanxi, and

potato for Inner Mongolia. In the NEC region, the

second favorable crop was soybean.

Crop residues have traditionally been used as a soil

amendment, as material for cooking and heating in farm

households, as raw material and as animal feed. Reten-

tion of crop residue is essential for carbon sequestration,

maintaining soil quality and reducing the risk of soil

erosion. Indiscriminate removal of residue can lead to a

decline in soil quality, with long-lasting adverse impacts

on the environment. However, some researchers suggest

that all residues incorporated into the soil may not meet

the demands of soil erosion control and quality mainte-

nance (Lu et al., 2009).

We found that, between 2002 and 2011, the quantity

of crop residue in the NC region needed for soil

amendments was 33.8 Mt (44.1%) and the quantity to

be used for biofuel was 24.4 Mt (31.9%) (Table 6a).

These data do not include crop stubbles. Through our

research program, it was shown that the stubble

weight fraction of field residues was 0.085, which cor-

responds to 6.5 Mt of field residues allocated to the

soil. Previous reports estimated the average percentage

of crop residues needed for soil amendments and the

percentage available for biofuel in the NEC region

were 22.7% and 59.0%, respectively (Table 6b). The

amount of field residue for biofuel was estimated to be

23.1 Mt in Heilongjiang, 18.6 Mt in Jilin, and 10.9 Mt

in Liaoning.

The economic feasibility of crop residues as feed-

stock for biofuel depends on: regional residue produc-

tivity; costs of collecting, loading, transportation of the

feedstock, and other related costs (e.g., storage) for bio-

energy production (Brechbill et al., 2011). The feasibility

of crop residues for biofuel use has also some limita-

tions, mainly because of its variability in physicochemi-

cal properties and in supply (Dai et al., 2008; Callej�on-

Ferre et al., 2011). For instance, the field crop residues

have poor energy characteristics (low RRP, low heating

value, and sometimes a relative high-moisture content)

causing high costs during transportation, handling, and

storage (Virmond et al., 2012). Moreover, some

researchers indicated that excessive residue use for bio-

energy might cause negative effects on soil quality and

crop yield (Jiang et al., 2012). The feasibility of crop res-

idues for biofuel production is influenced by many fac-

tors, such as yield, RRP, harvest dates, soil fertility

(Zhang et al., 2005), traffic, and field conditions (Bi

et al., 2008; Liu et al., 2008, 2012; Li et al., 2010; Sun

et al., 2010; Wei et al., 2012b). We illustrated that crop

acreage and yield of cereals are quantitatively the most

important factors. Besides, the availability of crop resi-

Table 4 Seasonal distribution of the amount of field residues and its standard coal equivalence (SCE) for provinces in North China

(NC) and Northeast China (NEC) averaged for the years 2008–2010

Period

NC region NEC region

NC Beijing Tianjin Hebei

Inner

Mongolia Shanxi NEC Heilongjiang Jilin Liaoning

Apr.~

Jun.

Amount (103 t) 7852.3 365.4 608.2 5739.8 0 1138.9 60.0 0.3 0 59.7

(%*) 10.3 29.8 34.9 16.9 0 9.9 0.1 0.001 0 0.3

SCE (103 t) 4278.4 198.7 331.4 3130.6 0 617.7 26.1 0.2 0 25.9

(%*) 10.1 29.4 34.5 16.7 0 9.7 0.1 0.001 0 0.3

Jul. ~

Sept.

Amount (103 t) 40867.3 432.9 473.4 19000.7 15139.9 5820.4 53132.6 25473.2 16563.8 11095.6

(%*) 53.3 35.3 27.2 55.8 53.9 50.5 57.2 54.4 58.5 62.8

SCE (103 t) 22558.6 240.2 256.5 10454.4 8379 3228.5 28486.3 13721.3 8944.9 5820.1

(%*) 53.3 35.5 26.7 55.8 53.8 50.6 57.3 54.7 62.5

Oct. ~

Dec.

Amount (103 t) 27871.9 427.9 659.1 9286.0 12928.4 4570.9 39611.7 21343.5 11748.8 6519.4

(%*) 36.4 34.9 37.9 27.3 46.1 39.6 42.7 45.6 41.5 36.9

SCE (103 t) 15495.8 237.0 372.1 5161.2 7191.6 2533.8 21152.4 11367.0 6315.7 3469.8

(%*) 36.6 35.1 38.8 27.5 46.2 39.7 42.6 45.3 41.4 37.2

Total Amount (103 t) 76591.5 1226.2 1740.7 34026.5 28068.3 11529.8 92804.3 46817.0 28312.6 17674.7

SCE (103 t) 42332.8 675.9 960.0 18746.2 15570.6 6380.0 49664.8 25088.5 15260.6 9315.8

*The percentages were calculated for the field residue amount and its SCE in different periods within a year.

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, GCB Bioenergy, doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

8 L. YANG et al.

Fig. 3 Frequency distribution of the annual average field residue quantities of each county in provinces of North China (NC) and

Northeast China (NEC) for the years 2008 to 2010.

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, GCB Bioenergy, doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

A QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF CROP RESIDUE 9

dues should also be evaluated by taking some more

qualitative factors, such as harvest duration or traffic

conditions on a county or province level into account

(Table 7).

The amount of crop residues and its availability for

biofuel could be explored on a local, regional, and

national level by developing an algorithm that takes

into account biomass quantity, energy value, acreage,

transportation distances, and weather conditions.

Trade-offs with other competitive factors, such as

alternative uses of crop field residues (feed, soil

organic matter, soil cover, etc.), should also been taken

into account by local and national authorities and pri-

vate companies.

Table 5 Annual standard coal equivalent (SCE) of field crop residues for provinces in North China (NC) and Northeast China

(NEC) averaged for the years 2008–2010

Residue type

NC Beijing Tianjin Hebei Inner Mongolia Shanxi

SCE Percent SCE Percent SCE Percent SCE Percent SCE Percent SCE Percent

(106 t) (%*) (106 t) (%*) (106 t) (%*) (106 t) (%*) (106 t) (%*) (106 t) (%*)

Field residue 42.4 91.5 0.7 89.6 1.0 89.0 18.7 91.9 15.6 91.6 6.4 90.7

Process residue 3.9 8.5 0.1 10.4 0.1 11.0 1.6 8.1 1.4 8.4 0.7 9.3

Total residue 46.4 100 0.8 100 1.1 100 20.4 100 17.0 100 7.0 100

Residue type

NEC Heilongjiang Jilin Liaoning

SCE (106 t) Percent (%*) SCE (106 t) Percent (%*) SCE (106 t) Percent (%*) SCE (106 t) Percent (%*)

Field residue 49.7 87.1 25.1 87.5 15.3 86.8 9.3 86.5

Process residue 7.4 12.9 3.6 12.5 2.3 13.2 1.5 13.5

Total residue 57.0 100 28.7 100 17.6 100 10.8 100

*The percentages were calculated for standard coal equivalent of different field residues within a province or a region.

Table 6a Calculated annual utilization and surplus quantity of field residues of field crops for provinces in North China (NC)

Region

and provinceNC Beijing Tianjin Hebei Inner Mongolia Shanxi

Parameter

Amount

(106 t)

Percent

(%)

Amount

(106 t)

Percent

(%)

Amount

(106 t)

Percent

(%)

Amount

(106 t)

Percent

(%)

Amount

(106 t)

Percent

(%)

Amount

(106 t)

Percent

(%)

Soil

amendment*

33.8 44.1 0.4 32.4 0.7 44.1 23.1 68.0 8.2 29.1 5.4 47.0

Fodder 13.0 17.0 0.1 10.3 0.3 17.0 1.5 4.3 9.3 33.2 2.3 20.0

Household

fuel

11.8 15.4 0.3 27.0 0.3 15.4 3.2 9.5 6.5 23.3 0.2 1.8

The other

uses

5.4 7.0 0.02 1.8 0.1 7.0 2.0 5.8 0.6 2.2 2.1 18.5

Surplus† 12.6 16.5 0.3 28.5 0.3 16.5 4.2 12.4 3.4 12.2 1.5 12.7

Total‡ 76.6 100 1.2 100 1.7 100 34.0 100 28.1 100 11.5 100

Availability

for biofuel§

24.4 31.9 0.6 55.5 0.6 31.9 7.4 21.9 9.9 35.5 1.7 14.5

Referencee Liu et al., 2012;

Zhang et al.,

2010; Niu et al.,

2011; Gao et al.,

2009; Yan et al.,

2005; Kang et al.,

2007

Zhang

et al., 2010

Liu et al., 2012;

Zhang et al.,

2010; Niu et al.,

2011; Gao et al.,

2009; Yan et al.,

2005; Kang et al.,

2007

Niu et al.,

2011; Gao

et al., 2009

Liu et al., 2012 Yan et al., 2005;

Kang et al.,

2007

*Including stubble weight for which we conducted field surveys to collect data between 2009 and 2012.

†Surplus refers to the crop residue burned and abandoned.

‡The total percentage means a sum of the percentage of soil amendment, fodder, household fuel, the other use, and surplus.

§The sum of household fuel and surplus residue; e: Reference for the utilization percentages within a province or a region.

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, GCB Bioenergy, doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12109

10 L. YANG et al.

This assessment of field and process residues may

guide policy makers and industry to optimize the utili-

zation of the crop residue resource. We suggest further

studies on field residue quantity assessment, crop resi-

due collection, maintaining soil quality, and the social

and economic risks.

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Chinese Universities ScientificFund (Project No. 2012QJ131). We gratefully acknowledge

Dr. Qingquan Chu for presenting the crop production data ofcounty level.

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