The bioeconomy is an economic activity driven by scientific research and innovation in life sciences and biotechnology, built on technological advancements in engineering, computer and information science. The rapid development of the bio-economy is considered to be the key to the fourth industrial revolution, just like the invention of the steam engine, the rise of technology and mass production, and the rise of digital technology in the first three industrial revolutions. Bio-economy has been rooted in the current far-reaching transformation of energy, transportation and industry. The national "14th Five-Year Plan" Bio-economy Development Plan has listed bio-agriculture and biomass replacement applications as priority development areas. Li Shizhong, a professor at the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University, believes that to promote the realization of carbon neutrality before 2060 and the high-quality development of the bio-economy, it is necessary to establish a "big food concept", make use of my country's developable marginal land resources and adjust the planting structure , focusing on the construction of "dual-source" industries of bio-food sources and bio-energy sources, which is the key to high-quality development of the bio-economy. In order to implement the "14th Five-Year Plan for Bio-economic Development", my country should establish a "Bio-Food and Bio-Energy Industry Office" at the national level, coordinate various departments to formulate support policies, and implement incentive measures such as financial support and market access. ; Set up national science and technology special projects, focus on breakthroughs in key core technologies, and establish comprehensive measures such as biological "dual-source" industrialization technology systems.
Important viewpoints
While we should continue to develop the planting industry, we should speed up the development of forestry, animal husbandry and aquaculture, and make more intensive use of various agricultural resources. At the same time, develop new energy crops, expand new space for agricultural development, and build a "dual source" industrial system of biological food sources and bioenergy.
By adjusting the planting structure and planting sweet sorghum on 720 million mu of developable marginal land, and developing the biological "dual-source" industry, the relationship between the development of bio-energy, climate change control and food security can be well balanced, thereby promoting The high-quality development of the bio-economy will demonstrate the achievement of the 2030 global sustainable development goals and the carbon neutrality goal in the mid-21st century.
The biological "dual source" industry is a universal industry suitable for rural development. Its industrial system covers more than a dozen industries such as breeding, planting, aquaculture, agricultural machinery, ethanol production, and mechanical and electrical equipment, driving related industries. The output value of 460 million yuan can create 1400 jobs.
exporting the biological "dual-source" industrial system can not only solve the problems faced by overseas enterprises in my country, but also connect countries along the "Belt and Road" with different beliefs, different cultures, and different economic development stages, so that they can coexist harmoniously and cooperate together. Win, it is expected to eventually converge on the European continent, and use Chinese technology and equipment to help the transformation of the global bio-economy and achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.
To promote the high-quality development of my country's bio-economy, a "Bio-Food Source and Bio-Energy Industry Office" can be established at the national level to coordinate various departments to formulate support policies and implement incentive measures such as financial support and market access; set up national science and technology special projects to make key breakthroughs Key core technologies, establish a biological "dual source" industrialization technology system; comprehensive support from sweet sorghum planting, transformation of saline-alkali, sandy wasteland, ethanol production, feed, cattle and sheep breeding, to ethanol and subsequent hydrogen production, production Jet fuel, and a demonstration project of the whole industry system for hydrogen-powered vehicles and ships; planning to achieve rapid development of industrial clusters.
More great ideas
The bioeconomy is an economic activity driven by scientific research and innovation in life sciences and biotechnology, built on technological advances in engineering, computer and information science, including the production and processing of renewable biological resources into food, feed , bio-based products and bio-energy commodities. The rapid development of the bioeconomy is considered to be the key to the fourth industrial revolution, just like the invention of the steam engine, technology and mass production, and the rise of digital technology in the first three industrial revolutions. The bioeconomy has been rooted in the current far-reaching transformation of energy, transportation and industry. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement, the bioeconomy has shifted from biomedicine in its inception to a global focus on sustainable use of biological resources to produce energy and bio-based products. Industrial transformation has boosted economic growth, energy security and environmental improvement, driving the achievement of the 2030 global sustainable development goals and the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. The United States has raised the development of the bio-economy to a level where it competes with China and maintains the country's global leadership.zGDP contributed 5.1%, more than half of which came from agricultural and industrial biotechnology outside of biomedicine. In July 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the "Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Bio-based Product Industry (2019)", which showed that the U.S. bio-based product industry created an economic added value of $470 billion, provided 4.6 million jobs, and every bio-based jobs create 2.79 jobs in other sectors of the economy. The EU-27 bioeconomy accounts for 4.7% of GDP and supports 17.5 million jobs. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has led to tight supply and rising prices in the global food and oil and gas markets. The development of biological agriculture and the replacement of fossil fuels with biomass have become the top priority. On June 21, 2022, Premier Li Keqiang emphasized during his inspection tour in Hebei that he should shoulder the responsibility of ensuring food and energy security. In May 2022, the "14th Five-Year Plan for Bio-economic Development" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") issued by the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China clearly stated that bio-agriculture for agricultural modernization, green and low-carbon biomass replacement applications, etc. 4 priority areas for development. Food and energy are the most basic means of production and living that support the healthy and orderly operation of the national economy. In 2021, my country will import 513 million tons of oil, accounting for 72% of oil consumption, and spend US$257.331 billion; import 9.38 million tons of meat products, accounting for 12.28% of domestic production, equivalent to 37.37 million tons of grain, and spend US$32.158 billion. The "Plan" proposes to cultivate and expand the pillar industries of bio-agriculture and bio-energy, which is not only about economic transformation, but also about maintaining the lifeline of national development.
Bio-agriculture is to implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's "big food concept", that is, "require heat and protein from plant and animal microorganisms", "explore food resources in an all-round and multi-channel way, develop rich and diverse food varieties, and realize the supply and demand of various types of food. Balance and better meet the people's increasingly diversified food consumption needs" of the biological food source industry; at the same time, relying on the raw materials provided by biological agriculture, through independent technological innovation, other components after crops are produced into food or energy crops are processed and transformed into Commodity energy carriers such as fuels, chemicals and materials that can replace petroleum can also develop the bioenergy industry. The author believes that the use of my country's exploitable marginal land resources and adjustment of planting structure, focusing on the construction of "dual-source" industries of biological food sources and bio-energy, and putting "green rice bowls" and "green oil guns" in their own hands are high-quality products. The key to developing the bioeconomy.
01
Biological food source industry: an important development path for agricultural modernization
Bio-agriculture
Agriculture is the foundation of the country and the lifeblood of the national economy. With the development of my country's economy and the improvement of people's living standards, the national dietary structure has become more reasonable, and the national per capita grain consumption has dropped from 248 kilograms in 1978 to about 130 kilograms at present. Even so, my country's per capita consumption of meat and milk is only 1/3 of that of developed countries, and even compared with India, which is also a developing country, there is a big gap. The fundamental reason is that there is a shortage of arable land resources, which cannot meet the feed demand for animal husbandry development. . During the National Two Sessions in March 2022, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out when he participated in the joint group meeting of the agricultural, social welfare and social security circles of the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference: "We must establish a big food concept, from better satisfaction. The people's better life needs to start, grasp the changing trend of the people's food structure, and ensure the effective supply of meat, vegetables, fruits, aquatic products and other kinds of food while ensuring the food supply. The new trend of “food and clothing” turns to “multi-nutrient nutrition”, and the development of biological agriculture oriented to agricultural modernization is to establish a biological food source industry under the concept of big food, and to ask plants, animals and microorganisms for calories and protein.
my country's feed grain consumption has exceeded 40% of the total grain consumption. To ensure food security, the main pressure is on feed grains. my country imported sorghum to replace corn as feed grain. In 2021, it imported 9.42 million tons, with an expenditure of 3.026 billion US dollars; imported 1.9924 million tons of hay, with an expenditure of 753 million US dollars. As early as 2014, Ren Jizhou, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, worried that the lack of feed in my country would affect the supply of meat, eggs and milk, and pointed out that the demand for feed was 2.5 times the demand for rations. Moreover, cattle and sheep get far more energy from digesting cellulose than starch. Therefore, the countryThe family implements the " grain to feed " program, and adjusts part of the cultivated land to plant whole plant silage corn , sweet sorghum, alfalfa , forage oats and other forage crops. The practice of "grain-to-feed" since 2015 shows that the development of high-quality forage industry can not only improve the production performance and breeding efficiency of cattle and sheep, but also reduce the amount of concentrated feed such as corn and soybean meal in the process of cattle and sheep breeding. Grain" "grass instead of grain".
The high pressure of feed grain and the problem of feed shortage can be solved by improving the efficiency of cultivated land use. Under the premise of the same nutritional value, a new type of feed sweet sorghum, a new type of feed that is more efficient, can produce up to 3 tons of dry matter per mu, which is 2 to 3 times that of the whole plant silage corn; the dry matter digestibility is 71.8% , 15.2% higher than silage corn. The palatability and digestibility of sweet sorghum silage are better than those of silage corn. When fed Chinese Holstein dairy cows, the milk yield is 13.19%, 12.16%, and 9.8% higher than that fed with silage corn, or the average daily milk yield is slightly higher than that of silage corn. Feeding silage corn control group, but the difference was not significant (P>0.05); at the same time, it can reduce the number of somatic cells in milk, which has a positive effect on the prevention of mastitis in lactating dairy cows; adding sweet sorghum to dairy cows' diet can also increase milk linolenic acid content, suggesting that silage sweet sorghum can be safely and efficiently fed to dairy cows instead of silage corn. The daily gain of beef cattle fed with silage sweet sorghum was 8.82% and 1.68% higher than that of whole-plant silage corn, or 0.09 kg lower than that of whole-plant silage corn control group, but there was no significant difference (P>0.05). , which indicated that the weight gain of beef cattle fed silage sweet sorghum was comparable to that of whole plant silage maize. Therefore, silage sweet sorghum can replace whole corn for feeding beef cattle, and because of its large biological yield, it can meet the demand of beef and dairy cattle for high-quality forage, reduce the cost of animal husbandry feed, and improve economic benefits. In addition, sweet sorghum stalks are rich in sugar, which can be converted into ethanol through a solid fermentation process. The distillers grains after distillation and separation of ethanol are most suitable for use as roughage, and the daily weight gain of beef cattle can be increased by 1.26 kg. The researchers also used distiller's grains to compound with other feeds to develop compound feeds with good palatability, low price and certain feeding value.
sweet sorghum is a variant of sorghum, which is resistant to salt and alkali, drought and waterlogging. It not only produces sorghum rice , but also has large stem biomass and rich sugar. It is a source of high-quality ruminant feed. It can also be used to produce energy, materials and chemicals that can replace oil. Therefore, the cultivation of sweet sorghum can meet the needs of food, feed and energy at the same time, thereby reducing the contradiction between competing for food and land. Anna Rath, president and CEO of Nex Steppe, an American seed company, spoke highly of sweet sorghum, believing that, like corn, it has relatively clear genetics, relatively short breeding and product development cycles, and other attributes that can make it a successful crop. And the ability to grow in harsher environments or marginal lands can play an important role in the bioeconomy's growing demand for large-scale, reliable, sustainable, stable and cost-effective feedstocks. Thanks to advances in agricultural biotechnology, U.S. corn yields doubled in the 30 years from 1980 to 2010. The regulation of sweet sorghum in the biological process of increasing yield and sugar content is relatively easier to achieve. Adjusting the planting structure of existing feed fields and changing to sweet sorghum can increase the supply of feed and double the consumption of meat and milk per capita in my country. 2/3 the level of developed countries. In October 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out when he inspected the Yellow River estuary and presided over a symposium on further promoting the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin: "The red line of 18 million mu of arable land must be kept, and the 500 million mu of saline-alkali land will also be protected. It must be fully developed and utilized. If salt-tolerant crops are developed, it will play an important role in safeguarding China’s granaries and rice bowls.” Sweet sorghum can tolerate salt concentrations as high as 0.9%, and can grow normally on soils with a pH value of 5.0 to 8.5. Aoya Ranch grows sweet sorghum on saline-alkali land in Dongying City, Shandong Province as silage for dairy cows. The saline-alkali land here has no irrigation conditions and relies entirely on natural rainfall. The soil pH value is greater than 9, the salt content is 0.35% to 0.5%, and the soil organic matter content is almost zero. Since 2015, sweet sorghum has been continuously planted in this area, and the output has increased from 4 tons/mu at the beginning to 5 tons/mu now, and the planting area has also increased from 10,000 mu to 1.6000 acres. The distiller's grains after the solid fermentation of sweet sorghum to produce ethanol is also an excellent saline-alkali soil conditioner. After applying it to the saline-alkali land for 1 year, the soil salinity decreased by 36%, the pH value decreased by 13.6%, the porosity increased by 20%, and the organic matter and nitrogen content The microbial content increased by 75% and 56% respectively, and the microbial content increased by 2 to 17 times. After the improvement, the soil can be planted with crops such as sorghum and corn.
By planting sweet sorghum on moderately and slightly saline-alkali land, and using part of the distiller's grains after producing ethanol to improve the severely saline-alkali land, 114.16 million mu of developable saline-alkali land can be gradually utilized to provide feed and ethanol to meet food and energy needs. The precipitation of nearly half of China's land is less than 400 mm. Without irrigation, there are no trees, only grass. In some deserts and grasslands, even grass does not grow. If you plant salt-tolerant and drought-tolerant plants, once the vegetation covers the land, the problem of sandstorm will be solved. Sorghum, one of the few crops that can cope with a warming climate and the water scarcity that comes with it, is more resistant to salt. The U.S. Department of Energy has funded the Danfoss Plant Science Center to study the improvement of sorghum into a bioenergy crop. Relying on biological breeding technology and water-saving technology, China has developed 8% of the unused transformable deserts that can be used for non-pastoral agricultural land, as well as some arid and inefficient grasslands, forming 473.18 million mu and 132.63 million mu respectively. Using cultivated land and garden land, plus the 114.16 million mu of saline-alkali land that can be transformed, the total amount of land that can be transformed and used is about 720 million mu. Planting sweet sorghum to develop a biological food source industry can not only make my country's per capita meat and milk consumption reach the level of developed countries, but also provide raw materials for the bioenergy industry, producing 200 million tons of ethanol and replacing 300 million tons of imported crude oil. Let the "four hooves" (cattle and sheep) and "four wheels" (cars) keep pace with each other, and complement each other to maintain the speed of my country's economic development.
Agriculture has become not only an industry that supplies grain, vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, and milk, as well as raw materials for light industries, but also an important source of raw materials to replace fossil fuels to produce energy and chemical products. While continuing to develop the planting industry, we should speed up the development of forestry, animal husbandry and aquaculture, and make more intensive use of various agricultural resources. At the same time, develop new energy crops, expand new space for agricultural development, and build a "dual source" industrial system of biological food sources and bioenergy.
02 Bioenergy industry:
biomass replacement application for green and low carbon
biomass can not only absorb carbon and gather energy, but also can be converted into renewable clean energy through modern technology, replacing fossil energy to reduce carbon dioxide emission . With the social progress and economic development, coal, oil and natural gas have become the main energy sources, which also lead to climate warming and air pollution. Bioenergy combined with carbon capture and storage is considered to be the main negative emission technology to control the global average temperature rise within 1.5℃ (within 2℃ by the end of the 21st century). By 2050, bioenergy has the potential to replace 6.825 billion tons of standard coal to 10.237 billion tons of standard coal annually, with a maximum emission reduction of 23 billion tons of CO2/year. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has exposed Europe's heavy dependence on fossil fuel imports. In response to how Europe can get rid of its heavy dependence on fossil fuel imports and reverse the trend of climate change, Paul Bennett, chairman of the Biomass Executive Committee of the International Energy Agency, pointed out: "Bioenergy is an energy transition. The neglected giant in China. Without bioenergy, steps towards fossil-free energy, improved energy security and carbon neutrality will not succeed.”
Bioenergy is the most widely used renewable energy source in the world, accounting for approximately 100% of the global energy supply 10% of renewable energy in Europe, accounting for about 60%. Bioenergy is not only an important part of European energy security, but also an important part of global energy security. Compared with other renewable energy sources, the biggest advantage of bioenergy is its material properties. Bioenergy can replace oil and natural gas in the form of fuels, materials (plastics, rubber, fibers), etc.; the price is more stable than that of fossil fuels; the production and supply of resources are stable , without the diurnal and seasonal fluctuations of wind and solar energy; it is also compatible with existing infrastructure and can meet the current urgent need to replace oil and gas.
A common slogan about the clean energy transition is "Electrify everything", but not all transportation can be electrified. For example, in the fields of commercial vehicles, marine and aviation, where electrification and reduction of carbon density are difficult, the only option is to rely onon biofuels. In July 2021, the EU Green New Deal core policy "Fitfor55" emission reduction package released by European Commission promises that the EU will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% in 2030 compared with 1999, mainly relying on crop-based transportation in the field of transportation. biofuel to achieve. A similar policy orientation is in India, which has begun using ethanol as an alternative fuel for agricultural machinery and construction equipment.
biofuels are currently the only renewable fuels that replace oil on a large scale, including fuel ethanol and biodiesel, with an annual global production of about 120 million tons. Among them, 91.43 million tons of fuel ethanol. Ethanol gasoline is used in 64 countries and regions around the world, with blending ratios ranging from 5% (E5) to 85% (E85). In 2019, corn ethanol production in the United States was 47.4 million tons, accounting for 10.11% of gasoline consumption, creating $43 billion in GDP, 350,000 jobs, increasing residents’ income by $23 billion, and replacing 500 million barrels of crude oil. In response to high oil prices caused by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, , the US EPA, , issued an emergency fuel waiver in April 2022, temporarily lifting the seasonal sales restrictions on E15 gasoline, gasoline containing 15% ethanol, allowing It's on sale in summer. In addition, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Food and Fuel Cost Reduction Act in June 2022, which includes provisions to fund biofuel infrastructure and allow year-round sales of E15 ethanol gasoline, authorizing $200 million in fiscal years 2022-2023 To support the upgrade of biofuel infrastructure to accommodate gasoline sales and distribution with 15% ethanol content. Brazil 's sugarcane ethanol production is 25.86 million tons, which exceeds 46% of gasoline consumption, and drives the development of the automobile industry at the same time; currently, all vehicles sold in Brazil are "flexible fuel" vehicles that can use both ethanol and gasoline as fuel. , has accounted for 75% of the car ownership. India is also developing rapidly in the field of biofuels. On the occasion of World Environment Day 2022, Indian Prime Minister Singh announced that India will achieve the national gasoline blending target of 10% ethanol five months ahead of schedule, and use sugarcane and molasses to produce 1.48 million tons of ethanol, saving $1.16 billion in foreign exchange , Singh said this is a major achievement for India, because in the 2013-2014 fiscal year, the proportion of ethanol blended in Indian gasoline was less than 1.5%, and in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, it was only about 5%. In May 2022, the federal cabinet of India passed the amendment to the 2018 National Biofuel Policy, which moved forward the time for blending gasoline with 20% ethanol from 2030 to 2025.
However, large-scale production of bioenergy from maize and sugarcane could negatively impact global hunger and food supply, especially in food security-sensitive regions such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, while the use of lignocellulose such as straw Cellulosic ethanol, the second-generation biofuel produced by , is too expensive to produce. Companies such as , DuPont, , Poet-DSM, and Abengoa all built commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants in the mid-2010s, funded by U.S. Energy Part-shared funding and loan guarantees, but none of the plants are now operational, 1 of which is mothballed, The other 2 were sold and converted to biogas . The current situation is as described by Professor Bruce Dale of the American Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in the editor's note of the journal Biofuels Bioproducts & Biorefining: the cellulosic biofuel ship has set sail, but has not yet left the port. Sweet sorghum, as a multifunctional crop that does not cause conflicts between food and fuel, can meet the needs of food, fuel and feed, is internationally recognized as one of the main raw materials for biofuels in the new era. my country's independent innovation of "continuous solid fermentation to produce sweet sorghum stalk ethanol technology" is maturing and has been successfully demonstrated. The ethanol fermentation time of sweet sorghum stalk is less than 24 hours (the ethanol fermentation time of corn is 50 hours), and the ethanol yield reaches 91%; no fermentation wastewater is discharged during the production process; the nutritional components of the distiller's grains after separation of ethanol are the same as those of silage corn, replacing the whole plant Silage corn is fed to cattle, and the daily gain of cattle is 1.08 kg. In addition to being used for cattle and sheep feed, the distiller's grains after producing ethanol can also be used for mechanical papermaking, and the energy consumption is 31% lower than that of mechanical refining; or nanocellulose can be produced, and the separated lignin can be used to produce bio-asphalt, Desert improver; or it can be used to transform saline-alkali land. The experimental results show that 4 tons of wine should be applied per mu per year in severe saline-alkali land.After three years, the yield of corn planted on it is the same as that of ordinary arable land; it can also be used to produce biogas, cellulosic ethanol, power generation, etc., so as to form an internal circulation industrial system from planting sweet sorghum to feed, energy, and material products to meet the needs of ethanol The huge market demand, and has the advantage of competing with the oil price of 60 US dollars / barrel. Ethanol can not only be directly mixed with gasoline as a clean alternative fuel to achieve the national goal of using E10 ethanol gasoline, but also can produce bio-jet fuel, hydrogen, and polymer to replace oil and natural gas.
ethanol can not only be directly mixed with gasoline as a clean alternative fuel to achieve the national goal of using E10 ethanol gasoline, but also can produce bio-jet fuel, hydrogen, and high molecular polymers to replace oil and natural gas. The European Union has set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality in aviation by 2050. The National Business Aviation Association and 80 related companies sent a letter to the U.S. Congress calling for the swift passage of the Sustainable Skies Act, which would provide a tax deduction of $1.50 per gallon for bio-jet fuel, which would account for 20% of jet fuel consumption by 2030. 10%. In fact, the world's major airlines are racing to decarbonize by supporting and using bio-jet fuel. For example, United Airlines purchased 300 million gallons (900,000 tons) of bio-jet fuel as part of its strategy to implement zero-carbon ; oil majors such as Total, Shell, British Petroleum and other oil giants have begun to produce bio-jet fuel, bio-jet fuel Jet fuel market prices range from $2,000 to $3,000 per ton and more; Shell, Accenture and American Express Global Business Travel have also jointly launched a blockchain-based digital bio-jet business travel booking and claims settlement Program.
At present, bio-jet fuel is mainly hydrogenated biodiesel obtained by hydrodeoxygenation of fatty acid methyl ester , but biodiesel uses oil as raw material, and the production scale is limited by resources. At present, 34% of European biodiesel raw materials come from Chinese waste oil, 19% are palm oil from Southeast Asia, and the rest are rapeseed oil or sunflower oil produced in Europe. Therefore, bio-jet fuel EtJ produced from bioethanol is considered by the industry to be the most likely to replace fossil jet fuel on a large scale. In 2018, EtJ technology has been included in the American Society for Experimental Materials standard ASTMD7566Annex15. There are two technical routes for the production of bio-jet fuel from ethanol, the two-step method of ethanol dehydration/oligomerization and hydrogenation, and the one-step method of ethanol dehydration/oligomerization. The former technology is mature, the product yield is 95%, the blending ratio with fossil jet fuel is 50%, and the processing cost is 0.11 to 0.26 US dollars per liter; the latter is a new technology, with a product yield of 90%, blending with fossil jet fuel The mixing ratio is 10%, and the processing cost is $0.065/liter. U.S. ethanol giant ADM company plans to produce 1.9 billion liters of jet fuel from 3.4 billion liters of ethanol from 2025.
Hydrogen is considered an important part of the future energy system. However, its development faces two bottlenecks: one is the high cost of hydrogen refueling stations, and my country must import high-pressure hydrogen refueling station equipment; the other is that hydrogen mainly comes from fossil energy. On the basis of low-cost sweet sorghum ethanol, the on-line reformation of 46% ethanol aqueous solution for hydrogen production solves the problem of "green hydrogen" source and hydrogenation infrastructure. Using the existing gas station, only replacing gasoline and diesel with 46% ethanol water solution, the on-board reformer reactor can produce hydrogen online to provide fuel for fuel cell or hydrogen engine, without the need to carry low temperature like some Japanese cars now , 700kg/cm2 high-pressure hydrogen tank , and no need to build expensive and complicated hydrogen refueling stations and storage and transportation facilities. The yield of hydrogen produced by ethanol reforming is 90%. As a fuel for hydrogen energy vehicles, the cost is significantly lower than that of gasoline and diesel. Combined with hydrogen engines or fuel cells, the transportation energy and automobile industries can be transformed at low cost. Brazil's ethanol industry cooperates with the automotive industry to develop ethanol-hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to meet the challenges of electric vehicles. The prototype ethanol-to-hydrogen fuel cell vehicle can travel 700 kilometers with 30 liters of ethanol.
Ethylene is a basic chemical raw material and a symbol to measure the level of the petrochemical industry. Bioethanol can be used to produce ethylene, polyethylene , butadiene rubber and other polymer materials. For example, Brazil's Braskem company uses sugarcane ethanol to produce ethylene, and it has also launched renewable polyethylene paraffin for the first time in the world. Using ethanol to produce renewable ethylene can save 80% of energy compared with traditional petroleum-based ethylene., to build a sustainable chain of the entire production process and people's daily life from sugarcane cultivation to supermarket shelves products. my country's Anhui Fengyuan Group, Sinopec and other companies are also producing bio-based ethylene. Nestlé has launched biopolyethylene lids and spoons made primarily from sugarcane ethanol for a range of infant and children nutrition products aimed at reducing the use of fossil-based plastics. Its new packaging, which uses lids and spoons made of 66% and 95% sugar cane respectively, has been launched in Hong Kong in 2020 and in other markets globally in 2021.
By adjusting the planting structure and planting sweet sorghum on 720 million mu of developable marginal land, and developing the biological "dual-source" industry, China can well balance the relationship between the development of bio-energy, climate change control and food security, thereby promoting The high-quality development of the bio-economy will demonstrate the achievement of the 2030 global sustainable development goals and the carbon neutrality goal in the mid-21st century.
03 Significance and advantages of biological "dual-source" industry
In the face of unprecedented changes in a century, under the background of anti-epidemic and industrial restructuring to achieve the "dual-carbon" goal, my country's employment situation is more complex and severe. Affected by the epidemic, some migrant workers choose to stay in their hometowns and return to their hometowns. The issue of rural employment is related to the overall situation of social security and stability. The number of college graduates in 2022 will exceed 10 million for the first time, and many of them face difficulties in choosing a career.
The development of the bio-economy, especially the biological "dual-source" industry, can create more jobs. In the 27 EU countries after Brexit, the bioeconomy contributed 17.5 million jobs, of which agriculture accounted for 53%, food and bioenergy and bio-based products combined for about 27%, and jobs related to the biological "dual source" industry. About 14 million. The original intention of the United States to develop the fuel ethanol industry is to solve the problem of rural development, create jobs on the spot, and prevent the collapse of rural communities. In 2019, the annual corn production in the United States was 370 million tons, of which 143 million tons of corn produced 47.4 million tons of fuel ethanol, which not only maintained stable corn prices, but also reduced gasoline consumption by 10.11% and created 350,000 jobs. In June 2022, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that India will implement the national plan to use E10 ethanol gasoline five months ahead of schedule, reducing carbon emissions by 2.7 million tons. More importantly, during the eight years of promoting ethanol gasoline from 2013 to 2021, the The industry added $5.14 billion to farmers' income.
Over the years, there has been a phenomenon of "more" and "less" grain in our country, and it has not been able to fundamentally solve the problem of price and market fluctuations of agricultural products. Economist Zhou Tianyong compared the income of farmers going out to work and growing grain. In 2021, the average monthly income of migrant workers who go out is 4,868 yuan. Assuming that migrant workers go out to work for 11 months a year, the annual income will be 53,548 yuan; and based on 1.5 billion mu of land for planting grain, it is optimistic to estimate that the average net income of farmers is about 500 yuan per mu. , assuming that the average person grows 5 mu of land and the annual income is only 2,500 yuan, each farmer needs to plant 107 mu of arable land to reach the income level of migrant workers. The income of agriculture (especially grain planting) is low, it is difficult for farmers to increase their income, and there are few job opportunities to retain young and middle-aged people. Compared with planting corn, sweet sorghum requires less water, fertilizer and artificial input, and the planting cost is lower; while the output includes sorghum rice, feed and ethanol, the net income of farmers per mu is higher than that of corn, wheat, rice, cotton and other crops. more than 1 times higher. Therefore, on the premise that the planting area of important crops must remain relatively stable, the price of key agricultural products must be maintained at a certain price and the basic supply must be met, the remaining cultivated land and marginal land that can be developed can be targeted at meat and milk (low consumption level) and imported oil (proportion High) these two huge markets, plant sweet sorghum, a multifunctional crop resistant to salinity and drought, and then develop a biological "dual source" industry, providing rural, agricultural and farmers with access to secondary production, including related tertiary production services, creating Opportunities to provide more jobs, increase farmers' income, prevent poverty, and achieve rural revitalization.
The biological "dual-source" industry is a universal industry suitable for rural development. Its industrial system covers breeding, planting, aquaculture, agricultural machinery, ethanol production, mechanical and electrical equipment, automobile manufacturing, chemical industry, energy, engineering design and construction, logistics, etc. In several industries, every 30,000 mu of sweet sorghum can produce feed for 10,000 cattle and 10,000 tons of ethanol, boosting the output value of related industries by 460 million yuan and creating 1,400 jobs. Using 720 million mu of marginal land to grow sweet sorghum can be used for production and feedingThe silage of 240 million cattle, 200 million tons of ethanol, and the creation of 28 million jobs can be described as "three birds with one stone".
04 The international impact of the biological "dual-source" industry
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has had a major impact on the commodity market. In May 2022, the world average price of crude oil and the HRW price of hard red winter wheat rose by 13.6% and 25.3% respectively compared with the beginning of the year. The World Bank's current "Commodity Market Outlook" report released at the end of April 2022 predicts that world energy prices will increase by more than 50% in 2022, and wheat prices will increase by more than 40%. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict triggers an energy crisis in Europe and a famine in Africa. my country's export of technology and equipment to countries along the "Belt and Road", and the development of biological "dual-source" industries can solve the two related problems of "energy" and "hunger"; Relationship" (PGII) initiative.
A special EU summit on oil in May 2022 agreed to cut total oil imports by at least 90% by the end of 2022. This shows that the EU is determined to end its energy dependence on Russia and stop importing coal, oil and natural gas from Russia. This is also an opportunity for Europe's energy transition. The EU has 65 million hectares of unused agricultural land, and has specifically funded research on how to use it to grow industrial crops and produce fuels and chemicals to replace oil in the "European Horizon" work plan. 37 suitable crops have been selected from 68 crops. varieties, of which sorghum ranked 4th. Sweet sorghum has a large biomass and sugar-containing stalks. It has more significant advantages than sorghum as an energy crop, and my country has accumulated technology for nearly 20 years. As one of the policy options, my country can export technology and equipment to help the EU develop its marginal farmland, grow sweet sorghum to produce ethanol and biogas (biogas), which can replace 500 million tons of oil and 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and achieve its energy independence Target.
The Central Asian countries on the "Silk Road Economic Belt" have abundant oil and gas reserves and rich mineral resources, but over-exploitation has led to ecological degradation and climate change, and the ordinary people in these countries have limited benefits and many social hidden dangers. Supply is not stable. The climate and soil conditions in Central Asian countries are similar to those in Xinjiang, which are suitable for planting sweet sorghum to develop bio-economy. For example, sweet sorghum can be harvested twice a year in the Tarim Basin, with a per mu yield of 18 tons of stalks containing 13% sugar and 598 kilograms of sorghum rice. By planting sweet sorghum to produce ethanol, meat and milk, countries in Central Asia can change the economic development model, rationally utilize water resources and existing land resources, and at the same time treat and restore salinized and desertified farmland to restore ecology and solve ecological and economic development problems. Exporting the technologies and equipment required for the biological "dual-source" industry to Central Asia can help Central Asian countries develop bio-economy, improve people's livelihood, transfer my country's high-energy-consuming industries and export large-scale mechanical facilities, control energy arteries, and realize overseas oil storage and storage. gas.
The countries along the "Maritime Silk Road" are basically developing countries, lacking energy and food and feed. Sorghum is native to Africa. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's report "Bioenergy and Food Security", Tanzania has 69.49 million hectares of land that can be planted with sweet sorghum, but only 900,000 hectares of land suitable for sugar cane. African countries urgently need to establish a biological "dual-source" industry to solve energy and livelihood issues. The President and Prime Minister of Ethiopia and the President of Zimbabwe respectively invited Chinese experts to visit and negotiate. Sweet sorghum can be grown three seasons a year in Southeast Asia. The Indonesian government hopes to introduce Chinese technology to grow sweet sorghum on discrete islands and establish a distributed energy model of "10,000 tons of ethanol/3 megawatt power plants" to solve the energy problem. my country's export of biological "dual-source" technologies and industries to countries along the "Maritime Silk Road" helps them develop bio-economy, which is conducive to the realization of overseas farms and mines.
my country's past cooperation model in which foreign aid was exchanged for energy and mineral resources abroad is now facing huge difficulties, and the enterprises that go deep into it are unable to make ends meet and cannot sustain themselves; at present, cooperation can be achieved through technology and capital. Exporting the biological "dual-source" industrial system can not only solve the problems faced by Chinese overseas enterprises, but also connect countries along the "Belt and Road" with different beliefs, different cultures, and different stages of economic development, so that they can coexist in harmony and achieve win-win cooperation. It is expected to eventually converge on the European continent, and use Chinese technology and equipment to help the transformation of the global bio-economy and achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.
05 On advancing my country's bioeconomy
's suggestions for high-quality development
Develop the biological "dual-source" industry. The high-quality development of the bio-economy is a systematic project that concerns the overall situation. There are many types of products and high added value. To implement the "14th Five-Year Plan for Bioeconomic Development", my country should take comprehensive measures to plan and promote it. The brief suggestions are as follows.
can set up a "Bio-Food and Bio-Energy Industry Office" at the national level, coordinate various departments to formulate support policies, implement financial support, market access and other incentive measures; set up national science and technology projects, focus on breaking through key core technologies, and establish biological "double source" industrialization technology system; it supports the whole industry from sweet sorghum planting, transformation of saline-alkali, sandy wasteland, production of ethanol, feed, cattle and sheep breeding, to ethanol and subsequent hydrogen production, production of jet fuel, and hydrogen-powered vehicles and ships System demonstration project; planning to realize the rapid development of industrial clusters.
In view of the fact that the bio-food source and bio-energy industry spans fields such as agriculture and energy, and involves many innovative contents such as breeding, planting, breeding, fermentation, separation, fuel, power, etc. Genome design breeding, synthetic breeding and other strategies to develop new multi-functional crop varieties such as sweet sorghum that are more drought-tolerant, saline-alkali-tolerant, high sugar content and high biomass. Cattle and sheep breeding for feed, hydrogen production from ethanol and jet fuel production, and research and development of green power systems have achieved engineering and technological breakthroughs.
The transformation of scientific and technological achievements into productive forces requires demonstration first; the cultivation of sweet sorghum to transform saline-alkali land and sandy wasteland requires the cooperation of the vast number of farmers in the region. The demonstration project for the production of feed, ethanol, high-quality meat and milk, and ethanol-based green power agricultural machinery on alkaline and sandy wasteland lays the foundation for the transformation and utilization of large-scale saline-alkali land and sandy wasteland.
sweet sorghum is suitable for planting in countries along the "Belt and Road". my country has the advantage of independent intellectual property rights of biological "dual-source" industrial technology and promotes sustainable development in the world. Relevant departments can give priority to including the development of biological "dual-source" industry in China-Africa "Ten Cooperation Plans" and "Eight Actions" programs; in the negotiation of China-EU investment agreement, biological "dual-source" technology, equipment and engineering should be added to the European market content; strengthen pragmatic cooperation with SCO countries in the development of biological "dual-source" industries and ecological construction; and provide policy and financial support.
Article source: "Academic Frontier" magazine in July 2022 (WeChat has abridged)
Author: Li Shizhong, Professor of the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University Yang
(picture from the Internet)
