Development of Biomass Energy in Taiwan: Current Status and Prospects

摘要

Taiwan is a small island located in the west pacific. Due to lack in natural resources, over 98.7% of the energy required is imported. In order to combat the global warming effect, seek energy independence, and develop energy industry, Taiwan is currently devoted to renewable energy sources, including solar cells, wind power, and biomass energy. With the advantages in its photo-electronic industry, Taiwan is now the forth solar cell manufacturer in the world. The agricultural tradition of Taiwan also enabled it to breed high efficient energy plants suitable for biomass production. Biodiesel production will reach B2 (2% biodiesel) goal in 2010, and the midterm goal for ethanol production is E10 (10% ethanol). Using high carbon content energy plants and gasification techniques combined with fermentation, our system is able to compete with Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (demanding extreme conditions) and pure-fermentation methods (slow and low yield). In the future, we would also utilize the ocean around Taiwan for production of algae biomass, which is able to absorb large amount of CO_2 and with variants suitable for different requirements (high oil content for biodiesel or high cellulose content for bio-ethanol).