Farmers׳ perceptions of developing forest based bioenergy in China

Abstract

Farmers′ awareness of forest-based bioenergy developments will greatly determine the direction and succession of forestry projects. To obtain a better understanding of this awareness, a logistic regression model was applied to analyze the factors influencing farmers′ willingness to participate in the construction of bioenergy bases. The model was developed based on a survey of 573 household farmers in eight Chinese provinces. This study found that a majority of households have increased their daily use of commercial fuel. Moreover, a significant number of farmers are either uncertain about or unfamiliar with the concept of forest-based bioenergy. The model found that households with young and educated individuals, a higher forestland endowment, and a higher cognition and understanding of fossil fuels, have a higher willingness to learn about and participate in forest based bioenergy issues. The findings of this study will be useful for bioenergy forest cultivators, extension foresters, forest landowners, and policy makers.

Introduction

The function of forests as carbon sinks makes them essential to terrestrial ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole. The economic and social values of this and other ecosystem services provided by forests are immeasurable. Furthermore, forests provide low-cost and effective climate change mitigation mechanisms by offsetting carbon emissions from industries. Therefore, it is imperative for countries to promote, implement, and support forestry programs at the national level when considering issues related to climate change. By prioritizing ecologically sound forestry establishments, countries can benefit from sustainable economic and social developments, as well as combat climate change through providing potential for key developments in forest based bioenergy. Currently, bioenergy use serves a significant role in mitigating climate change through reducing poverty, enhancing rural development, and relieving negative environmental impacts. FAO estimates that wood currently provides over 9% of the global primary energy supply; the potential for bioenergy use is expected to increase in the near future [1]. However, forest based bioenergy will only account for 0.45% of the total energy supply in China by 2020 [2].

Low productivity forests have the potential to provide biomass for energy generation that does not compete with timber forestry or with food production activities [3]. Wood energy is marketed as an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuel energy. Due to the many advantages of bioenergy sources, energy policies have been modified in several parts of the world to promote wood-energy based systems for combating the impending energy crisis and for mitigating climate change. Besides changing energy policies, wood-energy generating technologies have also been improved in Europe, the U.S., and other developed countries. Although there are debates regarding the methods used to extract biomass, the evidence strongly suggests that the development of forest based bioenergy¹ promotes new businesses and employment, strengthens rural economies, and encourages partnerships between urban and rural populations at the local and regional scales [4], [5].

Bioenergy production has received significant attention in the media, research, politics, and decision-making platforms in China due to national energy security issues and responsibilities to mitigate climate change. There exists a significant amount of woody biomass that could potentially be used for sustainably generating energy in the future. Although the Chinese government employs incentives and supporting policies to promote the production and use of bioenergy, the share and distribution of bioenergy products is still very low. Currently, China has a total forestland area of about 300 million ha (3×10 exp.8 m²), with about 200 million ha (2×10 exp.8 m²) of which are forest areas with a growing stock of 13.7 billion m³. There are also about 60 million ha (6×10 exp.7 m²) of planted forest with a growing stock of 2 billion m³. The total forest biomass is predicted to be about 18 billion tons [6]. According to the National Forestry Bioenergy Development Plan, by 2020, China should have grown 16.78 million ha of oil forest, wood energy forest and starch energy forest; the forestry biomass volume intended for utilization should be more than 20 million tons of the standard coal equivalents (tce). According to the report, by 2035, China′ energy consumption will increase by 60% and dependency on foreign imports will rise from 15% to 23%. By 2035, coal use will have decreased from the current 68% to 51%, natural gas use will increase to 12%, and the average proportion of oil consumed will not have changed. Moreover, the overall consumption of renewable energy (including biofuels) will rise from the current 3% to 8%, with most of the biofuels being extracted from forest biomass [7]. Thus, it appears that in the near future, forest biomass will likely play a prominent role in rural energy allocation and will also form a significant share of the national energy supply for transportation and power generation in China [2].

According to the National Statistics of China, the current rural population is 674 million and accounts for 50.32% of the total population [8]. It is predicted that in 2020 the energy demand of China׳s rural residents will be about 295–375 billion tce [9]. Moreover, bioenergy consumption in rural areas has decreased from 1997 to 2007 due to increases in air pollution, public health concerns, and low energy conversion efficiencies for firewood and straw combustions [10]. Total CO₂ emissions from rural residential energy consumption have increased significantly from 152.2 million tons in 2001 to 283.6 million tons in 2008 [11]. Moreover, rural residential commercial energy consumption grew at a yearly rate of 2.15% during the 1991–2010 time period due developments in the rural economy [12], [13]. With increases in the incomes of rural farmers and a growing desire for a less burdensome life, it can be expected that the use of traditional biomass energy will continue to decrease [11].

Non-commercial energy sources such as biomass account for a substantial portion of the rural residential energy consumption in China; however, the statistics on non-commercial energy are rather incomplete [14]. According to recent estimates, bioenergy utilization accounts for less than 0.5% of the total energy consumption in China, and the proportion of forestry biomass energy (mainly firewood) accounts for the least type of bioenergy consumed [15]. Commercial forces dominate the rural energy consumption structure. Although progress has been made in rural energy policies supporting the development of renewable energy and the growth of rural incomes, increases in the efficiency of forest biomass utilization in rural areas has not made considerable progress. Kahrl et al [3] claimed that in order to make forest based bioenergy for rural use more environmentally and socially sustainable, innovations in silviculture and biotransformation technology are needed, as well as effective policies and social acceptability.

An understanding of farmers′ perception of forest based bioenergy projects has been a topic of recent discussion, especially in the U.K. Europe. Various researchers have argued that it is necessary to have a detailed understanding of farmers′ perceptions in order to enhance their enthusiasm for managing forests and implementing relevant policies [16], [17], [18], [19]. In the U.K., Upreti and van der Horst [20] observed that interactive communication, public participation, and collective learning among multiple stakeholders could gain the public׳s support in promoting biomass energy. Buchholz et al [21] and McCormick and Kaberger [22] stated that participation and communication between stakeholders is vital to the adaptation and implementation of bioenergy projects in Europe. Halder et al. [23] revealed that proper dissemination of bioenergy related knowledge and proper understanding of relevant issues by nonindustrial private forest owners could promote the development of energy wood market.

Although there have been increases in the land area of energy forests, the forest biomass energy industry in China has not yet reached a mature industrialization stage. The high costs of raw materials brings the greatest uncertainties in the forest bio-diesel industry in China [24], and this situation has also been observed in other countries [25], [26], [27]. Therefore, the most relevant and interesting topics regarding this field include exploring the factors hindering the development of forest based bioenergy and the reasons leading to the high cost of raw materials and their unsustainable supply. Some researchers have conducted empirical studies based on surveys of these topics in different provinces in China at the micro-level, and the results revealed that the main factors involved in hindering the development of forest based bioenergy were lack of awareness, insufficient investments in science and technology, and an immature follow-up industry chain [15], [28]. However, the development and utilization of forest-based bioenergy is a complex process. It is a link of multiple industry chains and includes seedling breeding, forest cultivation, management, and the collection of oil tree fruits. This is followed by purchase, transportation, store, pretreatment of the raw material, product processing, and final sales to the end market. The process includes the participation of the government, enterprises, and farmers. It is an organic system that needs to be managed through an integrated approach in order to meet sustainable development goals [29]. Conflicts related to tenure, forest management, and utilization of natural resources rise in the development of bioenergy. In order to mediate and solve conflicts, there is a need to improve transparency, coordination, impact assessment, and investment security among stakeholders [30]. Reducing the high cost of raw materials and increasing their supply requires coordination between the government׳s macroeconomic control and farmers′ roles in the micro-economy [29], [30]. As exemplified by the implementation of the Green for Grain Program (GGP)² in China, farmers serve as the main body in the development of forest-based bioenergy. One of the insufficiencies of the GGP is that public perceptions and land management practices are somewhat in disaccord [31]. However, few studies on understanding farmers′ attitudes towards and perceptions of developing forest based bioenergy in China have been conducted. For instance, why have so few farmers actively participated in biomass energy forest construction, and why have some farmers turned against it? Wu and Huang [32] conducted household surveys to analyze the key drivers of farmers′ negative attitudes towards planting Jatropha in Yunnan Province, and the results revealed that government subsidies are needed to encourage farmers′ enthusiasm. Considering the aforementioned study, many researchers have emphasized the role of the government in the establishment of bioenergy forests. However, the researchers fail to account for the role of the farmers as the main functioning body of the establishments.

As stated above, the purpose of this study is to obtain a better understanding of farmers′ awareness and knowledge of forest based bioenergy developments in China. The main research objectives of this study are to: (I) evaluate the current use of energy in rural China; (II) evaluate farmers′ willingness to participate in the construction of forest based bioenergy bases³; (III) determine which factors influence farmers′ willingness to participate in the development of forest bioenergy in China; and (IV) discuss methods to promote farmers′ capacities to participate in bioenergy development.