Potential and Future Prospects of Biomass Production in Saline Soils

Facing the challenge of petrolium price rising and energy consumption increasing, Chinese government has realised how urgently it needs an alternative solution. Under the banner of creating a "harmonious society", the government is looking into new options for sustainable rural development, utilising resources more efficiently, prioritising new and renewable energy technologies with wider market applications. With its vast territory and diverse geographical regions, China has a large stock of biomass resources from agricultural and forest residues, as well as vast areas of saline land that can be used for bioenergy development. In this paper salt-affacted land resources and possible flora resources cultivated for biomass production were approached, as well as strategies to develop these saline soils. The potential of the country's forest-based bioenergy would thus be equivalent to 200 million tons of coal, the utilization of which would reduce the consumption of fossil energy by 10 percent. It is concluded that the potential of biomass production through exploiting saline soils is large ans the prospects in future are bright, too.