The United States imports a large amount of meal waste oil from our country. Why?
According to media reports, meal waste oil is becoming an important resource that developed countries are rushing to snap up. In the first half of this year, the United States imported about 1 million tons of meal waste oil, of which about 60% were imported from our country. It is worth noting that the demand in the United States for my country's meal waste oil has grown rapidly in recent years. What is the reason?
The United States imports a large amount of meal waste oil from our country in order to produce advanced biofuels. This kind of fuel refers to gas or liquid fuel produced using biomass resources as raw material and transformed through physical, chemical, biological and other technical means, mainly including biological natural gas, biofuel ethanol, biodiesel, renewable methanol and sustainable aviation fuel. Among them, biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel both use meal waste oil as important raw materials.
Samples of kitchen waste oil, industrial-grade blended oil, biodiesel and bioaviation kerosene displayed by an environmental protection technology company in Sichuan. Photo by Liu Kun (Xinhua Agency)
Compared with traditional fuels, advanced biofuels do not rely on fossil energy and are a type of renewable energy. They have green and low-carbon characteristics. They can be widely used in automobiles, ocean-going ships and aviation fields to replace fossil energy such as oil and natural gas. Taking biodiesel as an example, its outstanding advantages are renewable and environmentally friendly. It can not only completely replace ordinary diesel and be perfectly compatible with existing engine systems, but also form a closed loop through the carbon sink of plants or waste without occupying land or competing with people for food, thereby achieving "zero carbon".
Advanced biofuels are ideal for carbon emission reduction in difficult electrification areas such as ships and aviation. In recent years, European and American countries have actively promoted the development of advanced biofuel industries. As early as 2009, the European Union implemented the Renewable Energy Directive, which clarified that the blending ratio of biofuels in the transportation sector will reach 10% in 2020 and 14% in 2030. Driven by the continuous mandatory blending policy, biodiesel has been in short supply all year round. In order to promote the advancement of sustainable aviation fuel technology and industrial development, the U.S. government issued an action plan in 2021, with the goal of replacing all aviation fuels with sustainable aviation fuels by 2050. In 2023, the International Civil Aviation Organization has determined that by 2030, international aviation carbon emissions will be reduced by 5% and the demand for sustainable aviation fuels will increase significantly.
Since advanced biofuels are so popular, can our country stay and produce it? This is really good, and we're doing a good job. Our country is an important biodiesel producer and exporter in the world, and biodiesel products are highly competitive internationally. However, since my country's biodiesel market has not yet formed a scale, domestic biodiesel flows more to the EU market through export. Data shows that my country's current annual output of biodiesel exceeds 2 million tons, 90% of which is exported. In terms of sustainable aviation fuel, my country's supply and demand market is still in the early stages of development and already has certain production capabilities. As of the end of 2023, there are 2 related projects that have been put into operation in my country, and 5 projects that have not been put into operation or are in the planning stage. Among them, Zhenhai Refining and Chemical has achieved sustainable mass production of aviation coal with a production capacity of 100,000 tons/year.
In the operation workshop of Harbin Chenneng Biomass Power Generation Co., Ltd., staff are conducting valve inspections. Photo by Zhang Tao (Xinhua Agency)
At present, my country is in a critical period of comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country with Chinese-style modernization. The demand for energy continues to be strong, and it is also facing tremendous pressure from environmental protection and carbon emission reduction. The "Opinions on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council clearly proposes to promote the use of clean power for ships, aircraft, and non-road mobile machinery, strengthen the research and development and application of sustainable aviation fuels, and encourage net zero-emission marine fuels R & D and production applications. Advanced biofuels have a unique role in promoting green transformation and have immeasurable potential and must be paid attention to.
The key to strengthening the advanced biofuel industry is to launch the domestic market and avoid "blooming inside and outside the wall." Judging from the development experience of my country's photovoltaic industry, relying on overseas markets is not conducive to the sustainable development of an industry. Accelerating the opening up of the domestic market, expanding application scenarios, and opening up internal circulation are the key tasks in the next stage. In April 2024, the National Energy Administration identified 22 pilot projects for the promotion and application of biodiesel, laying the foundation for the further promotion of biodiesel in China. In the next step, we should use the promotion and application pilot demonstrations to expand domestic biodiesel application scenarios, explore the establishment of replicable and replicable policy systems and development paths, accumulate experience for continuing to expand the promotion and application of advanced biofuels such as biodiesel, and gradually clearly promote advanced biofuels Specific measures and policies for fuel consumption.
It should be noted that unlike renewable energy such as wind and scenery, which has a wide range of sources and huge volumes, the total amount of biomass raw materials such as meal waste oil is even more limited. In order to make full use of precious resources, it is necessary to improve the market and institutional environment and improve the industrial chain of biomass briquettes from raw material collection, storage, and pretreatment to briquettes production, distribution and application, especially to make kitchen waste treatment and advanced The biofuel industry forms an organic combination. At the same time, we will strengthen scientific and technological innovation, encourage enterprises to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and launch high value-added products to open up a broader market.
