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Emergy analysis of a biogas-linked agricultural system in rural China – A case study in Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County

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  • Yang, Jin
  • Chen, Bin

Abstract

Efforts have been made to establish a biogas-linked agricultural production mode to alleviate poverty and pressure on the environment in rural China. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of biogas engineering using emergy analysis in the context of a compound agricultural system. A set of emergy indices are incorporated in the analysis to describe the transformation of energy and materials in the system. We also performed a case study in Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County, China. The carbon mitigation performance, environmental and economic trade-offs, and sustainability level of the system encompassing biogas engineering, crop production and livestock subsystems was investigated in detail. The results showed that the biogas-linked agricultural production mode characterized by further metabolism within the system made a favorable contribution to carbon mitigation and material recycling, although its conversion efficiency was low. Finally, suggestions regarding local agricultural sustainability are provided to shed light on the policies of biogas promotion in rural China.

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  • Yang, Jin & Chen, Bin, 2014. "Emergy analysis of a biogas-linked agricultural system in rural China – A case study in Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 173-182.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:118:y:2014:i:c:p:173-182
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.12.038
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    4. Jiang, Zhixiang & Dai, Yanhui & Luo, Xianxiang & Liu, Guocheng & Wang, Hefang & Zheng, Hao & Wang, Zhenyu, 2017. "Assessment of bioenergy development potential and its environmental impact for rural household energy consumption: A case study in Shandong, China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 1153-1161.
    5. Qiang Wang & Thomas Dogot & Xianlei Huang & Linna Fang & Changbin Yin, 2020. "Coupling of Rural Energy Structure and Straw Utilization: Based on Cases in Hebei, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, January.
    6. Djatkov, Djordje & Effenberger, Mathias & Martinov, Milan, 2014. "Method for assessing and improving the efficiency of agricultural biogas plants based on fuzzy logic and expert systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 163-175.
    7. He Zhang & Ashish T. Asutosh & Junxue Zhang, 2022. "A quantitative sustainable comparative study of two biogas systems based on energy, emergy and entropy methods in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(12), pages 13583-13609, December.
    8. Tian, Xu & Sarkis, Joseph, 2020. "Expanding green supply chain performance measurement through emergy accounting and analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    9. Baena-Moreno, Francisco M. & Pastor-Pérez, Laura & Zhang, Zhien & Reina, T.R., 2020. "Stepping towards a low-carbon economy. Formic acid from biogas as case of study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
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