Economic and environmental benefits analysis of decentralized heating using biomass gasification gas in rural area

Abstract: The economic and environmental benefits of decentralized heating technology produced by burning gas through the biomass gasification method were analyzed in this paper. The whole decentralized heating system can be divided into three sections. In the first section, the biomass is converted into the biomass gasification gas (i.e., combustible gas). In the second, pipelines are adopted through which the biomass gasification gas is transported to the user's home. Indoor heating pipes consist of the third section, which connect the transporting pipelines with a gas-heating stove located at the user's home. The economic estimation shows that the heating cost is 37.59 yuan per square meter in rural areas during a heating period with this kind of decentralized heating system, which is higher than the heating cost in cities. But the decentralized heating method has many other advantages, such as saving energy, easy charging, easy adjusting of the temperature, reducing gas costs, and simultaneous hot water supply. The decentralized heating cost is charged by gas consumption. Thus, household heat meters should be installed for measuring the gas consumption; and accordingly, the charge calculation can be obtained for heating enterprises. Users can easily adjust the indoor temperature in different periods according to their demand. Gas consumption for heating is five times higher than that for cooking. With the increase of biomass gas production, the cost of biomass gasification gas is reduced, which is beneficial in promoting the commercialization of heating using biomass gasification gas. Decentralized heating technology plays an important role in developing the rural living environment. Decentralized heating will reduce the particulate matter pollution and CO2 emission that results from heating by burning coal and biomass. The calculated results in this paper show that the quantity of CO2 emission is about 5.5 tons per household during each heating period. However, the heating cost can be decreased to a reasonable level through technology methods such as sectional temperature control, temperature control in different rooms, and building energy saving measures. When no one is in the room, the temperature can be adjusted lower to maintain a minimum temperature that is still high enough to avoid frozen pipes. This adjustment has been called time-interval control strategy. Therefore, costs can be saved by about 46.4% compared to the constant temperature control method. To save heating costs, different room temperatures will be controlled through flow control in the decentralized heating system. The building heat load is an important factor affecting heating cost. Adopting energy saving measures, according to the energy saving standard, can reduce the building heat load. It will play a positive role in reducing the decentralized heating costs. Additionally, in this paper, the security and reliability problems were emphasized and some corresponding countermeasures were put forward. Furthermore, governments should provide some financial support for rural heating and encourage farmers to adopt clean heating modes. In the future, with technology improvement and the support of government funding, the decentralized heating technology is expected to spread in some rural areas and become an important way of heating.