Overview of Biomass-to-Energy Supply and Promotion Policy in Taiwan

During the past two decades, Taiwan's average dependence on imported energy was 97.6%, thus pushing the government to promote the indigenous energy supply. In this regard, the energy policy and regulatory incentives for promoting biomass-to-energy or bioenergy have been recently established. In this work, the updated statistics of biomass-derived waste and energy supply from biomass during the period of 2005-2021 were analyzed using national/official reports. It was found that the annual agricultural waste amounts in Taiwan ranged from 4.5 to 5.2 million metric tons, and about 80% of those were generated from rice-derived residues (rice straw and rice husk) and livestock/poultry-derived waste (manure). In addition, a decreasing trend was observed in the indigenous bioenergy supply, mostly from the solid-type biomass resources, including waste wood, rice husk, and sugarcane bagasse. In order to expand bioenergy diversification, the central competent authorities, including the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Council of Agriculture (COA), and Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), have announced the relevant policies for bioenergy promotion under the authorization of acts. Among them, the Renewable Energy Development Act is the legal foundation for promoting bioenergy and its industry development through economic incentives like feed-in-tariff (FIT), installation supports (or subsidies), and electrical grid connection.

Automated summary

Over the past 20 years, Taiwan has heavily relied on imported energy, leading the government to prioritize indigenous energy supply. To achieve this goal, energy policies and incentives for biomass-to-energy have been established. Analysis of national reports reveals that Taiwan generates an annual amount of agricultural waste ranging from 4.5 to 5.2 million metric tons, of which rice-derived residues and livestock/poultry waste contribute to about 80%. The supply of indigenous bioenergy, primarily from solid-type biomass resources such as waste wood, rice husk, and sugarcane bagasse, has been declining. The government has introduced policies, authorized by acts like the Renewable Energy Development Act, to promote bioenergy through economic incentives such as feed-in-tariffs and installation supports.