Analyzing impacts of bioenergy expansion in China using strategic environmental assessment

The Authors

Gene M. Owens, EcoShare Group, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Association for Impact Assessment Annual Conference, 23-26 May 2006, Stavanger, Norway.

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the several methodologies and activities taken to assess the environmental impacts of a $33 million pilot project undertaken through a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) jointly with significant Chinese government investments. The ADB biogas utilization project has supported construction of over 7,500 biogas digesters in more than 140 rural villages. An additional 10,000 biogas digesters are programmed as well as significant investment in biogas production through large-scale animal agribusinesses. The latter will be supported through investments utilizing the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a longitudinal perspective by: looking at the project's Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) undertaken at appraisal; assessing the ongoing energy and environmental monitoring plan currently under way; and examining the potential for the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as a tool for integrating environmental policy considerations on a regional or provincial level in China.

Findings – Improved technologies for application of renewable energy – in particular successful application and adoption of biogas digesters at the village level – offer the potential to promote sustainable, cost-effective growth in agriculture with concurrent positive environmental impacts.

Practical implications – Based on the relative success of ongoing efforts to promote the adoption of biomass technologies, a significant expansion of the bioenergy program is under consideration by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Originality/value – The case study suggests that there is potential for use of SEA as a tool for the establishment of regional or provincial environmental priorities by taking account of information on the economic, social and environmental benefits, costs and risks of adopting a national strategy for biomass utilization. SEA is a recent innovation in China and must be adapted to local conditions.

Article Type:

General review

Keyword(s):

Renewable energy; Assessment; Condition monitoring; Agriculture; China.

Journal:

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal

Volume:

18

Number:

4

Year:

2007

pp:

396-412

Copyright ©

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

ISSN:

1477-7835

Introduction

Over the past ten years China has made significant advances in the production, utilization and promotion of biomass energy technologies in rural areas. Statistics suggest that by early 2005, biogas energy was available in more than 15 million Chinese households nationally with annual production of biogas at about 5.6 billion cubic meters (Wang, 2005). Expansion can be attributed to four major factors:

  1. steady advances in technology, including breakthroughs for biogas production from anaerobic fermentation from new means for utilizing crop straws as well as the demonstration and promotion of biomass liquid fuels from new varieties of crops;
  2. promotion and adoption of small-scale renewable energy facilities throughout rural China, including new-types of energy saving ovens, solar-energy water heaters, household small-scale wind power generators, and mini-hydro power generators;
  3. infrastructure, management and service systems for servicing and promoting renewable energy options in rural areas have grown steadily; and
  4. national, as well as international, financial support has played an important role in the exploitation and utilization of renewable energy resources with special attention to demonstration, research, and technology transfer to relatively poorer communities.

This paper examines a specific renewable energy project, the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-financed Loan No. 1924-PRC, Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes. The aim of the research is to determine if there are lessons learned that can provide guidance to practitioners interested in using Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to serve as a promotional tool for expanding the adoption of biomass energy technologies. In short, an effort is made to show overtly the significant strategic, national environmental benefits that accrue from these programs.

The reasoning behind the research objective relates to a significant proposed expansion of biomass energy production in rural areas. One of the main objectives of China's 11th Five Year Plan, 2006-2010, is to promote the growth of rural incomes while reducing the negative impacts of increased agricultural production on the environment. Improved technologies for application of renewable energy –in particular successful application and adoption of biogas digesters at the village level – offer the potential to promote sustainable, cost-effective growth in agriculture with concurrent positive environmental impacts.

Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes Project, Loan No. 1924-PRC, is a pilot project in the field of renewable energy development and rural eco-environment improvement. It aims at improving the environment and promoting economic growth to improve the welfare and living conditions of rural households in the provinces of Henan, Jangxi, Hubei and Shanxi by generating cleaner and sustainable biogas energy and increasing agricultural productivity through efficient utilization of agricultural wastes. The total cost of the Project is estimated at $77.3 million, of which an ADB loan amounts to $33.1 million (43 percent of cost), as well as a GEF grant of $6.361 million. The project became effective on 16 June 2003, and is to be implemented over a five-year period before the loan closing date, tentatively set for 30 June 2008.

The paper will first examine where China is going with respect to proposed expansion of biomass energy development in rural areas. While some of the objectives and proposals are tentative, enough is known to get a grasp of the scale of proposed innovation in this area. The objective here is to ascertain potential environmental implications of a massive expansion of biomass energy in rural areas over the next several years. Traditionally, environmental assessment of agricultural wastes has been constrained by the fact that such waste is considered non-point source pollution. The adoption of household biomass digesters on a massive scale provides much greater potential for measurement and management of environmental impacts at the source (household and farm level). The paper first examines the ADB project's existing energy and environmental monitoring systems. With the proposed massive expansion new measures of environmental assessment may be required. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) may be used as a component of an Environmental Management System (EMS) to introduce mainstreaming of environmental considerations into renewable energy programs and planning in rural areas. An EMS is a continual cycle of planning, implementing, reviewing and improving the processes and actions that an organization undertakes to meet its business and environmental goals

Scaling up biomass innovations in the rural sector

Biomass is a significant source of energy in China, particularly in rural areas. Resource surveys suggest that biomass accounted for about 13 percent of primary energy consumption in China as a whole in 2000 (Table I), with higher levels of consumption in rural areas where most biomass is located (Li et al., 2001). Until recently much, if not most, of the biomass utilized in rural China involved the use of fuel wood and agricultural residues by direct combustion for cooking and heating. The combustion systems used with these fuels tended to be inefficient and create high levels of indoor air pollution.

A major thrust for China's 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005) in the rural sector was to stimulate renewable energy commercialization and industrial development by focusing on market-oriented policies and programs, and the promotion of modern biomass energy technologies. The two modern biomass energy technologies currently being utilize most widely in China are anaerobic digesters and small-scale thermo-chemical gasifiers. Anaerobic digesters producing combustible biogas (a mixture primarily of methane and carbon dioxide) have been in use in China since the 1960s. The majority of digesters operating today supply single households, the original application in China. Building on the household applications, China has successfully developed digester technology for use with large and medium-sized domestic livestock and industrial and organic waste disposal facilities. The development of biogas projects on large and medium-scale animal farms began in the 1980s, and has closely paralleled both the scale up of the livestock breeding industry as well as increased concern about environmental protection. Household digesters of Types I and II, and digesters for medium scale livestock farms are the two primary technologies for which investments are directed under the ADB loan for Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes Project.

Principal sources of biomass

Biomass is multiform in China, including agricultural residue, firewood, forestry residue, organic waste (such as livestock excreta, municipal domestic waste, industrial waste (grain factory, paper mill, timber mill, sugar refinery, brewery, food factory). Agricultural residue is the biggest biomass energy resource in China, more than 50 percent of the total resource (Figure 1). Biomass resources contain lots of energy, estimated at 487 Mtoe/year. About 370 Mt (76 percent) is used for power and heating, the other 117 Mt is used for fodder and mulch in rural areas.

Agricultural residues resulting from the production processes of crops such as rice, wheat, corn, beans, tubers, cotton and sugarcane are the most important sources of biomass in China. China produced 715 Mt of agricultural residues, amounting to 250 Mtoe energy in 2000. Rice, wheat and corn are three major crops which produce 70 percent of agricultural residues.

Total livestock in China in 2000 comprised 447 million pigs, 290 million sheep, 5.28 billion fowl, and 151.5 million other large animals such as horses, cattle, donkey, mule and camel. Total livestock excreta from these sources weighed up to 320 Mt or 110 mtoe. A USA EPA survey of agricultural wastes in China shows that total livestock excreta is 1.9 billion tons from livestock farms compared to industrial solid waste of 0.78 billion tons in 1999. Since more than 60 percent of livestock farms do not separate dry and liquid manure or lack investment for waste treatment, impacts in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in waste water is significantly higher from livestock farms than from either industrial or domestic pollution. Pollution from total COD into water sources from livestock manure is shown to be 7973.1 kilotons, compared to 6970 kilotons from domestic wastewater, and 6917.4 kilotons from industrial wastewater. Additionally COD and BOD impacts from methane, phosphate, nitrogen are significant. For China as a whole, manure waste is 2.4 times industrial solid waste, with several agricultural provinces exhibiting more than twice that figure. These findings are important since livestock waste represents both an important biomass resource and significant non-point source of pollution. This relationship will be discussed in greater detail in subsequent sections of this paper.

Forestry residues are another important biomass resource. The forests of China are mainly distributed in the northeast, southwest, northwest and southern hill areas. According to the fifth national forest reserve survey (1994-1998) completed in 2000, the stock of timber is 12.49 billion m3. Consumption of timber is primarily for woodworking and furniture (44 percent), timber and on-farm use (33.1 percent), and for fuelwood and fodder. Fuelwood and forest residues when used as energy comprised about 67 Mtoe in 1998 (Ma, 2005).

Industrial biomass resources are derived from the solid waste output from food processing and bio-industries, including paper mills, timber mills, winery, sugar refineries, and food factories. It is estimated that these industries will produce 48 Mtoe of industrial solid waste, including 18 Mtoe of crop residue, 0.3 Mtoe from paper making, and 60 Mtoe wood processing wastes. Newer technologies are being adopted in this area, and potential for integrating industrial biomass with agricultural residues shows promise as a source of biomass power technology.

Municipal domestic waste consists of a mixture of household, commercial and service rubbish with some construction waste. Many factors affect the composition and quantity of waste produces including the size of urban population, resident income, fuel structure, eating habits, and seasonal output. The organic composition in the more developed cities is generally higher in the southern cities compared to the northern ones. The waste heat value ranges from 4,500 kJ/kg in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai to about 3,400 kJ/kg is more other areas. Total biomass from municipal domestic waste is about 150 Mt or the equivalent of 15 Mtoe each year, and is increasing annually at a rate of about 10 percent.

Policies to expand the role of biomass as a rural energy resource

As early as the 1980s the Chinese Government began rural energy construction work that focused on application of renewable energy technologies. The main areas of work were in promoting energy efficient stoves, rural biogas digesters, fuel wood forests, and solar energy. The results of the energy efficient stoves and rural biogas digester components were particularly outstanding. At present, the coverage of energy efficient stoves in China's rural areas is over 95 percent. Biogas technologies have moved from merely resolving energy needs to being a key component in the development of ecological agriculture and rural sanitation (Li et al., 2006).

Renewable energy is an important component of China's long-term energy strategy for rural development. The country's primary energy needs are still dependent on coal, even though the use of oil and natural gas has increased in recent years. China undoubtedly has abundant renewable energy reserves including some 378 gigawatts of exploitable installed hydropower capacity and approximately 250 gigawatts of exploitable wind energy. In addition, it has been estimated that China has geothermal reserves equal to 135 billion tons of standard coal and biomass reserves equivalent to 650 million tons of standard coal (Raymont, 2005).

To reduce continued reliance on coal as a source of energy, particularly in rural areas, and to address the environmental problems associated with the energy sector, beginning in 1995 the Government adopted the New and Renewable Energy Development program (1996-2010). This program was aimed at improving the efficiency of renewable energy technology applications, lowering production costs, enlarging the contribution of renewable energy to energy supply, and deriving environmental benefits by reducing air and water pollution.

The long-term strategy for renewable energy adoption led to the recent passing of the Law of Promotion of Renewable Resources Development and Exploitation (the “Renewable Energy Law”). The Chinese Government's new renewable energy strategy has three principal features:

  1. the introduction of a legal and regulatory framework that will encourage the development of economic renewable energy resources and a more competitive power sector in line with the legislative norms found in the Renewable Energy Law;
  2. to provide potential power producers with access to advanced technology and techniques that will make renewable energy more competitive; and
  3. to strengthen the capacity of existing companies to develop, finance, construct and operate renewable energy projects for power generation on a large scale, and futher open the sector to private investors.

A major feature of the Renewables Law is that it would require China to develop a total volume target for renewable energy. At the national level, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has completed the formulation of the 2020 Renewable Energy Development Plan. The Plan has both a national renewable energy development target – 10 percent of all electricity is to come from renewable generation by 2020 – and targets for key individual renewable energy technologies such as wind and biomass.

The focus on rural and western development problems and resources and eco-environment protection that emerged from discussion during the March 2006 National People's Congress discussions regarding China's 11th Five Year Plan has generated renewed interest by the Ministry of Agriculture on how to develop plans and programs that build upon its past success. One idea that has been mooted is a study of the economic efficiency of large scale biomass power generation from crop straw. This study would build upon the on-going work under the ADB Loan for Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes. Two other strategic objectives are:

  1. the incorporation of distributed renewable energy power generation and rural energy development in the State Development Planning Commission's Western Development Plan; and
  2. providing financial incentives to spread renewable energy micro-grids in remote areas.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of this brief review of China's renewable energy “strategy” is that it began with little strategic intent. There was little technical or spatial focus, only a prospective time frame, and almost no benchmarks to measure progress in the renewable energy sector. Only in the past couple of years, and particularly with the recent spike in global oil prices, have government agencies framed their programs in the sector with renewed, strategic enthusiasm. The name given the World Bank's most recent support – China's Renewable Energy Scale-up Program (CRESP) – suggests the marginal or base level that characterized national concern in this area of the past decade or so. Nevertheless, the renewed strategic focus for renewable energy technologies is a crucial component of adoption of Strategic Environmental Assessment tools as discussed in the following sections.

Current practices of environmental assessment and monitoring

An advantage of a longitudinal case study is that it provides insights into the variable tools and perceptions that embrace what is termed “environmental assessment.” Experience suggests that the tools used (i.e. engineering, or qualitative assessment, or quantitative statistical analysis), the subject matter investigated, what are considered impacts, and the recommended mitigation measures, depend greatly on the substantive and technical background of the analyst. In short, engineers seldom examine social issues, and economists are often not interested in the chemical composition of emissions, and so-called environmentalists might be totally enamored with biota and ecology to the exclusion of other impacts. Consequently, guidelines for EIA have been developed and elaborated over the years to provide focus and some degree of consistency[1]. The biogas project for China provides a good case study of differing perspectives and different agenda by analysts. These variations are not so critical until one tries to implement the variable environmental assessment recommendations.

The project design team for the Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes Project in China were global in their perspectives of environmental impacts. At the time of design, they envisioned the proposed project as a “win-win-win” situation:

In short, theirs was a strategic perspective; although at the time (1999-2000), the term strategic environmental assessment was never used in the design report. Nevertheless, it is insightful to highlight several of the views expressed in the design report prepared in 2000:

The middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River (Huanghe) and the Yangtse River (Changjiang) basins are the regions where PRC's agricultural civilization started 5,000-7,000 years ago. The four project provinces – Henan, Hubei, Jianxi and Shanxi – represent a typical sample of the PRC's oldest farming areas… The use of renewable energy technologies offers an environmentally sound and least-cost option to replace coal, firewood, and straw in rural and remote areas … The PRC has significant experience in developing biomass technology. Productivity from biomass digesters has increased by 50 percent during the last two decades. Since the 1960s about 7.5 million biogas generation units have been built for energy production in the rural areas… The major lessons learned from the past are the need (i) to integrate biomass technology with existing farming systems to ensure viability, (ii) for effective service infrastructure and competent technicians to provide operation and maintenance services, (iii) for sufficient concentration of biogas units in one location covering a few nearby villages to ensure sufficient demand for service, and (iv) to ensure effective extension services and competent technicians to assist continued biomass technology development … In response to the 1992 Earth Summit, the PRC was the first developing country to adopt an Agenda 21 Program to integrate economic and social development by improving the efficiency of energy utilization, introducing environment-friendly technologies, and managing toxic and hazardous wastes (ADB, 2002).

These broad “strategic” views contrast starkly with the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) prepared for the proposal. The engineers that carried out the IEE were concerned principally with the impacts of “gas production plants” with little attention to the household scale of production covering some 17,000 individual households over four provinces (ADB, Appendix 11, 2002). While the overall environmental screening in terms of potential impacts was generally appropriate – highlighted were pollution from crop straw burning, impacts on rivers and streams from non-point source pollution, and village-level sanitation and health – mitigation measures were focused on large scale biomass plants. Environmental standards cited were taken from large biomass plants in northern Europe. It seemed to matter little that Type III and Type IV biomass conversion systems – large scale systems relative to household biodigesters – comprised only about 10 percent of the Loan package.

The most serious consequence of the IEE, was not necessarily its oversight of the basic safeguards for operating household biogas digesters, but its subsequent interpretation. As a consequence, included in the Loan Documents for implementation is the following statement:

An initial environmental examination (IEE) was undertaken, and the summary IEE prepared during project preparation. Subsequently, each project investment will be required to prepare its IEE or EIA report to submit to the respective environmental authorities for approval. The IEE concluded that the proposed Project will promote efficient utilization of agricultural waste to improve the physical environment in rural areas (ADB, 2002) (emphasis added).

The proposed requirement for and IEE or EIA for each subproject was a major slip-up or confusion on the part of the design team. As noted, there are more than 17,000 individual household biomass digesters to be constructed under the Loan project. Each of these digesters, together with support waste systems, animals and greenhouses, only cost a little over $1,000 in terms of materials and labor. To conduct an IEE or EIA for each household subproject of this size is absurd, a mistake in interpretation of the ADB's requirement and probably unintended. The IEE or EIA requirement probably does make sense and can be useful for the large scale Type III and Type IV systems proposed under the Loan, but these comprised only 10 percent of the package. As of the mid-point of the loan none of the Type III larger-scale biomass conversion systems have been constructed, and construction of Type IV has been abandoned due precisely to the high cost of mitigating its environmental impacts. It has been proposed that the Type III systems be bundled into a CDM package, which has its own EA requirements.

So how are the thousands of small household biomass digesters being environmentally monitored to prevent negative impacts? Household biomass digesters generate a combination of 60 percent methane and 40 percent CO2 and its combustion behavior is comparable to natural gas. However, it is under pressure, and must be regulated, cleaned and dust removed, before burning in small appliances or used in overhead filament lamps. Generally, it is recommended that the area of use be well ventilated to avoid the possible build up of CO. The most appropriate mitigation measure is effective instructions to the installer, operator and/or the end user about safe operation of the equipment and its maintenance to eliminate or serious reduce the dangers of carbon monoxide.

Environmental safety at the household level is largely a matter of village and county-level instruction. Equipment, i.e. the biodigesters, are only installed by trained, and certified village-level technicians. Before operation they are required to test and certify the biomass digester with their own personal warranty. Otherwise the farmer does not have to pay for it. Operators, principally the village women, are given routine training on the maintenance and operation of the household biomass digester system. Since recent economic growth in the central provinces of China have drawn a significant proportion of the male population to major urban areas for construction and other employment, much of farm level labor is now handled by women.

The Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes Project has adopted an Energy and Environmental Monitoring Plan aimed at providing quantifiable measures of 12 activities or impacts. Indicators are measured quarterly from a representative sample of households that have adopted biomass digesters. The monitored activities are:

  1. the size and type of biomass system including related farm activities;
  2. energy (gas) produced and used including measures of alternative fuels displaced;
  3. agricultural production including types and areas of crops;
  4. fertilizer produced and consumed and amount of chemical fertilizer displaced;
  5. pesticides used and displaced;
  6. livestock production;
  7. reduction on GHG emissions;
  8. impacts on health and sanitation;
  9. impact on indoor air quality;
  10. impacts on soil;
  11. environmental impacts, specifically reduction in CO2, SOX, NOX, and TSP; and
  12. overall economic impact.

These data are integrated within two other monitoring tools:

  1. a quantified management information system (MIS) that tracks each household investment in a biomass digester that uses the resources from the ADB loan; and
  2. a Beneficiary Impact Assessment (BIA) which is intended to establish a socioeconomic baseline of all project participants based on sampling, household questionnaires and focus group discussions.

The three monitoring tools have been integrated into what is termed the Comprehensive Project Monitoring System.

What makes the Energy and Environmental Monitoring program for the Chinese biomass RE project unique is that the monitoring has been subcontracted out to the people – the local provincial implementation team, local universities, and the farmer participants themselves. This innovative idea has just been initiated, and helps to resolve several institutional problems. First, it became apparent that the provincial Environmental Protection Bureaux (EPBs) were overwhelmed with monitoring tasks given the rapid pace of provincial construction to meet demand. Second, there was a lack of expertise among governmental Rural Energy Advisors who work at county and village levels. The solution was to engage environmentally qualified local university staff under subcontract with the provincial implementation authorities to set up monitoring laboratories with the requisite equipment. Students are used as the field monitoring agents to work with farmers. The farm sample group – mainly women – carry out the biomass energy measurement program based on modest financial incentives. Data are channeled to the university laboratories for analysis, and subcontract payments are premised on the delivery of the data. The total cost to monitor approximately 300 farm households is estimated at $400,000 over two years.

Nevertheless, the current environmental monitoring program remains project focused. Only indirectly are the data linked to broader sectoral objectives of expanding renewable energy, in general, or even biomass renewable energy in particular on a regional or national basis. The technologies are well known and have been operation since the 1960s; benefits are provincial or regional in scope, impacts, mainly beneficial, are cumulative. But still conventional impact assessment and environmental management remain project focused. The current situation in China describes accurately the rationale given by the Stockholm Environment Institute for the emergence of SEA in the early 1990s:

The early 1990s witnessed a growing recognition that conventional environmental impact assessment (EIA) at the project level could not adequately address and influence issues that had been decided at an earlier stage and at more strategic levels. Consideration of alternatives to the planned action was limited in terms of locations and types of action. Therefore, environmental assessment of plans, programmes, and polices in addition to projects was advocated. Since then different approaches to SEA have evolved, ranging from providing the decision makers with an environmental report at a given stage to letting the SEA act as a framework to guide the whole decision-making process (Stockholm Environment Institute, 2001).

While China's national policy makers may not be prepared to go so far as envisioned by SEA, there is a clear need to go beyond the project to look at regional and sectoral impacts and benefits. What will be suggested in the analysis that follows is that the strategy for adoption and practice of SEA in China should not necessarily be focused on national policies and strategies. Instead, it might be easier to adapt sectoral programs and generic technologies such as renewable energy so that they are examined and assessed from a broader perspective from the bottom up. SEA can lead to mutual reinforcement and efficiencies through provincial collaboration. In short, what is proposed is “letting the tail wag the dog”.

If one considers that strategic environment assessment must comprise an integrated set of decisions and policies covering both national and local level concerns for a given sector, then strengthened local government authority over EIA can be a positive factor. Whether it is positive or negative depends on whether both levels of government share the same environmental goals. China is moving toward the adoption of regional EIA, partly as a consequence of increasing pressure from international aid organizations. Due to China's rapid growth it is currently at a critical stage in its reform and economic transition, so it is likely in the near future that a host of new policies, plans, programs, regulations and laws will be promulgated to establish a new structure for economic operation. Since these policies may have major environmental implications, it is necessary to produce SEAs to ensure that the new economic thrust does not cause significant negative environmental impacts. New economic policies should also be in accord with regional sustainable development objectives.

SEA methodology and its application in the renewable energy sector

As outlined in the most recent sourcebook on SEA, the process is intended to:

On the other hand, as outlined in Chapter 6 of the same sourcebook, SEA experiences in developing countries have often used “a variety of strategic planning processes that display many of the characteristics of SEA”. These are termed informal or “para-SEAs (that form part of development policy-making, land use planning or resource management)”. These SEA-type approaches may adopt different scopes, and approaches may be more diverse in developing countries where political and economic realities constrain what might be done (Dalal-Clayton and Sadler, 2005, p 237).

In China, political and economic realities do constrain the strategic assessment of certain types of plans and policies. Public participation is extremely limited because procedures restrict such participation. As noted by Che et al. (2002, p. 101) “Public participation is often extremely limited … policies and strategies are kept secret from the public”. Other constraints include the sheer scale of development activities, spatial limitations, and institutional capacity. On the other hand, having a champion at a high political level that supports the strategic policy or program, especially when coupled with financial support or commitment, works in both a developed and developing environment. It does not seem to matter whether one is a Party member in China, or a Senator in the USA, political clout counts when it comes to strategic assessment of policies, plans and programs. Another issue is the relationship of the SEA exercise to donor capacity-building and training programs that promote a particular institutional procedure.

Before reviewing the status of potential SEA applications in China, it is useful to review those areas where SEA can be most useful. Since the implementation of economic reform and the opening of China's economy to the world, its economy has grown quickly and steadily – ranging from 9.7 percent to 7 percent over the past several years. With a population of 1.3 billion, land resources are becoming more and more scarce. Resource consumption, particularly for energy, has increased; and pressures on the environment are rising accordingly. Meeting the needs of its people and the development of the economy on the one hand, while protecting and conserving the fragile environment and limited natural resources on the other, is becoming more difficult. The scale of national development – even when considered on a sector by sector basis – suggests that a strategic approach is essential to ensure that such development is sustainable and that the impact on the environment is positive or otherwise mitigated. Not surprisingly, SEA types of approaches are being adopted, simply to overcome the inherent limitations of conventional project EIA.

In summary, while SEAs are not legally required in China, the practice of considering the impacts of policies, plans and programs from a strategic perspective is being adopted. It is useful to examine the benefits that can be derived from the approach. SEA should:

  1. Promote integrated environment and development decision making (i.e. promote sustainability in decision making).
  2. Facilitate the design of environmentally sustainable policies and plans.
  3. Provide for consideration of a larger range of alternatives than is normally possible in project environmental assessment.
  4. Take account, where possible, of cumulative effects (particularly by focusing on the consequences of sectoral or regional-level developments) and global change.
  5. Enhance institutional efficiency (particularly where EIA-related skills, operational funds and institutional capacities are limited) by obviating the need for unnecessary project-level EIAs.
  6. Increase the influence of certain ministries and increase coordination across sectors.
  7. Strengthen and streamline project EA by:
    • the incorporation of environmental goals and principles into policies, plans and programs that shape individual projects;
    • prior identification of impacts and information requirements;
    • clearance of strategic issues and information requirements; and
    • reducing time and effort taken to conduct reviews.
  8. Provide a mechanism for public engagement in discussions relevant to sustainability at a strategic level (Dalal-Clayton and Sadler, 2005, pp. 19-20).

The above rational taken from the Dalal-Clayton and Sadler Sourcebook is especially useful in a developing country context whether one approaches the issue of environmental assessment of sectoral activities from the bottom-up or top down. This leads to the notion of “tiering” which allows for “different levels of environmental assessment as a proposal moves from a broad or early stage (more policy-oriented) to a narrower or subsequent stage (more programmatic)”. Where there are institutional constraints, political constraints, or outright restrictions or secrets concerning “policies” the “tiering” approach allows strategic environmental assessment as the “art of the possible.”

If we examine our case study of biomass utilization for renewable energy in terms of the para-SEA procedures and the rationale outlined above, we can see how the SEA approach can be useful. First, it takes away some of the burden of environmental assessment at the project level. Most useful would be a national scale SEA that focuses on the impact of all renewable energies – biomass, hydropower, wind power, solar energy, and other technologies including geothermal power generation and wave power. The recent passage of the Renewable Energy Law (2006) provides the institutional and legal foundation for just such a strategic assessment. For example, a SEA for the renewable energy sector would examine the complementary impacts of such programs as the World Bank's (2005) China Renewable Energy Scale-up Program (CRESP), the NDRC/GEF/World Bank China Renewable Energy Development Project (REDP), the Wind Power Concession Program, the Riding the Wind Program, the Township Electrification Program, the Brightness Program, the UN supported Solar Water Heater Development Project, and the ADB/GEF Project for Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes, among others (Li et al., 2006; Martinot, 2006).

A sector-wide SEA would examine the potential social and environmental impacts of the whole sector, and identify sector-wide issues and concerns. From a national perspective, China's concern might be balancing energy demand – particularly for fossil fuels – on a spatial basis. For example, imported oil and coal which remains the predominant energy resource might be concentrated on the industrial east, while a push for renewables – particularly wind power – might be the major focus of investment in western China in order to deal with distributed, and off-grid energy requirements in remote areas. Or, from another perspective, the western states of China, with closer access via oil pipeline to Central Asia and its natural gas and fossil fuels, might become an industrial center in its own right with renewable energy being emphasize in the highly polluted eastern states. Without a national perspective, i.e. a strategic environmental review, these types of questions cannot be answered.

By tiering downward to an even lower level of programmatic analysis, a SEA-type analysis can be carried out for biomass renewable energy systems. The advantages of a focus on biomass energy systems is that the technology is well known after more than two decades of investment, and the localized impacts are minimal. The community and social benefits are significant, however, and provide an economic rationale for investment that is presently unmeasured. On a project or farm scale, the positive impacts include the generation of methane gas for cooking, heating and lighting, organic fertilizer from sludge for small farm systems and small aquaculture, improved sanitation at the household level, labor saving for women from reduced time for cooking, fuel wood gathering, and reduction in the cost of chemical fertilizer and pesticides for small farm operations, and significant increases in agricultural production. Not quantified at the farm level are emissions reduction from elimination of fuel wood or charcoal briquettes, and the aesthetic improvements to the farm kitchen and toilet facilities. There are environmental risks from the possibility of indoor air pollution, i.e. CO, or methane leaks. These are mitigated mainly through training and local technical support to the owner-users of the biomass digesters.

If one tiers upward to the county or provincial level, the social returns become significant. There is significant reduction in non-point source reduction in the pollution from agricultural wastes resulting in improvement in both surface and groundwater quality (reduced BOD, COD), reduced pressure on fuel wood extraction from local forest resources, improved health and sanitation, and quantifiable reductions in air pollution.

Then, if we tier again upward to an inter-provincial or regional level the strategic impacts become even more significant. They would include impacts on watershed improvements through significant reductions on rural non-point source organic pollutants, improvements in regional air quality, reductions in the demand for fossil fuels and GHG reductions, and declines in deforestation. Additionally, experience suggests that there are significant changes in economic production and infrastructure. For example, increased production of organic fruits and vegetables under greenhouses in southern provinces (following biomass digester installation) during the winter has led to demand for organic fruits and vegetables in northern areas. This had led to demand for roads, trucking and marketing of such vegetables. This leads to increased demand for investments, requirements for market price information, production loans for new private sector investments, and upward along the economic supply chain. Of course, part of this change is due to the massive economic growth and increases in consumption over the past several years in China as a whole. A SEA can help to identify economically significant components and environmental risks in order to provide guidance to national policies and plans for the sector. When one considers that the government provided more than 1,000,000 government backed loans (called T-bonds) to assist private farm families in the construction of biomass waste management systems during 2005, the limited number of measures to ascertain national environmental impacts is astounding.

Institutional and capacity requirements for SEA in China

Clearly there is justification, and a foundation for SEA in China. There are also significant institutional barriers that will need to be overcome. At present while there is interest in the approach among environmental professionals, there is no legal framework or set of procedures for dealing with assessment of policies, plans and programs. One of the first institutional requirements is to explain to senior politicians, planners, decision makers and bureaucrats more clearly what SEA is, what it entails, and how they can benefit from its application. Training and capacity building such as that currently offered by the World Bank and the Swedish International Development Agency are positive first steps[2].

There is high level support for SEA in the China's State Environmental Planning Agency. An editorial in China Daily in August 2005 endorsed the adoption of SEA as a more effective program for environmental management than assessment on a case-by-case basis. Pan Yue, Vice Minister of SEPA speaking at the 8th Green China Forum themed “Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment and Sustainable Development” stated:

During previous deliberations on significant economic policies, national strategic assessment has been neglected, with little consideration of environmental impact. This has resulted in large-scale pollution and ecological destruction … Before, attention was only paid to assessment of specific construction projects. However, construction is the last link in the decision making chain, so assessment at this point has only a small influence and cannot protect the wider environment or guide policymaking ( China Daily, 2005, August 29).

The vice minister asserted that impact assessment planning should involve working out a framework in line with five major resources: energy, freshwater, arable land, mineral and biological resources.

As a first step, institutional procedures need to be established that identify formal decision making procedures. Also, specific management rules should be enacted to clearly demarcate the roles and responsibilities of different government agencies involved in SEA work. Once various agencies are aware that higher levels of responsibility with regard to SEA are expected of them, then there may be more receptivity to the capacity building required to develop the practical steps need to conduct such assessments.

Building institutional awareness and capacity building for SEA should focus on five areas:

  1. Development of the tools and procedures for the application of SEA. Many of these are similar to EIA procedures: screening, scoping, public consultations and hearings, environmental assessment, preparation of a report, drafting an environmental management system, monitoring and follow-up. The differences between project level EIA and the scope of SEA, in terms of its regional, cross-sectoral, policy impacts need to be clearly articulated and understood.
  2. Adapting strategic evaluation tools and techniques to the national (or regional) context. It is crucial to develop appropriate methods and techniques for improvement and facilitation of the SEA process. In this respect it might be easier to focus on discrete case studies or sectors that fall on either extreme (having relatively benign environmental impacts or benefits, on the one hand, or those that pose serious environmental risk on the other). The aim is to show how the techniques and tools can be most helpful to the analyst.
  3. Efforts to increase public awareness of the impacts of policies and programs on environmental issues through public consultation are an essential part of the SEA process. In China this can perhaps best be ensured if such consultation is formally determined, by regulation.
  4. As noted above, capacity building and training in the procedures, tools and techniques of SEA is essential. Such programs should be offered across a wide range of participants including administrators, decision-makers and project staff as well as those involved in environmental assessment. Universities have begun the process of training students in the SEA process.
  5. Several pilot projects should be selected for preparing SEA reports. One of the objectives of these pilots is to show the benefits that can be achieved in as non-threatening a manner as possible. For this reason, the “tail wagging the dog” approach is suggested whereby a clearly benign strategic objective such as expansion of renewable energy is programmed over a spatial area, impacts, which are generally positive, are measured and demonstrated, and procedures to scale up such programs through area-wide planning and policies are suggested. This is a type of bottom-up approach to strategic assessment that is non-threatening and yet demonstrates the utility of broad-based planning and environmental management for purposes of sustainable development.

Assessing the utility of the approach: conclusions

Instead of waiting for national policy change to lead to effective adoption of sustainable strategic environmental objectives, the suggested approach is to adopt SEA-type procedures initially, pending greater understanding of the tool and the development of institutional capacity to implement it.

As suggested with the example from biomass technologies and renewable energy, there are clear advantages of SEA as a consequence of the horizontal integration of assessments. By this phrase we mean the process of bringing together different types of impacts, environmental, economic and social into a single overall assessment during the process of plan or project implementation. In the ADB case study in China we see this was done through three discrete monitoring instruments for energy and environmental monitoring, a beneficiary impact assessment and a financial management information system. One of the essential components of SEA is its all-embracing scope.

SEA can also be useful at different levels in the policy, planning and programming hierarchy. This is termed the vertical integration of assessment, and refers to tiering, dealing with different levels of a plan or program. As described above, there is a need to integrate environmental assessment at the farm level, county and provincial, and regional and national levels. SEA can answer different questions depending on the various concerns of stakeholders at the different levels or tiers.

Lastly, SEA is useful over time in dealing with impacts and change at different stages in the planning cycle. This process, which is termed the “integration of assessments into decision-making”, is the temporal dimension of strategic thinking. Sustainable development, and strategies to achieve this objective are by definition changeable and long-term. SEA must be seen as a process capable of recognizing and highlighting those decisions taken over time to achieve long-term objectives.

Is China ready for SEA? Yes, the process is already underway. Given the dynamic economic growth process that is also underway, SEA will be a most valuable tool for sustainable development.

ImageThe structure of biomass energy resources in China (%) (total 487 Mtoe/year)
Figure 1The structure of biomass energy resources in China (%) (total 487 Mtoe/year)

ImagePrimary energy consumption in China in 2000
Table IPrimary energy consumption in China in 2000

References

Asian Development Bank (2002), Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes, Report and recommendation to the President, Loan No. 1924-PRC, September, Asian Devoplment Bank, Mandaluyong City, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Che, X., Shang, J., Wang, J. (2002), "Strategic environmental assessment and its development in China", Environmental Impact Assessment Review, pp.101-9.

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

China Daily (2005), "SEPA: Green assessment needed", China Daily, No.August 29, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Dalal-Clayton, B., Sadler, B. (2005), Strategic Environmental Assessment: A Sourcebook and Reference Guide to International Experience, Earthscan, London, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

(2006), in Li, J., Shi, L., Wang, Z. (Eds),Overview of Renewable Energy Development in China, Energy Bureau, National Development and Reform Commission, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Li, L., Xing, Z., DeLaquil, P., Larson, E.D. (2001), "Biomass energy in China and its potential", Energy for Sustainable Development, Vol. 4 No.4, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Ma, L. (2005), “The expectation of biomass power development in China”, Proceedings of the China Renewable Energy Development Strategy Workshop, Beijing, 28 October, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Martinot, E. (2006), Renewable Energy Information on [China]'s Markets, Policy, Investment, and Future Pathways, available at: www.martinot.info/china.htm, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Raymont, M. (2005), “Timely boost for renewables in China”, Pinsent Masons press article, available at: www.pinsentmasons.com/media/1720934292.htm (accessed August 19, 2005), .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Stockholm Environment Institute (2001), “Research and advice on strategic environmental assessment”, Stockholm, November, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Wang, J. (2005), "Thinkings and measures to further facilitate construction of renewable energy resources in rural areas", Proceedings of the International Seminar on Biogas for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development, Beijing, 17-20 October, 2005, p. 11, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

World Bank, Environment and Social Development Department, East Asia and Pacific Region (2005), Regional Review of EIA Regulations and SEA Requirements: Practices and Lessons Learned in East and Southeast Asia, Main Report, Vol. 1, October, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Further Reading

Abaza, H., Bisset, R., Sadler, B. (2004), Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment: Towards an Integrated Approach, United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Gu, S. (2005), “Biogas resources of China and its exploitation and utilization”, Proceedings of the China Renewable Energy Development Strategy Workshop, Beijing, China, 28 October, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Linacre, N.A., Gaskell, J., Rosegrant, M.W., Falck-Zepeda, J., Quemada, H., Halsey, M., Birner, R. (2005), “Analysis for biotechnology innovations using strategic environmental assessment (SEA)”, EPT Discussion Paper 140, Environment and Production Technology Division, IFPRI, Washington, DC, August, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Mao, W., Hills, P. (2002), "Impacts of the economic-political reform on environmental impact assessment implementation in China", Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, Vol. 20 No.2, pp.101-11.

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

National Environmental Protection Agency of China, The State Planning Commission of China, UNDP, The World Bank (1994), China: Issues and Options in Greenhouse Gas Emissions Control: Summary Report, Washington, DC and Beijing, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Partidário, M.R., Arts, J. (2005), "Exploring the concept of strategic environmental assessment follow-up", Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, Vol. 23 No.3, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Ranney, J.W., Mann, L.K. (1994), "Environmental considerations in energy crop production", Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 6 No.3, pp.211-28.

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

Sadler, B., Veerhem, R. (1996), Strategic Environmental Assessment – Status, Challenges and Future Directions, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Hague, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

UNESCAP (2005), Review of the Implementation Status of the Outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development – An Asia-Pacific Perspective. Item 4 – Energy for Sustainable Development, Bangkok, 19-20 January, .

[Manual request] [Infotrieve]

About the author

Gene M. Owens is an international environmental consultant and Executive Director of EcoShare Group LLC, Bethesda, Maryland USA. He was formerly a staff member of the Asian Development Bank. Recent environmental consulting services have focused on renewable energy applications in China and Uzbekistan. He holds advanced degrees from Johns Hopkins University (MS), Harvard University (MPA), and Georgetown University (PhD). He can be contacted at: geneowens2@aol.com