(Originally published on 03/08/2014)

UNDP China signed a cooperation agreement with Wuhan Kaidi Electric Power Co., Ltd., to work together on a project entitled Sustainable Biomass Energy Development in China, a 3-year endeavor worth USD 5.8 million.

In line with the government’s efforts in sustainable and inclusive development, the project will focus on the capacity development of local farmers in a relatively poor sugarcane farming area of south-west China. It will establish farmers’ cooperatives and organize a Farmers' Field School (FFS), while innovating for mechanized sugarcane harvest-juicing and energy-efficient sugar milling technologies. In addition to sugarcane, the project will also pilot biomass sourcing from eucalyptus energy forests, energy grasses, and cassava plantations. Biomass will be used in a pilot energy plant which will generate power from biomass without the need for combustion, thereby saving on pollution and carbon emissions. In this way, the project will benefit both people and the environment. It also has significant scope for replication both in China and beyond. The project will be implemented in partnership with the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE).

This project represents a practical and positive contribution to global and domestic efforts in shifting to sustainable development and in reducing poverty, also in line with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s initiative on “Sustainable Energy for All".