Ever wondered where all the old yuan Banknotes ends up? Well, in order to produce biomass-generated electricity, mutilated currencies amounting up to 100 billion yuan ($15.67 billion) are being shredded then burned at Yancheng city in Jiangsu Province.

"The damaged notes unloaded from the trucks will be burned together with straws after being shredded," power plant employee Zhu Hongwei said. "A truck of 30-ton damaged notes can generate about 30,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, which can provide electricity to a family for 30 months if the family needs 100 kilowatt hours of power each month."

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"One-thousand-and-eight-hundred tons of damaged notes will be burned in a year as five truck loads of them are delivered to the plant every month," he added.

Notes with poor anti-counterfeit features have been pulled out of circulation to avoid imitations. The yuan currency represents is akin to the country's business card. Thus, the Chinese government is attempting to ensure that the banknotes are always in its untarnished condition. It is the banknotes' high heat and lower water content that makes it preferable for the biomass power plant.

Aside from the electricity it can generate, it reportedly has other uses. "The ashes of the burned notes can be turned into bricks for constructing projects," Hongwei said.

The burning of the notes has been an ongoing process following the latest release of the 2015 100 yuan bill on November 12 by the People's Bank of China.

TagsYuan notes, China currency, biomass power plant, burning of money, damaged notes, people's bank of china, Yuan Burned for Electricity, China Money Burned to Generate Electricity