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Crop bases to feed biofuel production

By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-04 11:15

Four non-grain-based ethanol plants are currently under construction in the autonomous regions of Inner Mogolia and Guangxi Zhuang and the provinces of Hebei and Shandong, which boast ample supplies of cassava and other biomaterials.

It is hoped they can help strike a better balance between ethanol demand and food supply.

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With the growth in the production of non-grain based ethanol, the proportion of corn used in the process will fall from the present 90 percent to 70 percent after 2009, Cao Zhi, a market analysis on ethanol production, said.

However, some experts say the country lacks sufficient support policies to ensure the development of non-grain ethanol production.

Non-grain-based biofuels are currently not allowed to enter the market and their producers do not enjoy the same government subsidies as grain-based product manufacturers, Cao said.

China plans to produce about 6 million tons of ethanol by 2010 and 15 million tons by 2020, as well as 5 million tons of biodiesel.