China is promoting the use of ethanol-enriched petrol for motor vehicles across nine provinces, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said yesterday.

 

Liu Tienan, director of the commission's Department of Industry, was quoted as saying China had successfully established four fuel ethanol production bases, with a capacity of 1.02 million tons every year.

 

Two State-owned oil industry giants, China National Petroleum Corporation and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, have reached an annual production capacity of 10.2 million tons of ethanol-enriched petrol, with its consumption now accounting for 20 percent of the nation’s total.

 

Liu said the nation is now spreading the use of ethanol-enriched petrol in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Henan, Anhui, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Hubei provinces.

 

In 2005, north China's three provinces grew 4.27 million tons of maize to produce fuel ethanol, up 135 percent from 2003 among 40.63 million tons of maize, 30 percent of the nation's total maize output.

 

Zhao Xuewen, an expert with Liaoning Province’s Industrialization of Agriculture Office, said Northeast China, located in one of the world's three major "Corn Belts," plays a key role in the new energy revolution.

 

"Fuel ethanol is a renewable and environmentally friendly resource," Liu said. "The spread of ethanol-enriched petrol has great significance because it can save energy, protect the environment and digest stocked grain."

 

Ethanol-enriched fuel is considered cleaner and more efficient than regular petrol, producing fewer harmful emissions and containing higher octane, it helps vehicles achieve optimum efficiency.

 

"And since ethanol can be distilled from maize, it plays a key role in efforts to reduce our country's dependence on oil," Liu said.

 

Liu said soaring international crude oil prices are putting great pressure on China's economic development, adding to the urgency of discovering long-term viable oil substitutes.

 

(China Daily September 28, 2006)