China to Miss its 2010 Ethanol Target

According to a recent Reuters report, China will miss its 2010 ethanol as fuel target. This is because China is not relaxing control over non-grain feedstocks, at the same time as restricting ethanol production through grain.

“We are unable to meet the ethanol target. The major reason is because of a shortage of raw material,” said Ren Dongming, a deputy director with Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission.

This is quite significant, since China has been ranked as the third largest ethanol producer in the world.

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Since China is such a large crude oil importer, any methods to reduce oil dependence meant a potential gain for the economy, as well as potential emissions reductions. However, due to food security concerns, in June China began to restrict ethanol production, utilizing grain products for food production rather than energy products.

China’s ethanol target had been a blending 2 million tonnes of ethanol in gasoline by 2010 and 10 million tonnes by 2020. Additionally, ethanol consumption had begun to be phased in across the country, leading to concerns about fuel supplies.

The ten Chinese provinces using ethanol fuel were:

• South China: Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region;
• Northeast: Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces;
• North: Henan and Hebei provinces;
• East: Anhui, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces; and
• Central: Hubei Province

Photo Sources: rfarmer and swanksalot via Flickr under a Creative Commons licence.

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