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COFCO to invest US$1b in ethanol

By Wan Zhihong (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-19 08:53

The firm already owns an ethanol plant in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and has a 20 per cent stake in another plant in Jilin Province, both with total annual capacity of 800,000 tons and using corn as feedstock.

China has become the world's third-largest ethanol producer after Brazil and the United States, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The government will continue offering subsidies to fuel ethanol producers. It currently provides the four plants 1,373 yuan (US$173.8) in subsidies for every ton of ethanol.
The nation plans to double its domestic ethanol gasoline production figure in the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-10), said the NDRC.

Bio-energy has been developing rapidly in China. According to statistics, by the end of 2005 more than 18.07 million households were using methane gas for fuel.

More than 3,550 bio-energy projects produce nearly 7 billion cubic metres of methane each year, according to the statistics.

Bio-energy will account for 1 per cent of China's renewable energy consumption by 2010, and 4 per cent by 2020, said sources with the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA).

Analysts said that developing bio-energy in rural China will promote the development of China's agricultural industry.

According to the MOA, China's installed capacity of bio-energy electricity will reach 5.5 million kilowatts by 2010, and 30 million kilowatts by 2020.