August 29, 2007

Yunnan aims to be China's biggest biofuel production region

China's south-western province Yunnan has plans to expand its fuel ethanol production capacity to 2 million tonnes by 2010, which will make it the biggest bio-fuel production region in the country.

Yunnan's original target of 1 million tonnes of fuel ethanol by 2010, which was set in the country's eleventh five-year plan (2006-2010), has been recently revised to 2 million tonnes. Industry participants estimate that the production of 2 million tonnes of fuel ethanol will require 150 million tonnes of feedstock. 

As a major cassava and sweet potato production region with a total planted area of 170,000 hectares, Yunnan has abundant supply of such crops that can be used as feedstock for producing fuel ethanol. Compared with corn and sugarcane, using cassava to produce fuel ethanol involves lower cost.

To date, 20 companies had already been licensed to produce fuel ethanol in the province. By end-2007, 10 of these completed plants, which were located in the districts of Honghe, Lincang and Dehong, will realize a total production capacity of 300,000 tonnes.