December 12, 2006

China to secure food supply before biofuel production

A senior Chinese official has assured the public of sufficient food supplies amid rising concerns over the potential impact of developing biofuel from grains.

With increasing amounts of grain being diverted to the biofuel industry and the consequent rise in prices of the same, Chinese have been a worried lot. Zhu Zhigang, vice minister of finance, however, clarified Saturday, Dec 9 that biofuel and biochemistry must only be developed on the basis of guaranteeing China's food supplies first.

Ethanol is the main biofuel produced in China, with output hitting 1.02 million tonnes last year. Corn accounted for 76 percent of the raw material, with wheat and sorghum providing the rest.

Zhu stressed that grain's importance could not be underplayed since the country's arable land was insufficient to feed a population of 1.3 billion. Therefore, grain should only be diverted for biofuel production when its supply exceeds demand.

Such a move would balance supply and demand, and protect a farmer's enthusiasm for crop growing, he said.

The government thus intends to impose strict controls on any biofuel project using grain as the raw material.

Further, for biofuel projects that use agricultural plants and wastes, the government would require them to build a raw material production base, which must use uncultivated land instead of arable land.