China to restrict ethanol, coal liquidification industries |
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Sun, 10 Jun 2007 10:57
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BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China will restrict its ethanol and coal liquidification industries as part of efforts to address environmental pollution and realize sustainable development, the state-owned Beijing Youth Daily reported.The State Council, China's cabinet, has approved in principle a 'long-term renewable energy development plan,' which calls for restrictions on developing the two energy sources due to their environmental impact, the paper said.It was not immediately clear when the plan would be formally approved.'The rapid development of grain-based ethanol biofuels has resulted in commodity price pressures in non-developed nations,' the report said.China's grain stores should be focused on feeding its 1.3 bln people and crop lands should be reserved for food production, not energy production, it said.The renewable energy plan would restrict China's ethanol industry to producing fuel from non-grain sources, such as grasses, corn stalks or other plant by-products, it said.China produced 1.54 mln tons of ethanol in 2006, of which 850,000 tons were made from corn, using about 2 pct of its total corn production, the paper said.China will also restrict its fledgling coal liquidification industry due to its high investment needs and its high demand for water and energy during the production process, it said.Coal liquidification is a process which turns coal into liquid gasoline or diesel. Other byproducts of coal liquidification include high carbon dioxide emissions and sulphur dioxide, lead and mercury pollution.afp/net
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