Construction of Three Large Biodiesel Demonstrative Projects Begins in China

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In order to encourage the development of the biodiesel industry, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approved three biodiesel demonstrative projects recently, namely PetroChina Nanchong's 60,000-ton-per-year bio-diesel project located at Nanchong city in western China's Sichuan province; Sinopec Guizhou Petrochemical Company (Guiyang)'s 50,000 ton-per-year biodiesel project located in southwestern China's Guizhou province; and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (Beijing)'s 60,000-ton-per-year biodiesel project located at southern China's Hainan province. The three biodiesel demonstrative projects will use tung tree as raw material.

These three projects are approved according to the general development strategy of biodiesel industry and are in line with related policies and state arrangements for the biodiesel industry, said the NDRC in its announcement. Development of biodiesel involves a complicated system of engineering. Selection of large state-owned petroleum companies with experiences in biological fuel development to carry out the construction of demonstrative projects is important. The major purpose of the projects is to accumulate experiences in every facet of the biodiesel manufacturing process, from the gathering of raw materials to marketing the final product. This will allow for the creation of a package of technical measures and management rules for the production, storage, sales and application of biodiesel.

As a large diesel consumer, China's annual diesel consumption is about 70 million metric tons per year. Of this, about one-third of the consumption is from import. Based on the estimate of the International Energy Agency, China is the second largest petroleum consumer in the world and has a growing reliance on imported petroleum. Development of a biodiesel industry would be helpful for China in reducing this reliance on imported fossil fuels.

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