CNPC Designates Bio-Energy Model Base in Nanchong Province

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--China National Petroleum Corporation's (CNPC) (Beijing) Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company has announced that CNPC will designate its first bio-energy development and production base at a location in Nanchong City, Sichuan Province. Construction on the $25 million, 60,000-ton-per annum (TPA) bio-diesel project and the $110 million, 100,000-TPA fuel-ethanol project are scheduled to be complete in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

The Nanchong refining and petrochemical plant's 50 years of oil-refining history has laid a solid foundation for bio-energy research. In November 2007, Sichuan's government and CNPC signed an agreement to develop bio-energy in the provincial capital of Chengdu.

The "Sichuan Bio Energy Industry Development Plan" requires transforming Sichuan into the "Province of Green Energy" and the "Province of Clean Vehicles." The Nanchong plant was also listed as one of CNPC's bio-energy pilot bases.

To provide raw material to the base, CNPC has commissioned 66,700 hectares of jatropha curcas in the province and another 66,700 hectares outside the province.

Presently, the environmental evaluation and project planning are being carried out for two projects by Nanchong Refining and Petrochemical. The initial acquisition of 53 hectares of land needed for the projects has been allocated in Nanchong's Jialing District.

China is the world's third-largest bio-fuel-ethanol producer after Brazil and the U.S. It is expected that that jatropha curcas and pistacia will provide sufficient raw materials for 5 million TPA of bio-diesel every year, and waste and plant oil will produce 2 million tons of bio-diesel annually. It was reported that during the 11th five-year plan (2006-10), China will produce 6 million tons of liquid bio-fuel, with 5 million being fuel ethanol.

According to China's "Mid-term and Long-term Development Plan for Renewable Energy," renewable energy will account for 10% of all energy the country consumes by 2010; and up to15% by 2020. At the same time, by 2010, nongrain bio-ethanol production in China is expected to reach 2 million tons, and by 2020, that number is expected to reach 10 million. Nongrain diesel production is estimated to be 2 million tons by 2020 in China.

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