China looking to expand non-grain biofuels

BEIJING (AFP) – China has launched a series of pilot programs for farmers to plant non-grain crops as raw materials for biofuels, state media has reported, citing a senior government official.

Sorghum, cassava and other biofuel crops will be planted on lands that are unfit for grain production, the China Daily quoted Yang Jian, a director at the ministry as saying.

The ministry has allocated land in the eastern province of Shangdong and the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to produce sweet sorghum as a start to the trials, Yang said.

China, which relies mostly on polluting energy sources like coal, has set a goal of producing about six million tons of cleaner-burning substitutes such as ethanol by 2010 and 15 million tons by 2020.

AFP