Status of biodiesel production at home and abroad (continued)

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I. The Development of Biodiesel in China: Research and development on biodiesel in China began at an early stage. As early as 1981, some scholars and experts began experimental research on producing biodiesel using plant oils such as rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, sumac oil, tung oil, and tea seed oil. China **began to pay formal attention to the research and development of biodiesel in 2000. At present, Hainan Zhenghe Bioenergy Company, Sichuan Gushan Oil and Chemical Company, and Fujian Zhuoyue New Energy Development Company have all developed technologies with independent intellectual property rights, and have successively built production facilities of a certain scale. Its main raw materials include wild oilseeds, by-products of vegetable oils, gutter oil, and swill oil. China attaches great importance to biofuels and has formulated relevant policies to promote their development. In 2004, the Department of High-Tech and Industrialization under the Ministry of Science and Technology launched the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan” research project on “biofuel technology development.” On January 28, 2005, the 35th Science and Technology Forum of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, titled the “2005 China Biotechnology Forum,” was held at the Great Hall of the People, where the feasibility of bioliquid fuels and biochemical products in China was discussed. On February 28, the Tenth National People’s Congress passed the Renewable Energy Law, which was subsequently signed into law by the President. In 2005, a **special project on agricultural and forestry biomass engineering**, led by Academician Shi Yuanchun, was launched. The target production volume for biodiesel was set at 2 million tons per year by 2010, and 12 million tons per year by 2020. At present, there are no unified quality standards for biodiesel produced in China; it is generally only suitable for use in agricultural or power generation machinery. There is still a long way to go before it can be used directly in cars and ships without causing any mechanical damage, especially in diesel cars. China’s biodiesel production technology is still at an early stage. However, compared with other countries, China still lags far behind in the development of biodiesel; it remains stuck at the stage of preliminary research and has failed to achieve industrialization of biodiesel ； **No set of supportive, preferential, and incentive policies has yet been established for biodiesel ； There are even no unified standards for biodiesel, nor any strategies for its industrial development. Therefore, after joining the WTO, faced with the dual pressures of rapid economic development and environmental protection, it has become even more urgent to accelerate the industrialization of efficient and clean biodiesel in our country. II. Prospects for biodiesel Production In China, there are approximately 1,000 species of wild oil-bearing plants with an oil content of over 15%, and around 300 species with an oil content of over 20%. China’s hybrid rapeseed varieties are at the world’s leading level; the country has the largest area under rapeseed cultivation and the highest total production volume in the world, in addition to abundant rapeseed resources. China is a major consumer of edible oils – in 2005, the total consumption of such oils was around 20 million tons. Approximately 10% of the consumed vegetable oils are discarded after use, resulting in 2 million tons of waste edible oils. If these can be recycled, they can be used as raw materials for biodiesel production. It is evident that China has ample supplies of raw materials for biodiesel production. According to forecasts by relevant authorities, China’s oil demand is expected to reach 450 million tons per year by 2020. By then, China’s annual oil production is expected to be only around 200 million tons, resulting in a shortfall of 250 million tons. Even if all of the world’s available oil exports were given to China, it would still be impossible to meet its demand. Currently, the ratio of diesel to gasoline in production is around 1.8, while the market ratio is above 2.0; in provinces and regions such as Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou, this ratio is even above 2.5. With the acceleration of western development and the successive launch of major infrastructure projects for the national economy, the contradiction regarding the fuel-to-air ratio has become more pronounced than ever before. “The 11th Five-Year Development Plan called for the development of various oil substitutes, designating the development of bio-liquid fuels as a **key direction for industrial development. It is evident that biodiesel has broad prospects for development. Reportedly, the current price of biodiesel in the domestic market is around 4,700–5,000 yuan per ton. Reports suggest that 75% of the cost of biodiesel comes from the price of raw materials. Due to its price advantage and large, stable supply capacity, palm oil has become the preferred raw material for biodiesel in China. Figures 1–2 show the price trend of palm oil. Figure 1: Weekly trends of Malaysian FOB and BMD in Week 40 of 2006 (February 2006). Last edited by van-basten on 2008-1-3 at 13:39.]