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According to China Petroleum Network, ICIS Chemical Business reported on February 24 that second-generation biofuel production technologies with greater potential, such as the thermal pyrolysis of cellulose-based materials, are replacing fuel production methods like those based on corn ethanol. Rapid thermal pyrolysis technology. The German company Lurgi, in collaboration with the Karlsruhe Research Center, is building a pilot plant for producing biofuels from cellulose as a raw material. The technical approach is as follows: First, thin-walled plants such as straw and wood chips are ground and then fed into a reactor, where they are rapidly heated to 500°C, causing them to pyrolyze and condense into a slurry ； The slurry is then sent to an oil refinery to be converted into syngas ； Syngas is converted into the desired fuel through the Fischer-Tropsch process. This fuel can be mixed with fossil fuels in any proportion. This facility can convert approximately 200,000 tons of dry lignocellulosic feedstock per year, with a production capacity of around 134,000 tons per year. This route is more efficient than synthesizing methanol. In 2011, the two companies will jointly build a gasification unit. Enzyme fermentation technology. Companies such as Syngenta in Switzerland are collaborating to develop second-generation biofuel technologies based on enzyme fermentation, including the creation of a range of new enzyme preparations related to cellulosic ethanol. These enzymes can convert pretreated cellulose into mixed sugars, which is a key step. To convert cellulose into biofuels, three breakthroughs are required: pretreatment (the chemical preparation of cellulose), saccharification (converting the pretreated cellulose into fermentable sugars using enzymes), and fermentation (developing new microorganisms to ferment the sugars into ethanol or other fuels). Aquatic biotechnology. Aquatic algae can be converted into biodiesel, which is turned into ethanol through the fermentation of sugars. The patented technology owned by the French company Eco-Solution allows algae to grow in reactors at a faster rate than in natural conditions. The company believes that the combination of open ponds and photoreactors is the most cost-effective approach.