Wide Use of Corn-Based Ethanol Fuel Not Choice for China: Experts
(People’s Daily Online) Agricultural experts said Saturday it was too early for China to adopt corn-based ethanol fuel to feed automobiles, given the expensive production costs and the country’s large population.
Li Xinhua, a professor at Shenyang Agricultural University, said at the sidelines of the ongoing ninth China Changchun International Agriculture and Food Fair that the massive production of corn ethanol could threaten China’s food security, especially when the country suffered severe natural disasters.
The lingering drought that parched southwest China early this year, along with the devastating floods that hit most parts of China this summer, raised concerns over the country’s grain supplies and stoked the debate whether China should allow the production of ethanol from corn.
…”China has started its mass planting program for cassava and sweet potatoes for industrial use. Probably, the use of non-grain feedstock for ethanol plants will be the solution to China’s dilemma in developing renewable energy,” Li said. READ MORE
