China's ethanol market expected to double

We have covered China's interest in biofuels quite a number of times. What we didn't have until now were some clear figures on how the ethanol market is developing in the world's most populated country. Since 2004, fuel ethanol production has increased from 0.3 metric tons to 1.5 metric tons in 2007 and the Chinese fuel ethanol market is expected to double in the next few years. However, China is facing a serious problem: the lack of available land, especially when most of the ethanol is made from grains. Like so many other nations, China hopes to shift production of fuel ethanol away from grains to other feedstocks such as sweet potato, cassava, and sorghum. One of the country's major ethanol producers, Henan Tianguan Enterprise Group Co. Ltd., reportedly uses a mix of 60 percent wheat, 20 percent corn, 10 percent cassava, and 10 percent sweet potato to produce ethanol.

[Source: Cattle Network]