World grain supply not enough to produce bio fuels
The use of cereals and palm oil in producing bio fuels is forcing a
price hike on basic foods. Non edible plants now being tested.
Meanwhile Beijing sets out plans for renewable energy sources, even if
in the short term more expensive than coal.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – China wants to double its use of
renewable energy by 2020, such as hydro energy, wind power and solar
energy as well as biofuels by increasing their extraction from cereals
and vegetable oils. But the high costs are presenting obstacles.

After an initial enthusiasm the world has become aware that it is not
capable of producing sufficient grain to feed its population and
produce biofuels. The boom in biofuels in recent years has led to
sharp rice in world grain prices, with widespread grave social
repercussions. David Jackson, of Lmc International Ltd London,
estimates that by 2015 a further 100 million hectares of crop
production (half the size of Indonesia) will be needed to meet just 5%
of vehicle consumption. But to obtain this, entire forests would be
decimated.

Sugar cane produces more ethanol, but it requires a lot of water in a
world suffering from drought. The use of palm oil to produce fuel has
resulted in two thirds price hike in recent years, bringing it to 735
dollars a tonne, which crude oil costs 593 dollars per tonne. Thus
many plantation projects particularly in Asian have been abandoned.

Now there are plans to use non edible oil plants in the production of
biofuels such as jatropha, the leaves seeds and fruit of which are
toxic. The British company D1 Oils plc has planted 175 thousand
hectares of Jatropha in Africa as well as in India and China.

Beijing has also set out on the arduous journey of renewable energy
sources. "So far there is not profit" – explains Zhou Fengqi, Chief
of China's renewable energy programme – but there is "the will to
become a leader in clean energy in the future". This explains why
projects are financed by leading companies in the energy sector. In
order to extract methane gas from the coal mines and biofuels from the
vegetable plantations, over the next few years China Power, the
leading electricity supplier will invest 4 billion dollars and the
petrol giant PetroChina will spend 10 billion Yuan.

Yet coal, although a major pollutant remains the cheapest of all fuels
and covers over 80% of the countries energy demand. China Resources
Power will invest between 3 and 5 million Yuan by 2010 in wind power,
but exploiting wind power costs three times more than a coal station.

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