Based on domestic energy resources, mass production of ecological
diesel oil has important strategic significance in enhancing the
country's oil supply security, Xu Kangxi, vice president of the
Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), declared at a seminar held in
Beijing on January 18.
Developing an ecological diesel industry can promote rural economic
and social development, according to Xu and experts in
petrochemistry, energy development, plant physiology and oil crops.
For example, developing oil crops can provide a new approach to
transforming farming and forestry products into industrial ones,
and this will help in adjusting the agricultural structure and
increasing farmers' income.
Ecological diesel is also beneficial to environmental protection.
Compared with normal fuel oil and diesel, ecological diesel can
reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, benzene leading to cancers,
and the discharge of other pollutants. It can also make use of
waste edible oil and oil waste products, and help reduce dirty and
poisonous waste oil pollution.
Ecological diesel is a kind of energy recycling. It is a kind of
liquid fuel made from oil crops such as soybeans and Brassica
juncea seeds; oil plants such as oil palm and Chinese
pistachio; aquatic plants; animal fat; and waste food oil.
Ecological diesel is now enjoying rapid development in the world.
The United States, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Australia and India are
actively developing the technology. The output of ecological diesel
in countries of the European Union exceeded 1 million tons in 2001.
Over the past few years, the Chinese government has supported
research and development of ecological diesel. Some companies of
Hainan, Sichuan and Fujian provinces have developed technology with
their own property rights, with annual output of ecological diesel
exceeding 10,000 tons each.
CAE Officials said China's 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05) promotes
the development of various kinds of oil substitutes and designates
ecological liquid fuel as a state industrial development goal. The
ecological diesel industry has received support from the State
Council, the State Development Planning Commission, the Sate
Economic and Trade Commission and the Ministry of Science and
Technology, and has been listed in related state development
plans.
(china.org.cn by Li Jingrong, January 23, 2003)