Thirsty for fuel energy, China has begun promoting the use of gasohol, an alternative fuel made from ethanol combined with gasoline, in its major farming provinces.

Corn, potatoes and sugar cane serve as major raw materials for ethanol, which can account for up to 10 percent of gasohol. China is encouraging Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Anhui and Henan, all major farming provinces, to turn their surplus produce into the alternative fuel.

Heilongjiang Province in the country's northeast, China's largest commodity grain producer and home of Daqing, the country's largest oil field, has decided to put 345,000 tons of its old stock of grain into ethanol, said Yao Zhongkai, an official with the province's economic and trade commission.

It is estimated that 3.3 tons of corn can produce one ton of fuel ethanol with byproducts of foodstuffs, cooking oil and food additives.

Yao said that the promotion of the alternative fuel opened a new channel of commercial use for the province's surplus grain production and will result in an income rise of farmers.

The alternative fuel can also help reduce carbon monoxide emissions from automobiles by 40 percent, thus alleviating air pollution.

As of this month, all automobiles in Heilongjiang are required to use gasohol. A similar move was also launched in Jilin Province.

The use of gasohol is also being promoted in Liaoning, Anhui and Henan provinces, but is not obligatory.

The move is expected to extend to four more provinces by the end of 2005: Hubei, Shandong, Hebei and Jiangsu, but only 27 cities in the provinces have been selected for pilot programs.

A fast growing automobile and energy market, China is now the second largest oil importer in the world. The promotion of the alternative fuel is expected to reduce its dependence on crude oil imports during a time of soaring oil prices.

(Xinhua News Agency November 7, 2004)