Biofuel not realistic alternative to fuel Chinese cars

The processing of gasoline and diesel fuel from crops is not a realistic alternative for China’s growing fleet of cars, said Professor Ni Weidou, an energy expert at Beijing University. “China has only 7% of the world’s arable land to feed 21% of the world’s population, and it isn’t realistic to develop biofuel on such a wide scale,” he said. The number of cars on China’s roads has risen rapidly in recent years, from just five per 1,000 people in 1991 to 39 last year, according to Dai Yande of the National Development and Reform Commission’s Energy Research Institute. (October 25, 2007)