PetroChina starts experimental biodiesel plant

PetroChina said it has started building a biodiesel experimental facility in southwestern China. It will be the company’s first trial to produce the alternative fuel. The trial facility, located in Nanchong city, Sichuan province, will use biomass materials planted by local farmers as feedstock, the company said in its newly released social responsibility report. The facility is designed to have an annual production capacity of 10,000 metric tons of biodiesel, with construction to be completed later this year. PetroChina plans to produce 100,000 tons of biodiesel in Sichuan, and another 100,000 tons a year in other regions of the country, by 2010. The company, a unit of China National Petroleum Corp., aims to be the largest biomass energy producer in the country. (April 11, 2007)