Taiwan could benefit greatly from expansion of the biofuel industry, the Council for Economic Planning and Development said April 3.
Biofuel can contribute to energy diversification, year-round use of agricultural land and environmental protection, as well as help raise the nation’s energy self-sufficiency and farming income, according to the CEPD.
Information from US-based clean-technology research and consulting firm Clean Edge shows that global biofuel production surpassed 100 million kiloliters in 2010, for a total value of roughly US$56.4 billion. This figure is expected to reach US$112.8 billion by the year 2020.
In response to energy conservation and carbon reduction trends, Taiwan implemented a regulation in May 2008 requiring that all diesel fuels for automobiles contain at least 1 percent biofuel, with the proportion upped to 2 percent in 2010.
In 2011, state-run China Steel, Taiwan’s largest steel-maker, together with Kao Yuan University and National Formosa University, succeeded in developing a second-generation biofuel from pyrolysis of rice straw and coffee grounds, which after further testing could gradually replace conventional automobile fuels.
State-owned petroleum giant CPC Taiwan began planting Jatropha curcas trees on 100,000 hectares of land in the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan in May 2011 to provide a low-cost and stable supply of biodiesel for domestic enterprises.
CPC planted Jatropha curcus trees on 3 hectares of land in Taiwan in October 2008, in cooperation with the Council for Agriculture, with the aim of selecting first-rate strains and planting models so as to gradually expand domestic production of alternative energies from nonfood crops.
Given that Taiwan imports 99 percent of its energy resources, biofuels have a crucial role to play in the country’s development, the CEPD said.
