US-China Bioenergy Webinar

As oil imports and private vehicle ownership continue to skyrocket, biofuels have become an increasingly attractive option for China. While policies supporting the development of ethanol as an alternative fuel have been in place since 2002, however, it is unclear what policies and financial incentives China will use to meet its ambitious alternative fuel goals for 2020.

According to the 2012 China Greentech Report, China's Ministry of Agriculture has estimated a potential production capacity of 14 million tons of fuel ethanol by 2020 and of 25.5 million tons by 2030. Government targets for road transportation aim for 20% alternative fuel use by 2020. Meanwhile, efforts to increase food security and safely dispose of waste cooking oil are also driving state-led investment in biodiesel. Finally, pilot programs that take advantage of China's polluted inland water resources to grow algae have been highly promising.

At present, however, only 6.6% of China's road transportation mix comes from alternative fuels, with only 0.1% coming from biodiesel. While China has staged ambitious pilot programs, moreover, Beijing has yet to implement the ambitious subsidies and generous policy support that the industry will need to develop.

The private sector, however, has made substantial progress, with major international players, such as Boeing, DuPont, Coskata, Novozymes, and Honeywell UOP entering the market and partnering with large domestic enterprises such as COFCO, PetroChina, and Air China to establish biofuel research, production, and refining facilities. Feedstocks are diverse, ranging from algae to forestry waste to manioc, and applications have been equally broad.

The American Council on Renewable Energy's US-China Program invites you to a roundtable of a select group of industry experts for a robust discussion on these trends in the Chinese biofuels sector. Topics covered will include:

1. What policies and subsidies the government will use to meet its biofuel targets
2. The role of existing policies in supporting the industry and what future policies to expect
3. The outlook on areas of cooperation for private and state-owned players
4. How aviation biofuels can play a role in shaping the industry

Please join us for this interesting and provocative discussion. After a short presentation by each of our panelists, the floor will be open for panel discussion and questions from participants.