The finishing touches must still be done, but, as sources with the national planning authority say, all that is left is the math – the easiest part.
The outline of a sophisticated, in theory at least, blueprint is clear enough on the drawing board – to subsidize the production of non-grain-based fuel ethanol and make it as profitable as traditional fuels.
The plan could be the best possible way to cope with the dilemma we are facing. On the one hand, there is the pressing need to find alternative sources of energy to ease the pressure our economic growth is putting on domestic and overseas supplies; on the other, there are practical concerns about grain security.
Derived from plants, fuel ethanol is a renewable source of energy that releases much less carbon dioxide than petroleum-based fuels. Ethanol gasoline, a 9:1 blend of traditional gas and fuel ethanol that has been used in motor vehicles for years in some provinces, has proven as efficient as traditional fuel and a lot more environment-friendly.
The central government showed admirable political will when it decided to embrace this new alternative. To date, fuel ethanol production in our country has been based primarily on corn. In order to popularize this promising alternative source of energy, governments at all levels have dedicated large subsidies to fuel ethanol to make it affordable.
But for a nation of 1.3 billion people, food security is always the No 1 consideration. Frequent fluctuations in the grain market, the most recent one in particular, serve to remind decision-makers that the food supply is far from secure.
The biggest disadvantage of corn-based fuel ethanol is that corn cultivation uses too much arable land, the most valuable resource for the country's agricultural production. This is why the new initiative to reorient central financial support makes sense.
The move is aimed at encouraging producers to grow sweet potatoes, cassavas and other plants that use less fertile land.
This sounds like a perfect design, which we hope will work.
Still, it will take more than brainwork to meet the demands of large-scale fuel ethanol production, especially when we want to minimize the use of cultivated land.
For this reason, the ambitious new blueprint needs to be matched with solid feasibility studies.
