Could China’s waste mountains of corncobs fuel a greener future?
Researchers say the farm by-product can be transformed into biofuel more efficiently than other plant material
A farm by-product that usually goes to waste in China could be the fuel of the future, helping to cut greenhouse gas emissions throughout the country, according to research by US-based scientists.
But more government incentives are needed to make the most of the opportunity, one of the researchers said.
In a study published last week in the scientific journal Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, scientists at Iowa State University in the United States said that corncobs could be used to produce the biofuel ethanol more efficiently and generate less greenhouse gases than other sources such as corn grain.
Blending ethanol with petrol can reduce vehicle emissions, something China plans to do nationwide by 2020 to meet its commitment to limiting its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The authors analysed data from an ethanol refinery in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, one of the few in the country that turns corncobs into the fuel.
China aims to turn farm waste into biofuel under nationwide ethanol plan
Their analysis covered the entire ethanol production chain, from transporting the raw material to sending the fuel to service stations.