Henan Province actively promotes biofuel ethanol industry

Enterprises and governments explore new industries in downstream industries

Faced with the fall in corn prices in 2016 and the increasing importance of environmental pollution control, Henan corn deep processing enterprises have begun to actively explore the opportunities brought by biofuel ethanol.

Henan Province actively promotes biofuel ethanol industry

Recently, people from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Environmental Health Organization, and university research institutions were invited to Zhengzhou to pass the "fuel ethanol - clean sustainable energy / US experience sharing exchange meeting", and the province's agriculture, environmental protection, energy Other departments exchanged fuel ethanol to improve urban air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, biofuels and food security. Deep processing enterprises including Nanyang, Zhoukou, Jiaozuo and other places have come to participate in the meeting, in order to obtain another path for the development of the corn industry.

2016 is the year to cancel the purchase price of corn. The corn market in Huanghuai, including Henan, will lead the domestic corn market, which will drive down the overall domestic corn price. At the same time as the price fell, Henan's corn production remained at a high level. The data shows that Henan's annual grain output in 2015 was 60.671 million tons, and corn production was 18.537 million tons, an increase of 7.0%. There is a huge pressure on the corn market to go to production capacity. With the entry into the year, the sales pressure of grassroots farmers continues to increase. The head of a planting cooperative in Nanyang City admitted that nearly one-third of the corn in the community is currently not sold. "After two days of returning migrant workers, they have to concentrate on selling a part, and the price is only going to go down."

The lower spot price provides the basis for fuel ethanol processing. A deputy general manager of a corn processing company in the province said that low cost provides enterprises with new industries beyond the development of feed. “The consumption of fuel ethanol is increasing year by year, and huge corn stocks can make it one of the focus of the downstream industry.”

In addition to the impact of the source, the huge market brought about by environmental governance is one of the key factors for enterprises to be optimistic about fuel ethanol projects. An industry source told reporters that by 2015, the number of civilian vehicles in our province has reached 10.5 million, and automobile emissions have become the second largest source of air pollution. After entering the winter, in order to resist the continuous smog attack, cities such as Anyang, Xinxiang and Sanmenxia have implemented escalating measures to limit vehicle emissions and reduce vehicle pollution. “At present, all regions are looking for a sustainable development path that can solve both energy and environmental problems. Biofuel ethanol is more easily recognized as a renewable energy source with a large amount of gasoline and a wide range of applications in the world.”

In fact, as early as 2002, Henan Province had already started the promotion of ethanol gasoline in the country. In 2004, it was closed and promoted throughout the province. Up to now, it has achieved 6.2 million tons of alternative gasoline to achieve a full life cycle carbon reduction. It is 18.8 million tons. "It is necessary to protect the interests of farmers as well as environmental pollution control. Through the deep processing of fuel, this contradiction can be resolved to a certain extent."

Industry development still needs policy promotion

Relevant data show that in 2015, the annual production capacity of fuel ethanol in our province is about 800,000 tons. According to the relationship between ethanol production and corn raw material 1:3, the consumption of ethanol in our province is about 2.4 million tons, which only accounts for corn. The production capacity is about 10%, and the production potential is huge.

However, Henan, which has already practiced bioethanol, is still slightly weak in terms of policy and market promotion.

"In terms of new energy, supporting policies is a direct and effective driving force." Du Fengguang, chief engineer of Henan Tianguan Group, said that compared with photovoltaic and wind power generation, as well as new energy vehicles and other related policies, the policy attention of fuel ethanol is obtained. There is relatively little concern with public opinion, and in the development of this industry, government support determines its development. "As far as the current situation is concerned, the vacuum of policy has led to an insufficiency of expectations in this industry, which makes it impossible to attract investment and make it more difficult to expand the market."

At the same time, due to the impact of low oil prices, some fuel ethanol companies have a difficult life and serious losses in production. "Fuel ethanol can solve the problem of pollution emission to a certain extent, and can promote the marketization of corn production and increase the income of farmers. If there are stable policy expectations, it will attract more funds to enter this industry, and the market environment also Will be significantly improved," said a fuel ethanol producer.

For example, the industrialization of fuel ethanol in the United States was actually carried out under the impetus of the US Department of Agriculture. In 1980, the United States produced only 520,000 tons of fuel ethanol, and in 2014 it increased to 42.82 million tons. During this period, corn production increased from 148 million tons to 353 million tons, but there was no serious inventory pressure. One major reason was the large-scale application of biofuel ethanol. “For farmers, the real risk comes from the fall in grain prices and thus the willingness to invest in agriculture. The ultra-low food prices will affect the willingness of farmers to enter the market, and to a certain extent hinder the large-scale production expansion of agricultural industrialization. On the road of differentiation, the diversified experience of corn utilization in Europe and the United States can play a certain role in reference."