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China’s first national standard for biodiesel has entered the approval process.
China’s first national standard for biodiesel has entered the approval process.
According to a report from Zhongyou.com, China’s first national standard for biodiesel—“Biodiesel for Blending with Diesel
According to a report from China Oil Network, China’s first national standard for biodiesel—“Biodiesel for Blending with Diesel Fuel”—has recently entered the approval process. Experts say that this standard is relatively high-level, and most of China’s biodiesel producers will have to stretch themselves to meet it.
Recently, China’s first national standard for biodiesel—“Biodiesel for Blending with Diesel Fuel”—has officially entered the approval process. This marks the beginning of the industrialization phase for biodiesel production in China. It is reported that the standard was proposed by Sinopec and drafted by the Research Institute of Petrochemical Sciences. To reduce reliance on traditional fossil fuels, the Chinese government is actively increasing the share of alternative energy sources, including biodiesel. Currently, there are already dozens of biodiesel producers across the country, with an annual output exceeding 100,000 tons. According to Zhang Yongguang, a professor at the Research Institute of Petrochemical Sciences who led the drafting of this standard, the submitted national standard includes a total of 17 technical requirements, such as density, flash point, and cold filter plugging point. He believes that the national standard for biodiesel will be relatively stringent, and most of China’s biodiesel producers will need to make significant efforts to meet these requirements. The green industry offers attractive business opportunities. Biodiesel is a clean, renewable energy source. Its raw materials are highly diverse: liquid fuels made from oilseed plants such as flax, soybeans, rapeseed, rubber seeds, tung seeds, castor beans, peanuts, palm kernels, and cottonseeds—as well as aquatic plants—along with animal fats, waste cooking oils, and waste grease from drainage systems, all serve as high-quality substitutes for petroleum diesel.
Sun Yaping, General Manager of Hubei Xingyu Energy Development Co., Ltd., told reporters that currently, biodiesel mainly replaces No. 0 diesel. Compared to No. 0 diesel, biodiesel is not only more environmentally friendly but—most importantly—represents a renewable energy source that can be recycled, helping to ease the energy crisis and reduce humanity’s reliance on petroleum. Biodiesel is a quintessential green energy source. The energy consumption required to produce biodiesel is only one-fourth that of petroleum diesel, significantly reducing pollutant emissions from combustion. Biodiesel is non-toxic and boasts a biodegradation rate as high as 98%, twice as fast as petroleum diesel, greatly minimizing environmental pollution in the event of accidental spills. Moreover, the plants used to produce biodiesel can convert carbon dioxide into organic matter, fixing it in the soil and thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Using waste cooking oil to produce biodiesel also prevents toxic waste oils from entering the environment or re-entering the food oil supply chain. In suitable regions, cultivating oilseed crops can help protect ecosystems and reduce water and soil erosion. It is precisely because of these characteristics that biodiesel is now emerging as an attractive green industry with promising business opportunities. Furthermore, biodiesel’s unique advantages determine its broad application prospects. “Currently, the price of biodiesel in Hubei Province is about 5,000 yuan per ton, while the local No. 0 diesel price has reached 5,700 yuan per ton,” said Liu Huocheng, General Manager of Jingzhou Dadi Bioengineering Co., Ltd. in Hubei Province. He recently switched to biodiesel production precisely because he saw this vast market potential. He noted that the current purchase price for biodiesel feedstock—waste cooking oil—is around 3,600 yuan per ton, while the biodiesel price stands at about 5,000 yuan per ton. After deducting processing, production, and transportation costs, the profit can reach 400 to 500 yuan per ton. However, industrialization still faces certain bottlenecks. “The introduction of national standards will have a significant impact on biodiesel enterprises,” said Che Changbo, Deputy Director of the Strategic Research Center for Oil and Gas Resources at the Ministry of Natural Resources, in an interview with reporters. In recent years, biodiesel—as an alternative energy source—has received increasing attention from the state. Biodiesel enterprises have grown rapidly, and scenes of frenzied demand for biodiesel have emerged across various regions. Perhaps precisely because of the growing recognition of biodiesel’s enormous commercial potential, such enterprises have begun popping up like mushrooms after rain, each adopting a wide variety of technologies. Recently, nearly a hundred large and small biodiesel projects have been launched across the country. It can be said that in 2006, biodiesel not only entered the initial stage of industrial-scale production but also witnessed a peak in investment. Nevertheless, for the biodiesel industry, since China currently lacks specific industry standards—particularly detailed regulations covering enterprise startup, including design, construction, installation, commissioning, and production operations—this has created opportunities for those seeking quick profits. For instance, at the source of raw materials—waste cooking oil collection—national authorities lack effective management and oversight. It is understood that in cities such as Guangzhou, Beijing, and Hangzhou, there are organizations specializing in collecting waste cooking oil from restaurants and hotels. However, these organizations operate in a rather chaotic manner, making it difficult to monitor the collection process. “It is precisely because of the rapid growth of these biodiesel enterprises that upstream suppliers of raw materials have suddenly become highly sought after. They too have recognized the huge profit margins in this emerging industry and have started hoarding raw materials, arbitrarily driving up prices,” said Liu Huocheng. Previously, they typically purchased waste cooking oil at prices ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 yuan per ton; however, recently, prices have surged dramatically, reaching around 3,600 yuan per ton and becoming extremely hard to obtain. Sun Yaping expressed similar concerns. She pointed out that some unscrupulous traders have deliberately driven up prices, causing a shortage of raw materials, and the lack of effective regulation by relevant authorities has given them ample room to exploit the situation.
It is understood that currently, the primary source of raw materials for small- and medium-sized biodiesel enterprises is individual traders—most of whom operate without proper licenses. These traders collect waste oil from major hotels and sell it directly to biodiesel companies without any prior processing. According to Zhang Yongguang, raw materials for biodiesel that have not been properly treated are difficult to meet usage standards, which in turn undermines the advantages of biodiesel itself. Zhuang Xing, an associate researcher at the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, pointed out that if these raw-material collection organizations are not effectively managed, the interests of biodiesel producers will inevitably be affected. Moreover, since most of these raw-material collection organizations are composed of individual traders driven by short-term profits, they sometimes hike prices and at other times slash them, severely disrupting market order and posing a serious threat to the industrialization of the biodiesel sector. The threshold is set to rise, and a reshuffle is imminent. Although the national standard “Biodiesel for Blending with Diesel Fuel” has just entered the approval process and still has some time before implementation, biodiesel companies remain highly enthusiastic. Sun Yaping said that the introduction of the national standard will have a significant impact on their business. On the one hand, the formulation of the national standard will exert certain constraints on raw-material collection organizations; on the other hand, it will also help standardize biodiesel enterprises themselves. “Only with rules can we achieve order,” Sun Yaping said confidently about her own company.
Liu Huocheng also believes that in the future, there’ll be no need to keep watching the merchants’ expressions anymore. With the introduction of a national standard, the market will gradually become more standardized, and biodiesel producers will be able to look forward to better profit prospects. Zhang Yongguang, on the other hand, argues that the issuance of the national standard will not only impose constraints on upstream raw-material suppliers but will also have a significant impact on biodiesel producers themselves. He predicts that a number of companies failing to meet the standards will go out of business, leading to a reshuffling of the biodiesel industry.
Keywords：Biology,Diesel
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