David DuByne, who lives in China, recently penned quite a nice piece for EnergyBulletin, one of my favorite online sources of the politics and science of global energy issues. David’s piece is definitely worth a read: “Low Grain Harvest, Rising Food Prices & China’s Ethanol Plan”.

From the article:

On September first the head of China’s Energy Ministry, Ma Kai, in a live television speech stated “For the long-term development of our Chinese nation, saving energy and reducing pollution are so important, so urgent. If we don’t change this situation… the economy will go badly and won’t go far”. It was the first televised large-scale appeal to consumers to change their lifestyles and conserve energy.

What’s more, it seems that China has decided to abandon most new construction of food-based ethanol plants. Oddly schizophrenic, China. Here, they’re leapfrogging the U.S. and other nations, while in so many other areas they still have such a long way to go. Regardless, I have to applaud this decision. Of course, this increases China’s reliance on petroleum, but the Chinese very much realize the need for finding an alternative. The fact that they’ve so quickly realized the massive problems with ethanol gives me a bit of hope.

Thanks, David, for alerting me to your writing. Keep it up. We need it.

Technorati Tags: china, ethanol, lester brown, petroleum, oil

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