(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-16 23:46

Shijiazhuang -- Nearly 7,000 hectares of biodiesel forest will take shape in the northern province of Hebei this year, part of a national campaign to fuel the fast growing economy in a green way.

In no more than five years, the Pistacia chinensis Bunge, whose seeds have an oil content of up to 40 percent, will yield five tons of fruit and contribute about two tons of high-quality biological diesel oil, according to the provincial forestry administration.

Hebei was among seven regions designated by the State Forestry Administration (SFA) in 2006 to develop biofuel demonstration forests.

Hebei, Anhui, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan and Shanxi provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region will grow a total of 400,000 hectares of oil-bearing plants, including Pistacia chinensis Bunge, Jatroha L, Cornus wisoniana and Xanthoceras sorbifolia, by 2010.

The provincial government of Hebei that borders Beijing, has made a bolder decision. It will plant nearly 870,000 hectares of saplings of various kinds of biodiesel trees in its vast mountain areas as of 2050 to provide 5.5 million tons of seeds for extraction and refining.

China, which has realized consecutive years of GDP growth of about 10 percent, is promoting the development of biofuels with financial support as it sees them as environmentally-friendly sources to ease the growing thirst for energy.

The country has been raising oil-bearing trees on some 4 million ha. of land in different regions with an expected fruit output of 4 million tons. More could be planted on 57 million ha. of what is now underdeveloped wilderness, the SFA head, Jia Zhibang, said.

The government plans to cultivate 13 million ha. of high-grade bio-energy forest by 2020. This will yield 6 million tons of diesel that would be enough to fuel an 11 million kilowatt power plant, according to a forestation plan compiled by the SFA.

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