White Energy CEO Greg Thompson met with Chinese officials in Beijing in January as part of a delegation organized by Growth Energy and the U.S. Grains Council. The four-day event included meetings with leading Chinese biofuels and energy companies, university researchers, and government representatives to discuss the country’s E10 initiative.
China announced ambitious plans in September 2017 to mandate the use of E10 fuel nationwide by 2020. As the world’s largest automobile market, China would need to quadruple the country’s ethanol consumption — from one billion gallons to more than four billion gallons annually — to comply with the mandate.
Thompson and other leaders of the U.S. ethanol industry are exploring opportunities to work with China to meet its significant demand for ethanol.
“The E10 initiative provides the United States, more than any country in the world, with the potential to significantly increase ethanol exports to China. It presents a tremendous opportunity for White Energy, other leading U.S. ethanol producers, and American farmers,” Thompson said. “We had a good dialogue with the Chinese delegation during our visit. There is a real willingness to partner with U.S. ethanol producers like White Energy, and we look forward to further discussing how ethanol imports can help China improve air quality and achieve its mandate.”
China currently produces about one billion gallons of fuel ethanol a year, making it the world’s fourth-largest ethanol producing region. It began increasing ethanol imports in 2015, with U.S. imports totaling 181 million gallons of fuel ethanol in 2016. New, higher tariffs, however, have since slowed the volume of U.S. imports.
“China is currently investing in additional infrastructure to boost its ethanol production, but increased imports from the United States are needed to meet the E10 mandate,” Thompson said. “Blending higher amounts of ethanol into gasoline is a major component of China’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and improve air quality. That represents a large opportunity for U.S. ethanol producers and I’m grateful to Growth Energy for taking a leadership role in helping our industry explore those opportunities.”
About White Energy
White Energy, headquartered in Plano, Texas, is fueling America’s investment in renewable energy. It is one of the nation’s leading producers of biofuels, animal feed and food ingredients, with the capacity to produce approximately 300 million gallons of ethanol per year. The company is committed to reducing carbon emissions and currently working on several carbon capture initiatives White Energy owns and operates state-of-the-art grain processing facilities in Texas and Kansas. Learn more at www.white-energy.com.