Ethanol blended with regular gasoline produced 10.2 million tonnes of hybrid fuel last year, 20% of total gasoline production, the National Development and Reform Commission has announced. The Commission plans to boost the 1.02 million tonnes of ethanol produced at China’s four refineries in order to further develop the bio-fuel as a safeguard against rising oil prices. China first started using the fuel, made from plant material such as corn, grain or sugar, in 2002 and is now the world’s third biggest producer after Brazil and the US. Ethanol-blended gas has undergone trial sales at filling stations in 27 cities in the east of the country since 2004.