PetroChina seals bio-energy agreement

PetroChina has reached an agreement with the State Forestry Administration (SFA) on a long-term project to develop bio-energy, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to a statement on PetroChina's website, it will cooperate with the SFA to grow crops that produce biomass energy starting with two projects in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. The company plans to produce 2 million tonnes of ethanol per year from non-grain crops by 2010, which would account for 40% of the country's total output capacity. It also intends to produce 200,000 tonnes of biodiesel per year by 2010.