China's new rapeseed has "record high oil content" for use as biodiesel ingredient
China's Ministry of Agriculture announced Monday that they had bred a new kind of rapeseed plant with a record high oil content of 54.72 percent. The nearly two percent increase in oil content was achieved by the Institute of Oil Crops Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences without genetically modifying the plant. When grown in high altitute regions, the oil content was even higher, the ministry said. The plant was developed specifically to produce more biodiesel per plant. Wang Hanzhong, leader of the development team and research fellow of the institute, said that the Yangtze River Valley could produce 40 million tons of biodiesel per year. Rapeseed is also used to make canola oil and has long been used in Europe to make biodiesel. Rapeseed prices increased from $711US per ton at the end of 2005 to the current $822US a ton.
[Source: Xinhua]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rajesh Maharjan 3:13AM (10/27/2008)
Does anybody knows the exporter of Rapeseed?
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James 4:12PM (12/11/2008)
Harkness you took the words right out of my mouth, all we need is an algae which has a very high oil content and grows fast in salt water.
Find that and our problems are solved.
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James 8:42AM (12/15/2008)
If what I read on wikipedia is true the US could produce all it`s gasoline requirements by farming algae in an area 120 miles by 120 miles.
Under biofuel algae.
Assuming the optimism hasn`t been bloated by companies pimping the technology of course.
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Shaky 2:38PM (9/02/2006)
*** China's Ministry of Agriculture announced Monday that they had bred a new kind of rapeseed plant ***
Someone really, really needs to come up with a different name for that seed.
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Howard Lee Harkness 7:52PM (9/01/2006)
That's a step in the right direction, but there are varieties of pondscum that are over 50% lipid (for the whole plant, not just seeds), and can be grown in places that rapeseed can't, with much higher yield/acre. The growth of algae can be accelerated by pumping in CO2.
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chuck goolsbee 2:26AM (9/05/2006)
#2, they already have. Here in North America we call it "Canola" thanks to our friends in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
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