China expands ethanol program to 15 regions

In China, Xinhua news agency reports that the State Council led by Premier Li has decided to expand the ethanol program to include 15 regions rather than the original 11 regions announced earlier as part of wider energy security policy announcements. The country is trying to ramp up ethanol production to consume excess stores of spoiled corn that by some estimates could be as much as 20 million metric tons. The new 10% ethanol policy is set to come into effect in 2020.