In China, Sinopec wants to produce commercial scale biofuels for airplanes and has sought permission to do so from the country's national aviation regulator. The company expects it could produce a third of the national aviation fuel demand, 12 million metric tons, from biofuels by 2020.
Sinopec produces about three-quarters of fossil aviation fuel used in China annually. PetroChina plans to build a refinery for aviation biofuels by 2014 that would produce 60,000 tons annually.