(Yicai Global) July 12 -- Bio-fuel industry experts from the United States and China exchanged views on topics including air pollution control and the US's use of ethanol fuel mixtures at the China-US Seminar on Clean Transportation Fuel and Air Pollution Prevention.

Motor vehicle emissions, including carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter pollute the air. Emissions of pollutants are closely linked to fuel quality.

The E10 gasohol is 10 percent ethanol, which is an excellent non-toxic octane booster and oxygenator when added to gas. E10 can reduce PM2.5 emissions by more than 40 percent compared with gasoline. Automotive applications of ethanol can significantly reduce vehicles' emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, particulates and other harmful substances, results from tests carried out by China's environmental protection departments indicate.

The use of the right mixture of ethanol and gasoline does not lead to a significant increase in fuel or energy consumption, and emissions vary based on tweaks to the formula, said Wu Ye, vice president of Tsinghua University's School of Environment. The promotion of ethanol blends in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area can reduce PM2.5 emissions. Cars will be able to use ethanol mixes to meet China's VI vehicle emission standards when they are rolled out.

Ethanol blends reduce primary PM2.5 in automobile exhaust, and 10 percent ethanol blends can lower particulate emissions by 36 percent or 64.6 percent for high-emission vehicles, industry research shows.

The ethanol blend used in China is made up of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol. As of last year, China had produced about 21.7 million tons of ethanol fuel with a cumulative emission reduction of 25.51 million tons of carbon dioxide.