PetroChina, a holding company of CNPC, and the Sichuan provincial government signed a protocol in Chengdu on November 8 to jointly exploit biofuel. The two parties intend to establish a biofuel experimental base with an annual production of 0.6 million tons of sweet potato fuel ethanol and 0.1 million tons of Barbados nut biodiesel oil during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010).

Sweet potato fuel ethanol takes sweet potato as its raw material, which is perennially planted in Sichuan over an area of 130,000 hectares. The fruit of the Barbados nut, with an oil content higher than other oil plants such as rape and soybean, is the raw material for Barbados nut biodiesel oil refining. Planting Barbados nuts has been listed in zoological construction and poverty relief projects by the United Nations. Wild Barbados nuts are mainly found in Panzhihua, Liangshan and other places in Sichuan, which has the country's largest coverage of Barbados nuts and an ideal environment for their planting.