China for the first time in the world launched a production of ethyl alcohol from coal, and now, two months later, it has shown its efficiency, informs the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The unique technology that allows to produce pure ethanol from coal have been developed by scientists at the Institute of Chemical Physics together with Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Company. The annual production capacity makes hundred thousand tons of alcohol per year. Moreover, the final product, the concentrate of ethyl alcohol, is of a high quality, more than 99 and a half percent.

"The promising technologies of ethanol production are especially critical in the conditions of shortage of raw oil. Such projects contribute to strengthening China's energy security, "said the head of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Bai Chunli. Ethanol can be used as biofuel, which causes less damage to the environment than traditional fuel types do.