Beijing: The world's two largest energy consumers, China and the United States, have signed a bio-fuel agreement to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels and enhance their energy security.

The US Departments of Energy (DOE) and Agriculture (USDA) and China's National Development Reform Commission (NDRC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop bio-fuels to meet their rising energy demands, USDA said on its web site.

China, the world's third largest ethanol producer after the US and Brazil, is the first Asian country to sign such an agreement with the United States, it said.

The US Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell signed the MoU with NDRC Vice-Chairman Zhang Xiaoqiang for reducing fossil fuel consumption by increasing the use of renewable energy. "As the two largest energy consumers and automobile markets in the world, we are eager to strengthen cooperation with China to increase the use of renewable and alternative fuels to power our nation's vehicles," US Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell said.

The US is the largest consumer and producer of vehicles in the world.

In 2006, China became second largest consumer and the third largest producer of vehicles. China currently has approximately 31 million passenger cars on the road and is projected to have about 200 million such vehicles in 20 years.

The US and China face similar challenges to meet rapidly increasing energy demand, and through our joint efforts, we are partnering to maximise our nation's resources to increase energy security, confront climate change and promote economic growth, Clay said.

Source : PTI