The yams will be used to produce alcohol, which would be mixed with gasoline, in a new blend that could be used to replace straight gasoline.

Taiwan’s almost 220,000 hectares of uncultivated farmland are ideal for developing a biofuel industry, according to the COA.

This joint project by COA’s Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Energy (BOE), will use some 30 hectares of fallow farmland to plant the vegetable this year.

If successful, this new biofuel would alleviate Taiwan’s current demand of petrochemical fuel - 98 percent of which is imported.

Last year, the COA also produced biofuel from soybeans, sunflowers, and rape blossoms for a total of 1,721 hectares of crops.

Other countries that have ventured into the biofuel industry include Brazil, Germany, and the United States, which use such crops as sugar cane, rape seed, and corn.

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