东亚峰会于昨日闭幕时达成协议，将努力减少东亚对进口石油和天然气的依赖。预计此举将促进东南亚日益扩张的生物燃料产业的发展。

Efforts to cut east Asia's reliance on oil and gas imports agreed at the close of yesterday's regional summit look set to provide a boost to south-east Asia's expanding biofuels industry.

与会的16国领导人一致同意，东亚地区应开发水电和核电，以替代石油。但与会官员表示，生物燃料可能会最先受到关注。

Leaders at the 16-nation east Asian summit agreed the region should explore the use of hydropower and nuclear power as alternatives to oil but officials said biofuels would likely attract the most immediate¹ attention.

推动替代能源开发和更好地节能，是此次峰会最引人注目的成果。在会谈期间，日本还提议筹措资金，就构建东亚自由贸易区进行可行性研究。参与此次峰会的国家包括东盟(ASEAN)10国及中国、日本、韩国、印度、澳大利亚和新西兰。

The moves towards alternativesupplies and better conservation provided the most noteworthy outcome of the summit, which embraced the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations and included China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. During the talks, Japan also proposed financing a feasibility study on turning the group, which has focused on political consultations², into a free trade area.

菲律宾能源部长拉斐尔o洛提拉(Raphael Lotilla)表示，东亚国家已同意对发动机和机动车使用的生物燃料采用统一标准，推进生物燃料和生物燃料汽车的自由贸易。

Raphael Lotilla, the Philippines' energy secretary, said the east Asian countries had agreed to adopt common standards on biofuels used in engines and motor vehicles and to promote freer trade in biofuels and the vehicles that use them.

他表示："第一步是制定国家标准。日本等不生产生物燃料的其它国家，会需要一些时间来提出自己的标准。"

"The first step is to come up with national standards. Other countries such as Japan don't produce biofuels and would like some time to come up with their own standards," he said.

该能源协议措辞宽泛，没有制定具体目标。这与欧盟(EU)上周公布的能源提案不同。欧盟的目标是要将温室气体排放削减20%。

The energy agreement was broadly worded and set no concrete targets, in contrast to the European Union's energy proposals unveiled last week, which aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions³ by at least 20 per cent.

根据东盟的提案，削减既可使用汽油或柴油也可使用生物燃料的汽车的关税，将纳入该集团2010年以后的贸易自由化协定中。

Under the Asean proposals, reduced tariffs⁴ on vehicles that can run on biofuels as well as petrol or diesel⁵ will be included in the group's trade liberalisation pact⁶ from 2010.

对生物燃料兴趣的日益增长，也反映在了中国和菲律宾即将签署的双边协议之中。在中国国务院总理温家宝本周访问菲律宾期间，两国计划就生物乙醇的生产签署双边协议。

Growing interest in biofuels is reflected in plans by China and the Philippines to sign bilateral⁷ agreements on bio-ethanol production during this week's state visit by Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister.

中国最大的农业投资集团北大荒集团(Beidahuang Group)计划在菲律宾北部的吕宋岛设立一家工厂，用糖和其它农作物生产乙醇。 The Beidahuang Group, China's biggest agricultural investor⁸, plans to set up a plant on the northern Philippines island of Luzon to produce ethanol from sugar and other crops.