Malaysia to extend palm biodiesel project

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Douglas Uggah Embas said the plan would be implemented in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan in July 2014.

He said that by then, the northern region, the east coast states, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan would join the central and southern regions in the mandatory use of palm biodiesel for subsidies.

“This move reflects the commitment by the government to continue the biodiesel programme in the country,” Embas said at a press conference after the launch of the programme in Johor.

He said the programme took into account its positive contribution to the oil palm industry and the well-being of smallholders.

He also said it was in tandem with the government’s policy to reduce dependency on fossil fuel and energy security. 

“This is also to promote Malaysia’s image as one of the leading countries in utilising renewable fuels,” he added.

Embas said 500,000 tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) per year would be converted to palm biodiesel by July 2014, when the usage of biodiesel was fully implemented – up from 300,000 tonnes from the central and southern regions.

He said this was in line with the government’s objective of strengthening CPO by reducing stock via increasing the percentage of the palm biodiesel blend above the 5-per-cent threshold.

Embas said the government was planning to increase the biodiesel blend to 10 per cent but had not set any timeframe when to achieve the target.

“We have no problem with the 5-per-cent and 7-per-cent blend but the 10 per cent requires more time and research and development before we can go for it,’’ he said.