Special Feature
This is a video report about
World Business: A couple of
years ago, with surging
demand for biofuel from
Europe and riding crude oil
prices, investors rushed to
build plants to turn palm oil
into biodiesel. But with
falling oil prices and
changing opinions towards
biofuel many of those
projects were put on hold.
To adapt, biofuel producers
now have to be a little more
creative.
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Biodiesel in Malaysia |
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As the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil, Malaysia is emerging as the pioneer in the palm biodiesel industry. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has been very aggresive in promoting palm biodiesel since 1982 when the project of developing palm biodiesel was inistiated at laboratory scale. Subsequently, with the commencement of the palm biodiesel pilot plant construction 1984, extensive research and field trials have been conducted.
MPOB's research of palm biofuels have been focusing on 2 areas as follows: -
At the moment, the Government is in the process of drafting the National Biofuel Policy, to spell out a comprehensive framework and concrete initiatives for the use of biofuels in Malaysia. The legislation for the Biofuel Act is expected to take effect from July 2006 and initial commecial implementation shall commence in 2007. Under the Act, petroleum diesel will be blended with 5% processed palm oil (B5) for a start.
With the enormous availability of palm oil as feedstock, Malaysia will be able to participate in the development of the biofuel industry in the time to come as one of the major players in the world.
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