The Malaysian government has announced that 19 licensed plants were set to produce a palm oil-based biodiesel blends of 15% (B15) from 1 June, The Star reported.
Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the move, which would be implemented in stages, was crucial to help stabilise fuel prices in the country.
“It will start with B15 and gradually progress to B20 … within the next two to three years, it may go up to B50,” Hamidi was quoted as saying in the 5 May report.
“We are doing this in phases to ensure that crude palm oil (CPO) prices will not burden biodiesel production costs.”
Large-scale production was expected to reduce operating costs and lower overall fuel prices, he added.
Hamidi said biodiesel had already undergone capability testing for use in vehicles and had strong potential to stabilise and reduce diesel prices over the long term.
“There are 19 biodiesel production plants ranging from B15 to B50. We will utilise sludge or by-products from CPO production, where about 35% of the sludge will be fully used to produce biofuel and Jet A1 fuel,” he added.
