B10 biodiesel programme to be implemented nationwide starting october

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KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) expects the B10 biodiesel programme to be implemented nationwide starting October this year.

Its Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the implementation would lift domestic consumption of crude palm oil by one million tonnes annually.

“The meetings with the stakeholders (planters) will be concluded by end- June and we will also finalise the papers on the implementation for submission to the Cabinet by then,” he added.

He said the move would replace the current use of B7 biodiesel.

Uggah was speaking to reporters after officiating the 8th International Planters Conference here yesterday.

The B10 blend comprises a ratio of 10 per cent palm-based biodiesel and 90 per cent petroleum diesel.

Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm grower, is at present using the B7 biodiesel programme which was implemented at end-2014.

Uggah said about 700,000 tonnes of crude palm oil annually were used in the B7 biodiesel programme.

Meanwhile, he said that oil palm mills in Sabah were not damaged by the 6.0-magnitude earthquake, last Friday.

Meanwhile, the three-day Planters Conference which began yesterday is themed, “Addressing the Triple Bottom Line: Changing Dynamics of the Oil Palm Industry.”

The conference provides a platform for the exchange of views on issues and challenges faced by the industry in particular, the palm oil industry. — Bernama