31/4/06 (The Star)  -  THE Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has been the pioneer in researching and turning crude palm oil into fuel substitute. 

MPOB has since the 1980s begun to develop a patented technology to produce diesel substitute from palm oil with Petronas.

The process involves the transesterification of crude palm oil into palm oil methyl esters or palm biodiesel.

The palm biodiesel project has been successfully demonstrated in the production of 3,000 tonnes per year at MPOB’s pilot plant in Bangi, Selangor.

The biodiesel was supplied to Britain-based Prignitzer Eisenbahn Arriva to power its trains.

The more recent initiative has been the use of palm biofuel or diesel baru, which refers to blending 5% of processed palm oil with 95% of petroleum diesel.

Under this project, biofuel is used for some of the vehicles owned by Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Selangor Public Works Department and the Defence Ministry.

According to MPOB’s website www.mpob.gov.my, the clean and renewable biofuel has been touted as the answer to the issue of depleting energy reserves.

“With the increase in awareness and importance on environmental issues such as global warming, more environment-friendly fuels are being developed as alternatives to fossil fuel. One such fuel, which has been gaining prominence in recent years, is biofuel,” it said.

“The benefits of the biofuel project are manyfold. It can provide a safety net for the Malaysian palm oil industry in times of glut. It is envisaged that by strategically removing excess palm oil stock from the market, its price can be stimulated to rise. 

“Even if only 10% of the palm oil is allocated for the project, it would further stabilise the price of palm oil in the international market and subsequently contribute to the Malaysian palm oil industry.”