31/8/06 SEPANG: (The Star)  - Malaysia has teamed up with China in a bilateral research and development (R&D) cooperation to further develop biofuel and biomass production technologies.

Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and the Department of High-Tech Development and Industrialisation of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology have entered into a memorandum of understanding aimed at exploring new biomass technologies.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin said a study would be conducted to set out the scope of cooperation and the possible joint R&D projects relevant to biofuel and biomass technologies.

Chin said he was confident that the collaboration would augur well for the development of biomass as a new source of growth, especially for Malaysia as its vast oil palm plantations generated a high volume of biomass annually. 

The cooperation is prompted by China’s growing interest in securing supply of feedstock for its biofuel industry and Malaysia's interest in the development of biofuel using oil seeds such as rapeseed as an alternative to palm oil.

Chin said the collaboration was significant as Malaysia was now embarking on the commercialisation of biofuel. “As you are aware, the development of biofuel is not necessarily confined to the production of biodiesel only. It also includes bioethanol, which could be potentially harnessed from palm-based biomass,” he added.