Professional racing car driver Alex Yoong (in orange shirt) pumping the palm biodiesel onto his car tank with Uggah looking on
at the launch of the palm biodiesel programme in Johor.

30/07/2013 (The Star) - The palm biodiesel usage programme will be extended nationwide in stages to promote its wider usage nationwide.

The Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas said the programme would be extended to the northern region this October.

He said the palm biodiesel would be available in Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu from January 2014, and in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan from July next year.

“It reflects the commitment by the Government to further promote the usage of biodiesel in the country,” Uggah said at the launch of the palm biodiesel here recently.

He said the biodiesel programme was in tandem with the policy to reduce Malaysia’s dependency on fossil fuel and energy security.

Uggah said he would also promote Malaysia as one of the leading countries in utilising renewable fuels contributing to a cleaner environment.

He said 500,000 tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) would be converted to palm biodiesel yearly by next July, from 300,000 tonnes covering the central and northern regions now.

“The programme will also help to strengthen the CPO price through stock reduction,” Uggah said adding that the Government has decided to increase the percentage of palm biodiesel blend above the 5% threshold.

He said this also took into account the positive contribution to the oil palm industry and the well being of smallholders.

Uggah said the Government was planning to increase the blend to 10% from 5% and 7%, but did not have any time frame to achieve the target.

He said there were not much problems with the 5% and 7% blend while the 10% blend required more research and development activities and time.

The palm biodiesel is sold at 415 petrol stations in Johor from this month similar to the price or normal diesel which is RM1.80 per litre.

The programme was first launched in the central region covering Putrajaya, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur with the palm biodiesel available at 1,150 stations in the region.