7/1/205 (The Star)  -  THE Government plans to invest RM120mil in three joint-venture biodiesel plants.

The investment will be made through its agency, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui.

The plants will produce a combined 180,000 tonnes of biodiesel annually, he told reporters after opening the Biodiesel Symposium 2005 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Jointly organised by the Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the German Energy Agency, the event was themed Renewables Made in Germany.

The Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) has approved nine biodiesel plant licences, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia. The investors included those from Italy and Singapore. 

Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Datuk Muhammad Feisol Hassan (left) and Peter Chin at the symposium Chin said German train operator, Prignitzer Eisenbahn (PE) Arriva AG was now working with the MPOB on the use of palm biodiesel to run trains in Germany. About 35 tonnes of Malaysian palm biodiesel have been shipped to the German company.

Association of German Chambers of Commerce & Industries representative Wilhelm Berg said the trial run in September had been promising and Prignitzer had ordered 100 tonnes more palm biodiesel from Malaysia.

Strong demand also come from Italy, Turkey, South Korea, India and Colombia. Global demand for biodiesel is expected to reach 10.5 million tonnes in the next few years.

Malaysia had the potential to capture 10% of that market, Chin said