12/08/05 JAKARTA, (Asia Pulse) - The Oil Palm Research Center (PPKS) inMedan will start commercial production of biodiesel oil with a dailyoutput of 20 tons.

Currently PPKS can produce only 3,000 liter of biodiesel oil processedfrom palm oil per day, head of the Research and Development Center of theagriculture ministry Achmad Suryana said.

Achmad said palm biodiesel oil could be a potential alternative source ofclean energy.

The idea of developing palm biodesel oil came after the country was hit byenergy crisis as a result of the soaring oil prices.

Palm biodiesel oil could serve as an alternative to petroleum-based dieseloil , Achmad said.

Indonesia is the world's second largest producer of palm oil afterMalaysia.

(ANTARA)