Malaysia to promote palm oil as engine fuel
Malaysia to promote palm oil as engine fuel
KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malaysia, the world's biggest producer of
palm oil, said Friday that it plans to promote the use of the
vegetable oil as an environmentally friendly engine oil, a move
that would also help it reduce its large stockpile.
Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik said he hopes that
by developing palm oil as an alternative engine fuel, the current
stockpile could be reduced by half a million tons, which would
help boost prices.
Lim proposed that the "green engine vehicle" program be
launched first in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding Klang Valley
area to involve heavy vehicles such as buses and lorries.
"The Klang Valley is always hazy due to the pollution caused
by petroleum combustion. Thus, it is suitable that the Klang
Valley be the first to start using palm oil as a fuel," he was
quoted as saying by the Malaysian national news agency, Bernama.
He said details of the proposed program were being compiled to
be submitted to the cabinet for approval into policy.
Lim said there was already a plan to build a 200 million
ringgit (US$52.6 million) plant to convert palm oil into engine
fuel, and he hoped to rope in major companies, such as state-oil
firm Petronas, as investors in the project.
Malaysian palm oil authorities have in recent years undertaken
studies and joint projects, together with a German firm, on
testing palm oil as an engine fuel.
While the tests have proven successful, officials said they
had yet to resolve problems such as how to lower the high cost of
converting the oil and vehicle engines to run on palm oil, as
well as dealing with logistic problems on refueling stations.
Palm oil is Malaysia's biggest-earning agricultural export,
but the commodity has been hit by low prices, increasing
competition from neighboring Indonesia and stagnant overseas
markets.
India, which last year was the biggest importer of Malaysian
palm oil, also rattled Malaysia on Tuesday when it raised duties
on imported crude vegetable oils from 15 percent to 25 percent.