Palm bio-diesel workshop in Medan

MEDAN, North Sumatra: The North Sumatra Palm Oil Research Center is holding a palm bio-diesel workshop with the aim of studying the possibility of using palm oil as an alternative fuel, an official said.

Darnoko of the center's engineering and waste management said that seven foreign bio-diesel companies from the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Malaysia, Austria and Thailand were taking part in the workshop.

The workshop, which was opened by Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih, is held with the intention of inviting investors, who are already utilizing and developing bio-diesel fuel in their respective countries.

If the utilization of palm bio-diesel could be applied in Indonesia, Darnoko said, it would help reduce the country's high dependence on petroleum diesel.

"Contrary to petroleum diesel fuel, which pollutes the environment, palm bio-diesel is environmentally friendly," he said.

The utilization of palm bio-diesel is expected to help boost the development of the palm-oil processing industry, he said, adding that oil palm plantations in the country cover a total area of 3.2 million hectares with palm oil production reaching 6.5 million tons per annum. -- JP