Progressive rollout of B10, B7 biodiesel to start this month

PETALING JAYA: The government has decided to increase the biodiesel blend for the transport and industrial sector to B10 and B7 respectively as part of its Biodiesel Programme towards reducing dependence on petroleum diesel.
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities said both programmes are to be implemented progressively beginning this month.
“With this announcement, all diesel sold at the retail pumps nationwide will be B10 beginning June 2016,” the ministry said.
In the case of industrial sector covering commercial and power generation sectors, the implementation of B7 programme will be introduced for the first time.
The B10 programme is a mixture of 10% palm methyl ester with 90% petroleum diesel, while the B7 is the blending of 7% palm methyl ester with 93% petroleum diesel.
“The implementation of B10 programme for the transport sector and the B7 programme for the industrial sector is expected to contribute to annual consumption of 709,000 tonnes of crude palm oil domestically,” it said.
The two programme once implemented is also expected to contribute to a saving of 820 million litres of diesel a year; and 2.16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.
The ministry said the move to implement the B10 and B7 programmes for both transport and industrial sectors respectively will also contribute towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the use of environmentally friendly energy sources.