M'sia seeks alternative biofuel sources after crude palm oil prices soar

Benchmark crude palm oil futures hit an all-time high of RM3,159 (US$962) per metric ton Jan 3. The sharp rise in prices has neutralised the commodity's advantage as a cheap raw material for producing biofuels.

Ms Chow Mee Chin, who heads the Malaysian Palm Oil Board's Energy and Environment Unit, said the board is working to develop cheaper biofuels from alternative sources such as palm kernel cake, empty fruit bunches, palm fiber and palm shells.

'Prices are a manifestation of market forces, but (crude palm oil) is only one of seven raw materials available from oil palm plantations to make biofuels,' Ms Chow told Dow Jones Newswires in a recent interview.

Ninety-one licenscs have been issued to companies in Malaysia for manufacturing palm diesel. Only five of the companies have started up biofuel processing, however, with one of them stopping operations recently due to the exorbitant cost of crude palm oil.

So far, palm-based fuels have mostly been made from methyl esters obtained from crude palm oil. But Ms Chow said the Palm Oil Board has embarked on a research program to try to develop a second generation of environment-friendly fuels.

Sign up for our
regular news updates

Latest Bioenergy Industry News

•   Biofuel Subsidies in China
•   CME: Crude Oil Prices Impact Livestock Production
•   €50m Set for Wind Farm Investment
•   Planning Notice for Aegir Offshore Wind Farm Submitted
•   Agreement on Viability of Mammoth Ethanol Facility
•   EPA Applauded for Biodiesel Rule in 2009
•   Type of Physic Nut to Undergo R&D
•   Sweet Potatoes Entering Biofuels Arena
•   Investments Funded in Ethanol-making Microbe
•   Sugarcane Expansion to be Restricted