Ministry considering biodiesel fund
PUTRAJAYA: The Primary Industries Ministry is considering setting up a biodiesel stabilisation fund (BSF) to make biofuel more attractive to consumers.
Minister Teresa Kok said more research and in-depth studies were needed for the fund.
“The BSF is an idea that we have brought up to the cabinet but the realisation of the fund will take more research,” she said at the Biofuel Business Forum, here, yesterday.
She said the BSF would be somewhat similar to the Thai government-backed oil fund.
Thailand’s oil fund boasts some 30 billion baht (RM3.9 billion) and can absorb 50 per cent of any increase in retail prices.
“It’s similar but not entirely the same. The main point of the BSF is to stabilise the biodiesel price to make it more attractive to consumers,” she said.
The ministry is also pushing the implementation of the B10 biodiesel mandate for transport and the B20 mandate for industries by next year.
“Malaysia started implementing the B10 mandate on February 1 for the transport sector while the B7 mandate for the industrial sector will commence on July 1. These two programmes are expected to mop up 761,000 tonnes of palm oil annually,” said Kok.
The B10 mandate would also be moved up to B20, she added.
“By increasing the blending percentage from B10 to B20 and rolling out the B10 mandate for industrial use, we anticipate the uptake of crude palm oil (CPO) to increase to 1.3 million tonnes per year.”
Kok said the move would reduce stock levels and encourage better CPO prices.