KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 -- The Malaysian Biodiesel Association (MBA) has commended the government for implementing the B20 programme in the transport sector, saying it is in line with the call by the biodiesel industry and will benefit the industry and country as a whole.
MBA said the programme has commenced in phases from Jan 1, 2020 in Langkawi and Labuan, and will now be expanded in phases to Sarawak in April 2020 and Sabah in August 2020, and will be made mandatory nationwide on June 15, 2021.

The association said this implementation will put Malaysia on par with the national mandates that are presently implemented in other countries around the world, in particular countries that have a strong agricultural economy such as Indonesia (B30) and Colombia (B20).

"Malaysia should move quickly with the implementation of higher biodiesel blends under the national mandate, it will benefit the biodiesel industry and the country," MBA said in a statement commenting on the launch of the B20 biodiesel programme by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail today.
It said with the impending European Union ban on palm biofuel, higher domestic demand will support higher crude palm oil prices and benefit palm oil smallholders, and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions amounting to 3.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.
This, it noted, would help Malaysia attain its GHG reduction commitment made in 2015 during the Paris Climate Conference (COP 21) in France.
Increased domestic demand could boost the biodiesel industry's capacity utilisation rate from 60 per cent to 75 per cent, and will further support the growth of ancillary industries such as engineering, chemicals and logistics while creating more jobs, MBA said.
The government had previously mandated the B10 programme in the transport sector on Feb 1 last year and the B7 programme in the industrial sector on July 1 last year.
By using the B20 blend (comprising 20 per cent palm biodiesel and 80 per cent petroleum diesel), the country would consume 1.06 million tonnes of palm oil a year.
Through the implementation of the B20 programme in the transport sector and the continuation of the B7 programme in the industrial sector, about 1.3 million tonnes of palm oil annually would be used locally.
MBA said it also looks forward to working closely with all stakeholders in Malaysia -- petroleum companies, automobile associations, automotive makers, palm oil suppliers, the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), and other relevant government agencies -- in the successful execution of the B20 programme in the transport sector.
-- BERNAMA

https://www.bernama.com/en/business/news.php?id=1815262
Source: bernama.com