B5 Biodiesel is now available in the Malaysia market.From this month until October, the supply of the new fuel will be available in stages starting at Putrajaya followed by Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor respectively.Read the full news by Chips Yap from Motortrader below.
B5 BIODIESEL NOW AVAILABLE
Since announcing the National Biofuel Policy in 2006 as one strategy to reduce dependence on petroleum, the government has been pushing for the blend of palm oil and diesel fuel to be made available at stations.
However, it has taken until last week for biodiesel to finally go on sale to the public, with Petronas being the first company to offer it in Putrajaya.
The intention is to offer biodiesel nationwide eventually and as a first step, it will be introduced in the Central Region (Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur) with full implementation to be completed by by October 2011. All the petroleum majors are geared up to sell biodiesel and there are blending facilities in a total of seven depots.
Though biodiesel actually costs more to produce than normal diesel fuel, the pump price is presently being subsidized by the government to encourage motorists to use it. The price is therefore set at RM1.80 per litre, similar to the current price of diesel.
Biodiesel – referred to as ‘B5’ – consists of 5% of palm oil in normal diesel fuel (which meets Euro2M specifications applicable in Malaysia). However, the blended fuel must meet the MS2008:2008 Malaysian standard which is based on the international EN14214: 2003 for such fuels. This ensures that the fuel is acceptable to the motor manufacturers.
The first company to confirm that its cars can use B5 is BMW Group Malaysia, which said its models with Advanced Diesel engines will have no problems so long as the fuel is compliant with the MS2008:2008 Malaysian standard. It assures owners that use of Malaysian biodiesel in their cars will not void their warranties.
Other companies such as Ford and Volvo are known to have biodiesel-compatible models which are already sold in Thailand and the Philippines but announcements concerning warranty issues have not been made yet.
Jom komen!