Biofuel Maker Calls for Blending Mandate in Hong Kong

ASB Biodiesel, a producer of biodiesel from used cooking oil in Hong Kong, has renewed its call for the implementation of mandatory biodiesel blending policy in the Chinese city, like what its regional neighbors have done, to jump-start a market for the environment friendly fuel.

Biodiesel is 5 to 10 per cent more expensive than motor vehicle diesel now available in Hong Kong. If Hong Kong fails to implement the needed policy support, ASB Biodiesel will export its output entirely to Europe, where its product would still be profitable. But ASB is still optimistic that it could sell all of its output in Hong Kong in three years as the government steps up efforts to address greenhouse gas emission.

ASB said that biodiesel will make a big difference in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Hong Kong despite earlier claims by the government that its use had not significantly reduced roadside emissions. Data from the European Union suggested that biodiesel produced from recycled cooking oil emitted at least 85 per cent less greenhouse gases than fossil fuel diesel.

Besides cutting pollution, domestic consumption of biodiesel would also help reduce smuggling of Hong Kong's used cooking oil into the mainland for the production of so-called recycled "gutter" oil, which is known to contain cancer-causing substances.