The Biofuel Industry Bill which spells out the rules for the biodiesel industry in Malaysia is expected to be passed by parliament at the end of this year. The implementing body will be the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) which will be in charge of issuing and revoking biodiesel production and export licenses, setting a ceiling price, as well as enabling petrol station to sell biodiesel.

So far, the Government has approved 90 biodiesel licenses, of which five plants are already operating with total palm oil feed-stock requirement of 350,000 tons. MPOB estimates that by the end of the year, 10 biodiesel plants will be operational with a total capacity of 600,000 tons a year.

For more information, email Mahaletchumy Arujanan of the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC) at maha@bic.org.my. The Biofuels Supplement of the Crop Biotech Update has more articles on biofuels. Visit http://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/biofuels/news/2007/03/23.html..