THE Malaysian Palm Oil Board and FGV Holdings Bhd are conducting a trial for the use B20 fuel, which is a blend of 20% palm biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel.

The board’s director-general, Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir, said the FGV Transport Services trial project would involve technical data collection to prove that using B20 will not affect vehicle engines.

“The trial will raise public awareness on the use of B20 and demonstrate FGV Transport Services’ commitment in supporting the government’s initiative,” he said in a joint statement today.

FGV group chief executive officer Haris Fadzilah Hassan said the group hopes to collect consistent and comprehensive data from the six-month trial.

The project involves monitoring the quality of B20 with samples of biodiesel taken at each delivery by the supplier.

Six tanker trucks from FGV Transport Services will not undergo any modification throughout the trial duration.

“During normal maintenance of 30,000km, inspection will be done on the fuel filter and water separator while lubricating oil will be collected periodically and sent to an external laboratory for analysis.

Haris said the vehicles used for the project will be monitored in terms of movements, fuel consumption and maintenance costs.

A flag-off ceremony for FGV’s trucks fuelled with B20 was held at FGV Transport Services’ Port Klang depot today.

Malaysia has introduced the B10 diesel mix for its transportation sector beginning February and B7 for industrial sector in June this year in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions released by diesel vehicles.

The use of palm oil in biodiesel for the transport sector, which is set to rise to 20% next year, will contribute to a cleaner environment. – Bernama, September 13, 2019.