Malaysian state-owned diesel- powered transport vehicles, army trucks and the plantation industry will begin to use biodiesel on a trial basis, local newspaper reported on Sunday.

Biofuel would make its debut in sectors under three ministries - - Defense, Transport, and Plantation, the New Sunday Times said.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Chin Fah Kui said that the move is a preparatory measure taken by the government before the "green oil" is fully commercialized and ready for general use from January 1, 2007.

The year 2006 would be trial period to identify any problems with biofuel, he said. Selected public buses, taxis and army trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles will use biofuel, while palm oil millers will feed their generators with the fuel to power their mills.

Malaysia started work on biodiesel two decades ago, but the idea for the country to use palm oil to power machines came not very long ago when crude oil prices on the world market soared higher and higher.

Malaysia is the world's leading producer of palm oil, which brings about 30 billion ringgit in revenues to the country a year. Envisioning a rosy prospect for palm oil-based biofuel in the future, Malaysia's major plantation companies currently have acted quickly to draw up plans to venture into biofuel.

The biofuel blend to be used next year in Malaysia consists of five percent palm oil and 95 percent of petroleum diesel. The Malaysian Palm Oil Association said that the country is collaborating with countries like the Republic of Korea and Germany in producing biofuel.

Source: Xinhua