Published on: Friday, December 01, 2006 |
TAIPING: Perak could become the world's first producer of palm based ethanol once a processing plant worth RM200 million is built here next year.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali said the ethanol processing plant would be developed by a local company for export purpose.
"According to the company, the plant would be the first in the world to produce ethanol from palm," he told reporters after attending a briefing on the development of Majlis Perbandaran Taiping here, Thursday.
Ethanol which enjoys demand from developed countries as a bio-based fuel source is largely produced in Brazil currently, the world's leading producer of sugar-cane based ethanol.
Malaysia's focus on bio-fuel so far has been on the production of palm oil based biodiesel.
Tajol Rosli said the local company has carried out extensive research on the production of ethanol from palm and has acquired the processing technology which it plans to employ.
In its study, the company has also found that Malaysia has a big potential in the area and will be capable of meeting world market demand if an area of 110,000 hectares of the palm could be developed.
"The company has identified 35,000 hectares for the planting of palm in Perak and we have approved 10,000 hectares for them to be used."
The state government has also approved 400 hectares for the company to build its processing plant.
He said as an incentive for the company, the state government would be only charging RM10 as the annual license fee for Temporary Occupation Lease of the 10-hectare palm plantation.
Once fully operational, the company is expected to pay a premium of RM100 million to the state government, he added.- Bernama
