Malaysia in Need of Efficient Technology to Develop Biofuel

Malaysia’s research and development into biofuels may have started way back in the 1980’s but it has not made much headway in developing viable alternative energy sources, according to a news report in Bernama on April 24.  Biofuel researcher Prof Dr Masjuki Hassan said to date Malaysia has not succeeded in developing a technology that can be widely applied to produce biodiesel as an effective replacement for petroleum-based products.  “We are still looking for an efficient and cost-effective technology that can yield high-quality biodiesel with (improved) oxidative stability,” he told Bernama in an interview recently.

Biodiesel is a relatively clean-burning, renewable fuel produced from new and used animal and vegetable oil.  Biodiesel is more environmentally-friendly than conventional diesel, which is derived from petroleum, as the former has more oxygen in its molecules.  The presence of oxygen enables biodiesel to emit lower levels of environmentally-hazardous greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons during combustion.