KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government will implement the biodiesel B7 in Peninsular Malaysia from November and for Sabah and Sarawak, it will be in December.

The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry said on Tuesday that the implementation of B7 programme would consume 575,000 tonnes of biodiesel. This will contribute towards a savings of 667.6 million litres of diesel a year.

It added the implementation of B7 Programme for the subsidised sector will help increase domestic consumption of palm-based biodiesel.

To recap, on Oct 17, the Cabinet approved to the implementation of the B7 programme for the subsidised sector in stages beginning November 2014. B7 involves the blending of 7% of palm biodiesel with 93% petroleum diesel.

The ministry said the move to implement B7 has positioned Malaysia at par with other developed nations in the use of renewable energy sources.

The European Union have been implementing B7 since 2009. Whilst Thailand has implemented B7 since January 2014, Indonesia B7.5 since February 2012 and Colombia is implementing B8 and B10 using palm-based biodiesel.

”The implementation of B7 Programme demonstrates the Government’s efforts toward diversified use of CPO, reducing dependence on petroleum diesel as well as reducing GHG emissions through the use of environmentally friendly energy sources,” it said.