The government plans to include a “B20/B30-ready” specification for vehicles in a review of the policy, Leiking said in a statement today.

Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, plans to double its biofuel programme to B20 by 2020, which mandates fuel be blended with 20% palm-biodiesel.

“Palm oil is a viable option to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, as it has tremendous potential as a renewable source of energy,” he said.

“While there has been opposition against the current practice of planting palm oil recently, it only shows that there is demand and potential for the sector to emerge an important player to meet the needs of the energy and transportation sectors.”

The European Union earlier this week published regulations setting new criteria for the use of palm oil in biofuels.

The rules, which will have a certification system and restrict the types of biofuels from palm oil that may be counted toward the EU renewable-energy goals, will come into force on June 10.