Sirim to take charge of 5 renewable energy pilot projects

Sirim Bhd, a research agency of the Malaysian government, is carrying out five pilot renewable energy projects, including the use of jatropha oil as biodiesel. “I hope that all these research projects will bear fruit soon and that the ultimate beneficiaries of the ministry’s program will be the society itself,” Deputy Minister Fadillah Yusof said at the opening of the National Renewable Energy Summit in Sarawak. Speaking to reporters, Fadillah said his ministry has financed 317 pilot projects under the energy program since the seventh Malaysia plan, costing 191.3 million ringgit (US$56.37 million). Fadillah said a team of experts was still processing data on a full-scale techno-economic and resource mapping study which was conducted between April and July this year. (August 19, 2009)