KARACHI, Nov 28: Dr Asim Hussain, advisor to prime minister on petroleum, on Friday assured full support for further development of bio-diesel project launched by the Pakistan State Oil (PSO).

In a visit to PSO’s bio-diesel nursery here, he reviewed the project and its future implementation.

PSO MD Kalim A Siddiqui informed the advisor that PSO had selected non-edible plants, like jatropha curcas, for production of bio-diesel.

Jatropha oil has very low sulphur content (0.13 per cent) versus (one per cent) of petro diesel, and it increases soil fertility.

The oil extracted from its seeds blends well with petro diesel because of its unique characteristics. It has various other benefits, such as medicinal use, environment friendliness, utilisation of barren land, etc., says a press release.

Currently the PSO is carrying out trial production of bio-diesel using jatropha oil meeting standard specifications of diesel.

For successful implementation of this project, the state-owned company is testing bio-diesel in a diesel vehicle and is in the process of validating results with the automotive industry.