Car firms agree on B5 standard

       All 13 major car importers and assemblers have agreed to help guarantee the standard of diesel B5, a 5% biofuel blended in diesel, to their car buyers.
       The participants include Toyota, Isuzu,Nissan, Chevrolet, Ford, Mazda, Hyundai,BMW and Volvo. The move will pave the way for B5 to replace B2, a blend of 2% biofuel in diesel, by 2011, said Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul.
       He said B5 demand was now 24 million litres per day, about 50% of all diesel demand, up from 11 million litres last year.
       "We still need to use B2, but once palm oil output is sufficient for making the greener B5, we want to see B5 as the lowest biofuel proportion in diesel available in the country," he said.
       Suparat Sirisuwanangkura, president of the Thai Automotive Industry Association said the ministry had benchmarked the local standard for B100, a 100% biofuel, with the European standard.