First in Asia? SL1M: The new improved LPG cylinder

"Mana ada berat..!"

Cool! Malaysia will become the first country in Asia to produce  composite Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder.

Called the Silinder LPG 1Malaysia or SL1M, the cylinder is lighter at 4.7kg when empty, and cheaper.

In this picture (Daily Express): An elderly women carrying the SL1M cylinder to demonstrate its light-weightiness during the recent Sabah International Expo, SIE 2012 at Magellan Sutera Harbour in Kota Kinabalu. The LPG cylinders are developed by Faidhi Holdings Sdn Bhd

The new composite lightweight LPG cylinder

Commercial name        : Silinder LPG 1Malaysia or SL1M
Manufacturer                : Faidhi Holdings Sdn Bhd
Weight when empty      : as light as 4.7kg
Weight when filled        : min 11kg ( still less than half the weight of the current steel tank)
Construction material    : plastic & composite (fibre glass)
Special features           : lighter, cost-saving, explosion-proof, tracking chip
Lifespan                      : 25 years
Funding aid                  :RM5.8 million from the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry
                                    and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry
Launch date                : March 21, 2012
Availability                   : 1Q 2013 (Klang Valley/Peninsula Malaysia)
                                    March 2013 (Sabah/Labuan)


Heavy back-breaking cylinder no more

Because it is made of lightweight composite material, it will be very light (although 'very' can be misleading at times) and children/housewives can conveniently bring them up to, say, an apartment on the 2nd floor. I understand there are many variations in weight but the latest that we heard is the 4.7kg tare weight. At launching the press were told of 7kg and 10kg variants.

Note: Pictures are image grabs from NTV7's clip of the launching back in March 2012:

Few variants of the SL1M

Source: NTV7

To be made available in Sabah in March 2013, the sole distributor Arokris Sdn Bhd is expecting a first batch of about 30,000 SL1M cylinders to be marketed in the state. The bottling will be done at the company's plant near Kota Kinabalu. The 4.7kg variant when filled with LPG would weight about 11kg.

The safety features are recognised and verified by the international standard safety certification. The cylinders will also be embedded with smart card making them traceable anywhere in the world.

TheGreenMechanics: This in not exactly a new invention as similar products have been used in the developed nations. But the innovation and value added features makes this an interesting consumer product. Credit must be given when it is due. This would be suitable for many activities such as camping, fishing, farmers staying overnight at their barns as well as domestic and industrial use.


Sources: Berita Harian 21/3/2012, 1Malaysia.com portal and Daily Express 2/10/2012.

50 Green projects to be approved in 2013

Malaysian Green Technology Corp expects over 50 green projects to be approved by financial institutions under the Green Technology Financing Scheme (SPTH) next year, compared with 30 this year.

Acting CEO Ahmad Zairin Ismail said banks were now more keen to approve green projects as the Government, through the Finance Ministry, was also ready to promote this line of business.


Billions of Ringgit to promote green business

The Finance Ministry has allocated another RM2billion (on top of what has been spent) to the SPTH to further push up the production and use of green technology-based products, with the scheme extended until Dec 31, 2015.


“So far, RM805million worth of projects have been approved by over 21 participating banks in the country, while over RM250million worth of loans have been disbursed,” Zairin told reporters at the media sneak preview of the International Greentech and Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia (iGEM) 2012.

He said the time taken by banks to approve green projects has also decreased significant from over a year to between 6 weeks and 2 months. Under the funding scheme, between RM10million and RM50million is allocated for a project, depending on the criteria.


International Greentech and Eco Products Exhibition & Conference (iGEM)

The iGEM 2012, to be held on 10th - 13th October 2012 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, is expected to attract over 100,000 visitors. This year is the 3rd of such exhibition and is themed Greentech for Growth. The objective is to help push the adoption of green technology to deliver a double impact of sustainable economic growth and to address the environmental and energy security issues.

The 4-day iGEM 2012 will witness the participation of more than 605 booths involving some 330 companies, both local and overseas, featuring the following major sectors (as mentioned by Minister Peter Chin in his page):

i)    Energy, as in renewable energy and energy efficiency,
ii)   Transportation as in electric vehicles and hybrid cars,
iii)  Building and construction,
iv)  Water and waste management,
v)  ICT, eco-products and related services.


TheGreenMechanics: Last year the event managed to generate sales leads of about RM1.35billion. Let's hope this year would attract better volume. I want to visit such exhibitions!

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