DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: An Omani entrepreneur is promoting a biofuel for cars using extracts from date palms to cut the use of petrol in the oil-rich Gulf region, a newspaper reported on Tuesday (July 10th).

More than 30 cars in Oman are already powered by the palm-based biofuel developed by Mohammed al-Harethi, who is planning to market the new fuel in the United Arab Emirates later, Emirates Today said.

The vehicles are running 85 percent on the new fuel and 15 percent on petrol without the need to convert the engine, Harithi was quoted as saying.

An enzyme is injected into the palm tree to extract natural sugar which flows out in the form of a thick liquid.

"If things go according to plan we are going to open the first filling station selling this fuel in Oman by 2010," he said.

The date palm is one of the most common trees in the desert Gulf states, which sit on the world's largest oil reserves.

The biofuel industry has enjoyed an unprecedented investment boom in recent years amid growing interest in finding alternatives to oil as petrol prices soar and concerns grow about global climate warming.