Malaysia has added 43 megawatts of power to its grid from six oil palm biomass and biogas projects under its Small Renewable Energy Power Programme, and more are on the way, said an official.
The United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism, which is a scheme for financing low-carbon projects, had registered 26 biocomposting, 24 biomass energy and 36 biogas energy projects from the Malaysian oil palm industry registered as of June.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Deputy Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin said Malaysia’s palm oil industry generated about 80 million tonnes of palm biomass - consisting of empty fruit bunches, oil palm shells and fibres, palm fronds and trunks - and about 54 million tonnes of liquid waste or effluent.
He noted that more work is needed to capture the value of the palm oil waste, particularly the effluent, and that Malaysia has engaged several private partners to accelerate progress and conduct research and development.
Under Malaysia’s Economic Transformation Programme, palm oil mills are encouraged to implement waste to energy biogas systems and produce biofuels from empty fruit bunches by 2020.
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