Waste-to-wealth: green potential from pa

Wendy Pei Qin Ng a,*, Hon Loong Lam a, Foo Yuen NgaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, The University of Nottingham, MbMalaysian Palm Oil Council, 2nd Floor, Wisma Sawit, Lot 6, SS 6, Jalan Perbandaran, 4730cUniversiti Teknologi Malaysia, Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering, JalandGlobal Green Synergy Sdn Bhd, Wisma Zelan, Suite 01.12B, First Floor, No 1, Jalan Tasik Pe

Received 10 November 2011

Available online 16 April 2012

Keywords:Palm biomassWaste-to-wealthGreen potential

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s is inc

Malaysia as a tropical country experiences hot and wet weatherthroughout the year. This climate encourages the growth of the oilpalm and consequently the development of oil palm cultivation inMalaysia. This development has made Malaysia a major global oilpalm biomass producer (Yusoff, 2006). As a main exporter andproducer of palm oil in the world, the total oil palm planted area inMalaysia reached 4.98 Mha as of September 2011 (MPOB, 2011a),which covers approximately 73% of the agricultural land andmakesoil palm a promising rawmaterial for renewable energy generation.

Science, Technology & Innovation; MPOB, Malaysia Palm Oil Board; MPOC, MalaysiaPalm Oil Council; MSPO, Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil; NKEA, National KeyEconomic Activities; PEMANDU, Performance Management and Delivery Unit;POME, Palm oil mill efuent; USD, American dollars, conversion at 1 USD w 3Ringgit Malaysia (national currency of Malaysia); RSPO, Roundtable on SustainablePalm Oil; SEDA, Sustainable Energy Development Authority; SIRIM, Standards andIndustrial Research Institute of Malaysia; SREP, Small Renewable EnergyProgramme.* Corresponding author.E-mail addresses: wendyngpq@gmail.com, kebx1wnn@nottingham.edu.my

Contents lists available at

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Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e65(W.P.Q. Ng).the palm biomass industry in Malaysia is needed to evaluate the a better position for the country in future business challenges. Thispaper gives an overview of palm biomass potential in terms of (i)promotion of the utilisation of palm biomass, (ii) green policies, (iii)institutional research, (iv) business opportunities, and (v) chal-lenges in green futures. Finally, conclusions on the palm biomassprospective will be drawn based on the biomass potentials in eachcategory.

1.1. The palm oil industry in Malaysia

Abbreviations: CDM, Clean Development Mechanism; CER, certied emissionreductions; EFB, Empty Fruit Bunches; FFB, Fresh Fruit Bunches; FiT, Feed-in Tariff;FOEI, Friends of the Earth International; GAPKI, Indonesian Palm Oil Association;GBI, Green Building Index; GHG, greenhouse gases; GTFS, Green TechnologyFinancing Scheme; IPOSC, International Palm Oil Sustainability Conference; ISO,International Organisation for Standardisation; ISPO, Indonesian Sustainable PalmOil; ITA, Investment Tax Allowance; KeTTHA, Ministry of Energy, Green Technologyand Water; LCA, Life Cycle Analysis; MARDI, Malaysian Agricultural Research andDevelopment Institute; MOHE, Ministry of Higher Education; MOSTI, Ministry of1. Introduction

As theworlds demand for biomas0959-6526/$ e see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd.doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.04.004countrys directional development in the coming years, particularly when the sustainability issue israised globally. With the increasing volume of palm oil residue accumulation due to palm oil production,palm biomass is gaining signicant attention and being increasingly utilised to produce various greenproducts as well as highly valuable biochemicals, such as bioethanol, vitamins, etc. The palm oil industryhas been identied as the key industry for expansion to achieve economic advancement along with thedevelopment of greener production processes in the country. Research on palm biomass, which isactively being carried out by both private and public institutions, is categorised. Furthermore, actions andpolicies to promote the implementation of green technology in Malaysia, while simultaneouslydefending both environmental and ecological health and promoting technology transformation, aresummarised. Challenges and concerns over the green future of the country are discussed, as well as thebusiness trend in the Malaysian palm biomass industry.

2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

reasing, an overview on

potential for biomass utilisation in this country. In addition tointegrating Malaysia into the new trend of global trading, thedevelopment of the palm biomass industry in Malaysia establishes3 April 2012Accepted 4 April 2012business development. The emerging palm biomass industry in Malaysia is foreseen to dominate theReceived in revised formMalaysias economic and sustainable development. An overall picture of the green development indi-cators of the country is provided based on the authors experiences in policy making, research anda r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:

a b s t r a c t

This paper gives an overviAll rights reserved.lm biomass in Malaysiab, Mustafa Kamal c, Joseph Heng Ee Lim d

alaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia1 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, MalaysiaSemarak, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiarmaisuri 2, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

of the green potential of the palm biomass industry, which contributes to

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The distribution of oil palm plantations in Malaysia is shown inFig. 1. In 2010, a total of 16.99 Mt of crude palm oil was produced(MPOB, 2011b).

In the Eighth Malaysia Plan in 2001, renewable energy wasintroduced as the fth fuel after the four primary energy sources:oil, gas, hydropower and coal. The fth fuel has been gaininginuence in current energy development as a potential alternativeto fossil fuels (EIB, 2006). The outlook for the energy situation inMalaysia has been studied by Sulaiman et al. (2011). According tothe study, energy consumption in Malaysia has been increasingsince 1994 (Sulaiman et al., 2011). The nal commercial energydemand by source for the years 2000e2010 is presented in Table 1.Malaysia is highly dependent on fossil oil as an energy source. Toimprove energy security, Malaysia is working towards fuel diver-sication to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels. Palm biomassappears to be one of the potential energy sources due to its abun-dance. In addition, the realisation of palm biomass for producingvalue-added products and biochemicals increases the businessopportunities for the palm biomass industry. The industry is fore-casted to evolve as amajor sector inMalaysias future development.Green development indicators are of the utmost importance inensuring economic and sustainable development. This papersoverview of policies and sector development allows a projection ofthe potential of the palm biomass industry in Malaysia.

Despite the large amount of palm oil production, the oilcontributes to less than 25% byweight of the palm fruit bunch (FAO,

2011). For every kg of palm oil produced, approximately four kg ofdry biomass is produced, excluding palm oil mill efuent (POME).In 2010, 88.74 Mt of Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) of oil palm was pro-cessed (GGS, 2011). The amount of biomass available from thestated FFB is listed in Table 2. The production of palm biomass wasapproximately 87 Mt in 2010, although this value excludes oil palmfronds and trunks, which would further increase the amount ofbiomass produced by the palm oil industry (GGS, 2011). Thepotential energy that can be generated is calculated in Table 2 andtotals up to 37 Mt/y of oil equivalent based on the amount ofbiomass available as of 2010. This amount of energy may be wasteddue to the inefcient utilisation of the available palm biomass. Todate, 60 MW out of 68 MW of biomass power is generated frompalm biomass. The government of Malaysia has set a target toincrease its biomass power generation capacity to 800 MW by2020, and 500 MW is to be generated from palm biomass (KeTTHA,2011a). The cumulative renewable energy target on biomass pro-jected by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water(KeTTHA, 2011a) is illustrated in Fig. 2.

1.2. The conventional use of oil palm products and the palmbiomass industry in Malaysia

Conventionally, palm oil is the only desirable main product fromoil palm that has commercial value. Palm oil is an importantfeedstock to the food industry for edible oil production and the

W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e6558Fig. 1. The distribution of oil palm plantations in Malaysia (MPOB, 2010).

Nonetheless, the sap in the trunks (approximately 200e250 L of sapper trunk) can be converted into bioethanol, which providesanother potential biofuel and value-added chemical applicationfor the biomass (Wan et al., 2010).

Table 1Malaysia: Final commercial energy demanda by source, 2000e2010 (EPU, 2006).

Source Average energy demand (MW) % of total Average annual growth rate (%)

2000 2005 2010 2000 2005 2010 8 MPb 9 MPb

Petroleum products 26002 32442 43534 65.9 62.7 61.9 4.5 6.1Natural gas 5131 7820 11098 13.0 15.1 15.8 8.8 7.3Electricity 6989 9830 13318 17.7 19.0 18.9 7.1 6.3Coal and coke 1316 1649 2378 3.4 3.2 3.4 4.6 7.6

Total 39437 51741 70329 100.0 100.0 100.0 5.6 6.3

a Final commercial energy is the commercial energy delivered to nal consumer. The amount of nal energy afxed to natural gas, liquid fuel, coal and coke exclude the fuelenergy used in electricity generation.

b Malaysia Plan (MP) - the economic development plan implemented by the Malaysian government every 5 years (for a period of 5 years).

W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e65 59oleochemicals industry for the production of cosmetics, soap and soon. More recently, palm oil has emerged as a substitute for non-renewable energy sources. Biodiesel as a form of biofuel has beenderived from the transesterication of palm oil (Kiwjaroun et al.,2009). The rest of the biomass waste is either incinerated ordumped as organic fertiliser through natural decomposition. Inpalm oil mills, palm bre and shells appear to be the main energysource for power generation (Yusoff, 2006). These carbonaceousmaterials are burnt as fuel in boilers to produce steam for powergeneration. However, palm biomass is currently gaining moreattention due to its unique potential. It is increasingly being used toproduce plywood for furniture manufacturing (Sulaiman et al.,2011), palm bres (long or short bres), pellets, high value chem-icals and other products.

Palm bre consists of the vegetations vascular bundles thathave been taken out of the EFB. Due to its sturdy properties, it canbe processed into assorted grades of materials for various appli-cations. The bre can be used in pulp production, erosion control,mattress llings and fertiliser. Currently, most of the EFB inMalaysia is used in soil mulching as an organic nutrient to reducethe input of inorganic fertiliser (KeTTHA, 2011a).

Otherwise, the EFB is biologically treated and dumped in thesame manner as POME. POME is another potential energy sourcefromwhich the methane gas or biogas released can be collected forpower generation. It is estimated that 1 t of FFB processed willgenerate 0.67 t of POME, and each ton of POME is able to produce28 m3 of methane gas (Ng et al., 2011).

Palm bio-briquettes, or pellets, produced from the oil palmwaste can also serve as an alternative to fossil fuels. This materialcan substitute or complement the fossil fuels in boilers, furnacesand kilns for heat generation. Currently, most of the bres andshells from the oil palm fruit are burned directly as fuel in boilers. Inaddition, there are emerging industries, which process felled palmtrunks into plywood, oor ply and laminated lumber. The oil palmtrunks have high moisture content and are highly susceptible to

degradation agents; therefore, they cannot be treated as timber.

Table 2The amount of biomass available as of 2010.

Biomass availablefrom palm oil industry

Quantity(Mt/y)(GGS, 2011)

Net caloricvalue (MJ/t)(Chow et al., 2003)

Potentialenergy(MTOE/y)a

Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB)b 21.27 18795 9.55Mesocarp breb 10.80 19055 4.92Palm kernel shellb 4.98 20093 2.39Palm Oil Mill Efuent

(POME)49.85 16992 20.23

Total 86.90 37.09

a 1 Mt of oil equivalent (MTOE) 41868 MJ.b EFB, mesocarp bre and palm kernel shell are at their dry weights.Due to the realisation of oil palmwastes potential for producingvarious useful resources, previously negative-cost (money losing)materials are now being processed into positive-earning (moneyearning) materials. In other words, waste has been converted intowealth. The conversion of waste into useful end products changesthe status of the material from a carbon source into a carbon sinkthat captures the carbon that would otherwise be released into theatmosphere. A conceptual gure of the volume of valuable biomassthat has previously been wasted by palm oil production is pre-sented in Fig. 3. The utilisation of palm biomass is increasingsignicantly over time, which creates a symbiotic situation wherethe previous waste serves as the input for other industries, leadingthe palm oil industry to a zero waste path. The amount of positive-earning proportionally indicates the amount of carbon sourcesbeing converted into carbon sinks. The more positive the earningsmagnitude, the greener the future is.

2. Promotion of the utilisation of palm biomass in Malaysia

The palm biomass industry of Malaysia is growing and takinga leading position in South East Asia. The intention was clearlyindicated in Malaysias national economic plan by the introductionof the National Biomass Strategy 2020 (AIM, 2011). This strategyprovides a roadmap for the oil palm biomass to wealth scenariothat aims to drive the development of national clusters in thebiofuel and biobased chemical industries as well as to full theFig. 2. The projected cumulative renewable energy target for biomass (after KeTTHA,2011a).

anernational green energy target. The oil palm industry is recognised asone of the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) in the EconomicTransformation Programmes (PEMANDU, 2010). However, due tothe nature of palm biomass and its combustible properties, thepalm biomass industry crosses three NKEAs: palm oil, agricultureand oil, and gas and energy. To effectively implement the approvedprograms listed in the national plan and the Economic Trans-formation Programmes, a monitoring unit within the EconomicTransformation Programmes - The Performance Management andDelivery Unit - PEMANDU (PEMANDU, 2011) - was established.

The palm biomass industry, which provides an alternative of therenewable energy source, shares the benets provided by thestatutory body known as the Sustainable Energy DevelopmentAuthority (SEDA). SEDA was established to assist and monitorrenewable energy growth in Malaysia. It is proposed that by 2015,at least 6% or 985 MW of the national energy consumption will besourced from renewable energy, such as oil palm derived fuel,hydro-energy and solar energy. It is projected that 11% or 2 GW ofthe power generation in the country will be made up of greenenergy (KeTTHA, 2011a).

As the main agency to promote green technology in Malaysia,the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) isresponsible for formulating the policies and legal frameworks toprotect the natural environment of the country alongside industry

Fig. 3. The conceptual trend of palm biomass utilisation.

W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cle60development. It sets the directions for the development of thewater industry, energy industry and green technologies accordingtoMalaysias national development plans (KeTTHA, 2011c). KeTTHAhas been emphasising the development of green technologies toreduce environmental degradation as well as to protect environ-mental and ecological health. Currently, green technology acts asanother sector or tool to boost the countrys economy. The oil palmindustry, which has been identied as a main economic source tothe country, is gaining attention on its sustainable growth in boththe plantation and product development sectors. In an effort topromote green technology development, a fund of up to 500 MUSDhas been provided under the Green Technology Financing Scheme(GTFS) to support green technology development in Malaysia. As ofJuly 2011, 14 green projects have been approved for nancing, anda balance of 433 MUSD is still available for future applications(GTFS, 2011). Fortunately, the fund allocated for the nancialscheme has been subjected to review and may be increased toaccommodate further industrial needs.

Moreover, the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation(MOSTI) and the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) nanciallysupport Malaysias research and development sector (MOSTI, 2011and MOHE, 2011). These ministries provide research grants toqualied institutions to support potential research projects that areexpected to bring benets to the countrys social and economicdevelopment.

Specically, Malaysia possesses two chief ofcial governmentalagencies, the Malaysia Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and the MalaysiaPalm Oil Board (MPOB), that manage the promotion, marketing andresearch and development of the oil palm industry. The MPOC aimsto promote the production, procurement and utilisation of oil palmproducts through the development and accomplishment of cred-ible worldwide standards (MPOC, 2011b). It works to improve theimage of oil palm by stressing the techno-economic advantages ofoil palm and its environmental sustainability. The MPOB, whichwas established in 2000, aims to develop the Malaysian oil palmindustry through research development as well as providingexcellent services to position the oil palm industry towards supe-rior competitiveness and sustainability (MPOB, 2010).

Through the creation of the above agencies, Malaysia hasadvanced its ability to develop green technologies related to thepalm industry. The development of palm biomass utilisation and anevolution in the palm biomass industry in the country are currentlyin progress. It is estimated that the advancement or furtherbreakthroughs in palm biomass utilisation can be achieved by 2020.This advancement can be observed from the progressive switch ofpalm biomass product value from low-value palm biomass prod-ucts to higher-value palm biomass products.

3. Green policies in Malaysia

Malaysia has introduced several green policies to support theabove ministries and agencies more efciently in promoting thepalm biomass industry. Realising the potential of palm biomass,Malaysia has demonstrated its intention to develop the palmbiomass industry since 2001. Since then, newer policies havecontinuously been introduced to substitute for older policiesfollowing the global trend of the palm biomass industry.

The Small Renewable Energy Program (SREP) (KeTTHA, 2012),which was implemented in 2001, promotes the utilisation ofrenewable energy sources available in Malaysia. The POMEgenerated from the palm industry has been identied as one ofthese potential renewable energy sources. Through SREP,a renewable energy-based power producer is allowed to sell itsgenerated electricity to the national grid at a maximum capacity of10 MW.

In 2010, Malaysia introduced the National Renewable EnergyPolicy 2010. This policy aims to further increase the exploitation oflocal renewable energy resources, such as oil palm, and contributeto national energy security and sustainable socio-economic devel-opment (KeTTHA, 2011c). Malaysia has proposed the introductionof the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) from USD 0.09 kW/h onwards forbiomass-based renewable energy production (KeTTHA, 2011b). TheRenewable Energy Act (PNMB, 2011), which will contain the FiT,was projected to be brought to the parliament house by the end of2011. This act allows the producer or industries to trade in anysurplus energy to the national power grid or utility companies. Inaddition, incentives will be offered to the industries employingrenewable energy. This approach is expected to further promotethe adoption of renewable energy sources.

In addition, Malaysia has implemented the Promotion ofInvestments Act, 1986 (The Commissioner of Law Revision, 2006).This act offers incentives to companies that generate energy fromrenewable resources that is then either sold to other companies orretained for self-consumption. The incentives offered include thegranting of Pioneer Status and the Investment Tax Allowance (ITA).

Production 34 (2012) 57e65Pioneer Status allows for income tax exemption on statutory

presently being expanded tremendously by both private and publicresearch institutions such asMARDI, the PalmOil Research Instituteof Malaysia, and Agro-Bio Fibre Sdn Bhd (Sulaiman et al., 2011). Inaddition, research is being carried out to develop cleaner produc-tion technologies to reach the zero waste target in the oil palmsector. However, to date, only 10% of the palm biomass is beingcommercially exploited (KeTTHA, 2011a). In addition to thesestudies, discharge wastewater quality is being studied and closelymonitored in Malaysia along with the development of the oil palmindustry.

5. Business opportunities for green biomass

Previously, the palm biomass conversion business had not beengaining attention from oil palm growers and palm oil millers. Palmbiomass was landlled as waste or left on plantation grounds formulching as organic fertiliser due to its previously low economicvalue. Other factors that led to the underdevelopment of the palmbiomass industry are the lack of available proven processingtechnologies and the closed-door attitudes exhibited by industrialplayers. In addition, the lack of mature technologies, in turn,caused a decrease in the condence level of nancial institutionsand led to an unsuccessful nancing status for most palm biomassinvestors.

In the current market, palm biomass is under focus because theoil palm industry has been highlighted as a key indicator of thecountrys economic performance. The potential prot attainablefrom the production of the biomass products drives the develop-ment of the palm biomass industry. For instance, EFB, which is sold

- Universiti Technologi Malaysia

(Sulaiman and Abdullah, 2011)Palm Biomass

Value-Added Products- Universiti Sains Malaysia

(Khalil et al., 2010) (Ibrahim et al., 2011)- Universiti Putra Malaysia

(Mumtaz et al., 2010)

anerincome, whereas ITA offers tax allowances on qualied capitalexpenses. The palm oil mill, which produces biofuel or renewableenergy, is eligible for the incentives application.

Furthermore, Malaysia is keen on developing and promotinggreen technology. One of the measurements includes the intro-duction of the Green Technology Financing Scheme that has beenfunctioning since 1st January 2010. This scheme offers nancialfunding up to 500MUSD and is applicable to both the producer anduser of green technology with the expectation that it will benetmore than 140 companies in Malaysia (GTFS, 2011 and BERNAMA,2009).

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the KyotoProtocol (UNFCCC, 1998) is a scheme to promote sustainabledevelopment. It introduces carbon credits through which devel-oping countries can gain prot by trading certied emissionreductions (CER), while developed countries can achieve theiremission reduction targets by purchasing the tradable carboncredits. The palm biomass industry is eligible to earn CER throughbiogas - methane capture released by POME. Currently, more thanve CDM projects from the oil palm industry were approved andissued at least 0.57 Mt of CO2 equivalent CER (Wahid et al., 2009).

The execution of the ofcial policies in Malaysia, especially inthe eld of renewable energy, has induced the development ofpower generation through the utilisation of local renewable energysources. Palm biomass as one of the readily available renewableenergy sources is gaining attention for power generation due to itsheat energy content. The tax incentives offered encourage thedevelopment of the palm biomass industry for its renewableproperties to be eligible for tax exemption.

4. Institutional research in green palm biomass promotion

Currently, various research and developments carried out byboth public and private institutions have contributed to the pool ofnew knowledge. The development of knowledge has led to theutilisation of oil palm and its classication as bio-energy andbiomass in general. In the eld of bio-energy development, ef-cient palm oil production technologies and the generation ofenergy from POME methane captured are currently beingresearched. The production of biodiesel from oil palm has previ-ously been implemented with successful outcomes. However,studies on improving the efciency and new technology inproducing the oil palm-based biofuel are still ongoing. Somecommon researchers and their eld of research and developmentcarried out by educational institutions in Malaysia are listed inTable 3.

The diverse applications of the palm biomass are being devel-oped and investigated to convert the previous waste into value-added products. For instance, EFB and POMEhave been successfullyconverted into cattle feed, cow ooring and fertiliser in a pilot studycarried out by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Develop-ment Institute (MARDI) (MARDI, 2011). Additionally, a collaboratingresearch team from different nations shows that oil palm trunksappear to be a promising source of sugars for bioethanol production(Yamada et al., 2010). This has improved the competitiveness of oilpalm, which has become more prominent relative to other renew-able energy sources in terms of producing different products.

The previous and ongoing research and development of thepotential uses of dry residues, derived bio-oil and POME from oilpalmwastes have been discussed in detail by Sulaiman et al. (2011):POME contains organic compounds and minerals that can be con-verted through microbial decomposition into fertilisers and biogas.Additionally, the rapid pyrolysis of the biomass is currently beinginvestigated byMalaya University and the University of Technology

W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleof Malaysia. The potential uses of biomass dry residues are(Lam et al., 2010)Palm Biomass Process

Optimisation- University of Nottingham, Malaysia

Campus (Chen et al., 2011)(Tay and Ng, 2012)

- Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS(Inayat et al., 2011)

Palm Biomass HydrogenGeneration

- Universiti Putra Malaysia(Mohammed et al., 2011)

- University Sains Malaysia(Yong et al., 2007)

Palm Biomass Bio-oilProduction

- Univesity of Malaya(Abnisa et al., 2011)

- Universiti Sains MalaysiaTable 3Common local studies on palm biomass carried out by educational institutions inMalaysia.

Field of research Educational institution

Palm Oil Mill Efuent (POME) - University of Nottingham,Malaysia Campus (Chan et al., 2010)(Poh and Chong, 2010)(Chan et al., 2011).

- Universiti Sains Malaysia(Bhatia et al., 2007) (Ahmad et al., 2009)(Chou et al., 2010)

- University of Malaysia Pahang(Abdurahman et al., 2011)

- University of Malaya(Mohammadi et al., 2011)

- Universiti Putra Malaysia(Razi and Noor, 1999)

Palm Biomass Supply Chain - University of Nottingham, MalaysiaCampus (Lam et al., 2010)(Foo et al., 2011)

Production 34 (2012) 57e65 61at USD 3.33/t locally by palm oil mills, can be further processed into

oil palm utilisation as a whole. This may be accomplished bycarrying out Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) on the oil palm industry.Other than the conventional LCA, some other aspect should beanalysed in the future: various other footprints - e.g. nitrogen(Cucek et al., 2012), Sustainable process index e SPI (Kettl et al.,2011) and Environmental Performance Strategy Map e EPSM(De Benedetto and Klemes, 2009, 2010).

LCA activities in Malaysia took off in 2006 under the NinthMalaysia Plan (2006e2010), when it was recognised to promote thegreater use of environmentally sound technologies, industries will beencouraged to adapt self-regulatory measures and apply the Life Cycle

anerdried long bre, which is then sold at USD 170/t. This possibilityraises interest and attracts more investors to the palm biomassindustry. With respect to environmental sustainability, the uti-lisation of palm biomass generates carbon sinks, boosts theeconomy of the country and simultaneously introduces Malaysia asa green country to the world through the exploitation of renewableenergy.

However, the economic value of moderate value products suchas dried long bre and bio-briquette are predicted to decrease inthe coming few years. This decrease will most likely result from theoverwhelming production of moderate value products bymillers orindustrial players. On the other hand, the market of the palmbiomass industry is expected to grow bymoving up the value chain.It is also predicted that by 2020, the biomass industry will evolve toproduce value-added biochemicals, such as bioethanol, to full theglobal market demand as well as the industrial players protorientation. Thus, Malaysia will proceed to the next generation ofbiomass conversion in the coming future.

In Malaysia, there is still no strict policy for the biomassindustry. However, it is believed that the countrys government willintroduce new policies soon to control and direct the developmentof the industry.

6. Discussion - challenges in green future

Despite the existence of local policies and agencies that promotethe development of the palm biomass industry, there are barriersthat prevent the full development of the green biomass industryand that obfuscate the direction of Malaysias green future. Thesebarriers exist as challenges that have to be tackled for the expan-sion of the palm biomass industry. This section discusses thechallenges faced by the palm biomass industry, such as biodiversityissues, life cycle assessment, business development, eco-labelling,health hazards, and replantation issues.

The main challenge for the development of the palm biomassindustry relates to the growth of oil palm industry, as the devel-opment of the palm biomass industry is directly affected by theexistence of the oil palm industry. In Malaysia, the projects thatutilise palm oil as feedstock have been criticised by some envi-ronmentalists. A report has been published by Friends of the EarthInternational (FOEI) claiming that the clearance of lands or forestsfor oil palm plantation is threatening some of the last habitats ofendangered species, including the orangutan (Buckland, 2005). Toprotect these endangered species, Malaysia has introduced theMalaysian Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund (MPOC, 2011a). Theintroduction of the wildlife conservation fund and the engage-ments of non-governmental organisations are pacifying the groupsconcerned for the welfare of orangutans in Malaysia. The WildlifeCapture and Rescue Centre has been established and other ongoingprojects, such as the mega wildlife sanctuary, are being developedto further tackle the issue (MPOB, 2010).

Land use issues, specically deforestation that leads to the lossof ecosystems preservation and the homes of indigenous people,are capturing the attention of some environmentalists. However,the forest cover loss in Malaysia is caused by different regionalfactors. The projection of land use change in Malaysia has beenanalysed in detail byWicke et al. (2011), and the study revealed thatthe increasing palm oil demand up to 2020 can be met withoutfurther forest cover loss through improving yield and degradedland conversion. Additionally, oil palm uses relatively little landarea for oil production compared to other crops, as shown inTable 4. In terms of both economic and sustainability values, oilpalm outperforms other oil crops.

However, it has been claimed that land clearance by cutting and

W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cle62burning large forests releases large net amounts of greenhousegases such as carbon dioxide that will not be reabsorbed by the oilpalm trees. Through the development of biomass utilisation, thiscondition can be improved. The conversion of palm biomass intobres, furniture and plywood as building materials turns theproducts into carbon sinks that reduce the amount of carbonemissions released into the atmosphere.

The combustible properties of the palm bre and shell allow thebiomass to act as an alternative energy source (Cucek et al., 2010).Leaving the biomass resulting from the palm oil production behindfor mulching is a conventional practice. However, the volume ofCO2 emitted from the combustion of palm briquettes, a type ofbiomass product made of palm EFB, is lower compared to theamount of CO2 emitted from mulching (Chiew et al., 2011). Byreplacing fossil fuels with palm biomass for incineration, theamount of carbon originally emitted from the combustion of fossilfuels can be omitted. Non-governmental organisations formerlyclaimed that oil palm plantation is inferior to the natural rainforestin relation to carbon cycle succession. However, as reported by Tanet al. (2009), the net assimilation of CO2 for an oil palm plantation ishigher, with 64.5 t/ha/y of CO2 assimilated for an oil palm planta-tion compared to only 42.2 t/ha/yr of CO2 for a rainforest. As far ascarbon sequestration is concerned, oil palm plantations are moreadvanced than natural rainforests.

Another signicant source of carbon emissions is the green-house gases emitted from the transportation sector. Raw materialssuch as oil palm are transported from plantation sources to pro-cessing sites and nally to demand points. Similarly, both rapeseedand soybean are transported from farms to storage facilities beforethey are crushed and processed. To reduce greenhouse gas emis-sions and secure product supply, a proper management system orefcient supply chain is needed. In Malaysia, the eld of biomasssupply chain optimisation is under development, and studies arecurrently being carried out by researchers from both the public andprivate sectors. This research in supply chain development isexpected to further advance the countrys sustainability practiceand ensure the supply security of oil palm-based products.

Other than the biodiversity and emission issues mentionedabove, the existence of challenges facing a green future depend onnational policy, the amount of research being performed andsociety. Because greenness is often inversely proportional to thesize of the carbon footprint, the accomplishment of a green futurecan be attained by reducing this footprint. With respect to oil palm,this reduction can be realised through the optimisation of the total

Table 4Comparison of oil yield rates for major oil crops (Source: MPIC,2011).

Oil crop Average oil yield (t/ha/y)

Soybean 0.37Sunower 0.50Rapeseed 0.75Oil palm 4.09

Production 34 (2012) 57e65Approach in their production processes and product development.

use of chemical fertilisers in growing oil palm trees. However, the

anerThe Malaysian Government approved a budget of 3.33 MUSD forSIRIM Berhad, a national agency for industrial development, toestablish a Steering Committee and related groups (namely, in theareas of agro-industry, petroleum, petrochemicals and plastics,electrical and electronics, heavy industries, chemical industries,utilities and transport, consumer goods, waste management,database development and impact assessment) to implement theNational LCA project. Under this committee, SIRIM developed theNational Life Cycle Inventory Database project in collaborationwiththe Japanese Standards Association, which facilitates the develop-ment of LCAs for production and manufacturing processes. Amongthe different industries working on the LCA project, the agriculturesector and particularly the Malaysian palm oil industry was themost active due to the implications of the European UnionsRenewable Energy Directive in 2008, which affected the trade ofpalm oil-based feedstock for biofuels (Dalgaard, 2009). Since then,there have been at least ve major papers on palm oils LCA.Through the utilisation of the LCA of palm oil, it was found that atthe milling stage in particular, POME contributes up to 50% of theGHG emissions in the life cycle of palm oil (Sundram, 2011 andSchmidt, 2007). Thus, having methane capture facilities in Malay-sian palm oil mills would be a sizable contribution in reducing thecarbon footprint. This installationwill help to portray the industryscommitment to continuing development and sustainabilitypractices.

Furthermore, there are other concerns over the development ofgreen potential in Malaysia. One of the concerns relates to businessviability in that the success of a project launch depends greatly onfunding availability from sources such as the Clean DevelopmentMechanism (CDM) scheme (PTM, 2010) and theMinistry of Science,Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) for research funding (MOSTI,2009). Nevertheless, Malaysia actively promotes and supportsgreen technology. This could be observed in 2009 when Malaysialaunched the National Green Technology Policy. The policy aims tominimise environmental pollution, conserve the utilisation ofnatural resources and promote the use of renewable resources(GreenTechMalaysia, 2010). Additionally, Malaysia offers the GreenBuilding Index (GBI) tax incentive and stamp duty exemption underthe National Green Technology Fund. The incentive takes intoaccount accelerated tax depreciation and the total write off ofinvestment tax allowance for energy savings capital expenditure(StarProperty, 2010). All of these green policies, schemes andfunding programs aim to provide continuous support to thedevelopment of green potential in this country.

Political issues also play an important role in ensuring thesmooth development of the oil palm industry. The split of theRoundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) into several associa-tions may have compromised the functionality and efciency of thepalm oil trading process, which in turn triggered uncertainty in thesecurity of palm oil supply and especially palm oil exports overseas.The RSPO, whichwas established in 2004 (RSPO, 2009), responds tothe global press on sustainable palm oil production by promotingthe growth and utilisation of sustainable oil palm products. Addi-tionally, the RSPO gathers the stakeholders of the palm oil industry(oil palm producers, palm oil processors and traders, consumergoodsmanufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmentaland nature conservation non-governmental organisations andsocial and developmental non-governmental organisations) toimplement and develop global standards for sustainable palm oil(RSPO, 2009). However, in 2011, one of the groups originating fromthe RSPO detached from the RSPO and formed IndonesianSustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) (Adnan, 2011). ISPO is currentlymanaged by the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI), whileanother Malaysian group is expected to detach from the RSPO to

W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleform Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) in the near futureMalaysian government has taken steps to improve this situation.Malaysia implemented the Third National Agricultural Policy in1998 to enhance food security through the optimisation of resourceutilisation. Organic farming, composting and the production oforganic fertiliser using agricultural waste have been promoted(Ahmad, 2001). In recent years, most of the oil palm plantationspractise organic farming, which reduces costs through the reduceduse of chemical fertilisers.

Malaysia encourages the replantation of oil palm trees to restorethe economic yield of the oil palm, which declines as a result of treeageing. However, this replanting activity will result in a holdbackperiod of at least seven years, not including the seed preparationand land clearing periods. The required biomass planted area peryear can be calculated based on the KeTTHA projected biomasspower generation target as shown in Fig. 2. Currently, the countrysoil palm replanting rate is quoted at 4%. Based on the best FFB yieldof 25%, the critical replanting rate is found to be 10%. If thereplanting rate exceeds the critical value, the KeTTHA projectedbiomass power generation target may not be realised. This posesa difcult trade-off between yield and replanting, as yield isinversely proportional to the replanting rate.

7. Conclusions

This paper outlines the positive potential of palm biomass uti-lisation inMalaysia based on the points of view from (i) the supportand policies from the Malaysian government, (ii) national andinternational business opportunities and (iii) research and devel-opment activities from Malaysian agencies and higher institutions.Obviously, Malaysia has shown a strong desire to promote itself asa major biomass hub in the South East Asia region. Supportivepolicies such as the SREP and the National Renewable Energy Policyof 2010 have been introduced to enhance implementation andinvestment from the private sector. Various agencies and policieshave been set to control and direct the development of the palmbiomass industry in Malaysia.

The new trend of business opportunities speeds up the devel-opment of the palm biomass industry in terms of technologydevelopment, product improvement, process synthesis and supplychain optimisation. Research and development of palm biomass bygovernmental institutions and universities supports new productsynthesis and improves process efciencies. This ongoing research(Chik, 2011). The segregation of these groups may lead to morecomplicated processes and additional approvals that have tobe acquired prior to product release. This, in turn, will lead touctuations in palm biomass supply due to the erratic delivery ofpalm oil.

Furthermore, the adaption of ISO 14000 standards in terms ofenvironmental labels or eco-labelling may help to promote theproduction of environmentally friendly products. The label helpsconsumers differentiate environmentally friendly products fromconventional products and signies the products grade in theoutlook of the environment. However, this green labelling schemeis challenging due to the customary issues of information shortageand the lack of coordination to gather the essential environmentalimpact details of a product. Nevertheless, some products inMalaysia have been eco-labelled under different names, such asplumbed free, chlorouorocarbon free, natural ingredients, noarticial preservatives, recycle paper and packaging and so on(Yaacob and Hameed, n.d).

Another signicant challenge to Malaysias sustainable oil palmfuture relates to the threat of health hazards due to uncontrolled

Production 34 (2012) 57e65 63and development on palm biomass is expected to promote a more

Eng. J. 133 (1e3), 205e212. doi:10.1016/j.cej.2007.01.034.Buckland, H., 2005. The Oil for Ape Scandal: How Palm Oil is Threatening Orang-

j.biombioe.2011.03.027.Chik, A.R., 2011. Crowding the Sustainable Landscape. Available from:(accessed

aner05.12.11). www.asiaviews.org/index.php?optioncom_content&;viewarticle&id33248:crowding-the-sustainable-landscape&catid1:headlines&Itemid2.

Chou, K.W., Norli, I., Anees, A., 2010. Evaluation of effect of temperature, NaOHconcentration and time on solubilization of palm oil mill efuent (POME) usingresponse surface methodology (RSM). Bioresource. Technol. 101 (22),8616e8622. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2010.06.101.

Chow, M.C., Subramaniam, V., Ma, A.N., 2003. Energy database of the oil palm.In: Proceedings of Chemistry and Technology Conference, PIPOC 2003, 24-28 August 2003, Putrajaya Marriott Hotel, Putrajaya, Malaysia,pp. 528e529.

Cucek, L., Lam, H.L., Klemes, J.J., Varbanov, P.S., Kravanja, Z., 2010. Synthesis ofutan Survival. Friends of the Earth Trust, London, United Kingdom.Chan, Y.J., Chong, M.F., Law, C.L., 2010. Biological treatment of anaerobically digested

palm oil mill efuent (POME) using a Lab-Scale Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR).J. Environ. Manage. 91 (8), 1738e1746. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.03.021.

Chan, Y.J., Chong, M.F., Law, C.L., 2011. Optimization of thermophilic aerobic treat-ment of anaerobically digested palm oil mill efuent (POME). Biochem. Eng. J.55 (3), 193e198. doi:10.1016/j.bej.2011.04.007.

Chen, C.L., Lee, J.Y., Ng, D.K.S., Foo, D.C.Y., 2011. Property integration for resourceconservation network synthesis in palm oil mills. Chem. Eng. J. 169 (1e3),207e215. doi:10.1016/j.cej.2011.03.014.

Chiew, Y.L., Iwata, T., Shimada, S., 2011. System analysis for effective use of palm oilwaste as energy resources. Biomass. Bioenerg. 35 (7), 2925e2935. doi:10.1016/advanced generation of palm biomass products, where high value-added products and biobased chemicals are produced.

In the future, Malaysia will be able to exert signicant greenpotential by developing a solid supply network for proper biomasssupply and demand connection. In addition, facilities can be clus-tered by functions in centralising resources andmanagement. Fromfacilities clustering, an industrial symbiotic approach can beintroduced for optimising resources usage and recovery amongfacilities and different industries.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the corporate grantsponsored by Global Green Synergy Sdn Bhd for nancially sup-porting the project studies and the nancial contribution from TheUniversity of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus through the DeanScholarship. In addition, highest gratitude is expressed for thecooperation and information provided by the Malaysian Palm OilCouncil throughout the study.

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