Sime Darby Plantation and Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding team up to deliver Malaysian bioethanol plant

29/12/2010 (Business Green) - Sime Darby Plantation and Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding will form a joint venture to construct and operate a bioethanol demonstration plant in Malaysia, according to a statement released by the firms this week.

The plant will be the first in the world to generate bioethanol from empty fruit bunches, a by-product of the palm oil production process.

It will be built next to Sime Darby Plantation's Tennamaram palm oil mill at Bestari Jaya, Selangor.

When operational, the plant will process 1.25 metric tonnes of empty fruit bunches per day using its hydrothermal pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis technology.

The firms will use data from the project to evaluate the feasibility of commercial-scale production of bioethanol from the bunches.

The long-term, stable supply of plentiful, low-cost feedstock is the key factor in the commercial production of bioethanol.

Malaysia and Indonesia produce approximately 90 per cent of the world's palm oil, and their palm oil mills produce 40 million metric tons of empty fruit bunches annually.

Anthony Dass, executive vice-president of Sime Darby Plantations, said the project has the dual benefits of tackling waste and producing biofuel.

"Successful commercialization will also help in managing solid waste produced in oil palm estates," he said.

Test production of bioethanol at the plant will start next year and the product will be sold in Malaysia as a raw material for plastics, and later possibly exported to Japan.

Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding has already developed the technology for second generation bioethanol production through the NEDO project in Japan.

The firm signed a license agreement to use second generation biomass refinery technology from Denmark's Inbicon in February, and this technology will be used in the Selangor plant.

Inbicon has previosuly constructed the world's largest demonstration plant for second generation bioethanol production from straw at Kalundborg in Denmark.

Palm oil plantations remain highly controversial with many environmental groups accusing them of contributing to deforestation. However, the new technology aims to make use of waste materials and as such should not help fuel the expansion of palm oil plantations.