Plantation Ministry proposes investing in new tech, infra for waste-to-energy production
22/10/2024 (The Edge Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur - The Ministry of Plantation and Commodities on Tuesday proposed investing in new technologies and infrastructure to more efficiently convert wastes from palm oil production into biomass energy.
Waste industry materials like empty fruit bunches (EFB), mesocarp fibre, and palm kernel shells could be burned and turned into energy, said its minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani. Further, palm oil mills generate effluent that could be converted into energy through methane capture, he noted.
“Integrating these organic materials into the agricultural cycle creates a closed-loop system," Johari told reporters after the Oils and Fats International Congress 2024, an event organised by the Malaysian Oil Scientists and Technologists Association.
Malaysia, the world’s largest producer of palm oil after Indonesia, has pledged to achieve net-zero by 2050. The government has committed to retire coal-fired power plants by 2044 as part of its energy transition and climate change policy.
The country is also home to 446 palm oil mills, which could hypothetically generate up to 2,230 megawatt of electricity from renewable energy if each mill could produce up to five megawatt, said Johari. A 2,000-megawatt power plant today would cost RM8 billion to RM9 billion, he said.
Waste-to-energy also addresses typical issues like waste segregation and supply adequacy, which often hinder recycling efforts. This approach, Johari continued, is key to mitigating biodiversity loss and combating climate change while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the palm oil industry.
EFB and oil palm trunks can also be repurposed as mulch to improve soil conditions, Johari said.
There are several challenges, including having transmission lines reach the palm oil mills to feed the electricity generated into the grid before it could be sold, he flagged.
“The industry players must take it upon themselves to pursue opportunities in which we can implement a cost-competitive circular model instead of a linear one,” he added.