Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e65

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Journal of Cleaner Production

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Waste-to-wealth: green potential from palm biomass in Malaysia

Wendy Pei Qin Ng a, *, Hon Loong Lam a, Foo Yuen Ng b, Mustafa Kamal c, Joseph Heng Ee Lim d
a

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, The University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
Malaysian Palm Oil Council, 2nd Floor, Wisma Sawit, Lot 6, SS 6, Jalan Perbandaran, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
c
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering, Jalan Semarak, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
d
Global Green Synergy Sdn Bhd, Wisma Zelan, Suite 01.12B, First Floor, No 1, Jalan Tasik Permaisuri 2, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
b

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 10 November 2011
Received in revised form
3 April 2012
Accepted 4 April 2012
Available online 16 April 2012

This paper gives an overview of the green potential of the palm biomass industry, which contributes to
Malaysias economic and sustainable development. An overall picture of the green development indicators of the country is provided based on the authors experiences in policy making, research and
business development. The emerging palm biomass industry in Malaysia is foreseen to dominate the
countrys directional development in the coming years, particularly when the sustainability issue is
raised 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 green
products as well as highly valuable biochemicals, such as bioethanol, vitamins, etc. The palm oil industry
has been identied as the key industry for expansion to achieve economic advancement along with the
development of greener production processes in the country. Research on palm biomass, which is
actively being carried out by both private and public institutions, is categorised. Furthermore, actions and
policies to promote the implementation of green technology in Malaysia, while simultaneously
defending both environmental and ecological health and promoting technology transformation, are
summarised. Challenges and concerns over the green future of the country are discussed, as well as the
business trend in the Malaysian palm biomass industry.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Palm biomass
Waste-to-wealth
Green potential

1. Introduction
As the worlds demand for biomass is increasing, an overview on
the palm biomass industry in Malaysia is needed to evaluate the
Abbreviations: CDM, Clean Development Mechanism; CER, certied emission
reductions; 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 Technology
Financing Scheme; IPOSC, International Palm Oil Sustainability Conference; ISO,
International Organisation for Standardisation; ISPO, Indonesian Sustainable Palm
Oil; ITA, Investment Tax Allowance; KeTTHA, Ministry of Energy, Green Technology
and Water; LCA, Life Cycle Analysis; MARDI, Malaysian Agricultural Research and
Development Institute; MOHE, Ministry of Higher Education; MOSTI, Ministry of
Science, Technology & Innovation; MPOB, Malaysia Palm Oil Board; MPOC, Malaysia
Palm Oil Council; MSPO, Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil; NKEA, National Key
Economic Activities; PEMANDU, Performance Management and Delivery Unit;
POME, Palm oil mill efuent; USD, American dollars, conversion at 1 USD w 3
Ringgit Malaysia (national currency of Malaysia); RSPO, Roundtable on Sustainable
Palm Oil; SEDA, Sustainable Energy Development Authority; SIRIM, Standards and
Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia; SREP, Small Renewable Energy
Programme.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: wendyngpq@gmail.com, kebx1wnn@nottingham.edu.my
(W.P.Q. Ng).
0959-6526/$ e see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.04.004

potential for biomass utilisation in this country. In addition to

integrating Malaysia into the new trend of global trading, the
development of the palm biomass industry in Malaysia establishes
a better position for the country in future business challenges. This
paper 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) challenges in green futures. Finally, conclusions on the palm biomass
prospective will be drawn based on the biomass potentials in each
category.
1.1. The palm oil industry in Malaysia
Malaysia as a tropical country experiences hot and wet weather
throughout the year. This climate encourages the growth of the oil
palm and consequently the development of oil palm cultivation in
Malaysia. This development has made Malaysia a major global oil
palm biomass producer (Yusoff, 2006). As a main exporter and
producer of palm oil in the world, the total oil palm planted area in
Malaysia reached 4.98 Mha as of September 2011 (MPOB, 2011a),
which covers approximately 73% of the agricultural land and makes
oil palm a promising raw material for renewable energy generation.

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W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e65

The distribution of oil palm plantations in Malaysia is shown in

Fig. 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 was
introduced as the fth fuel after the four primary energy sources:
oil, gas, hydropower and coal. The fth fuel has been gaining
inuence in current energy development as a potential alternative
to fossil fuels (EIB, 2006). The outlook for the energy situation in
Malaysia has been studied by Sulaiman et al. (2011). According to
the study, energy consumption in Malaysia has been increasing
since 1994 (Sulaiman et al., 2011). The nal commercial energy
demand by source for the years 2000e2010 is presented in Table 1.
Malaysia is highly dependent on fossil oil as an energy source. To
improve energy security, Malaysia is working towards fuel diversication to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels. Palm biomass
appears to be one of the potential energy sources due to its abundance. In addition, the realisation of palm biomass for producing
value-added products and biochemicals increases the business
opportunities for the palm biomass industry. The industry is forecasted to evolve as a major sector in Malaysias future development.
Green development indicators are of the utmost importance in
ensuring economic and sustainable development. This papers
overview of policies and sector development allows a projection of
the potential of the palm biomass industry in Malaysia.
Despite the large amount of palm oil production, the oil
contributes to less than 25% by weight of the palm fruit bunch (FAO,

2011). For every kg of palm oil produced, approximately four kg of

dry biomass is produced, excluding palm oil mill efuent (POME).
In 2010, 88.74 Mt of Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) of oil palm was processed (GGS, 2011). The amount of biomass available from the
stated FFB is listed in Table 2. The production of palm biomass was
approximately 87 Mt in 2010, although this value excludes oil palm
fronds and trunks, which would further increase the amount of
biomass produced by the palm oil industry (GGS, 2011). The
potential energy that can be generated is calculated in Table 2 and
totals up to 37 Mt/y of oil equivalent based on the amount of
biomass available as of 2010. This amount of energy may be wasted
due to the inefcient utilisation of the available palm biomass. To
date, 60 MW out of 68 MW of biomass power is generated from
palm biomass. The government of Malaysia has set a target to
increase its biomass power generation capacity to 800 MW by
2020, and 500 MW is to be generated from palm biomass (KeTTHA,
2011a). The cumulative renewable energy target on biomass projected 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 palm
biomass industry in Malaysia
Conventionally, palm oil is the only desirable main product from
oil palm that has commercial value. Palm oil is an important
feedstock to the food industry for edible oil production and the

Fig. 1. The distribution of oil palm plantations in Malaysia (MPOB, 2010).

W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e65

59

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

Average energy demand (MW)

% of total

2000

2005

2010

Petroleum products
Natural gas
Electricity
Coal and coke

26002
5131
6989
1316

32442
7820
9830
1649

Total

39437

51741

Average annual growth rate (%)

8 MPb

9 MPb

61.9
15.8
18.9
3.4

4.5
8.8
7.1
4.6

6.1
7.3
6.3
7.6

100.0

5.6

6.3

2000

2005

2010

43534
11098
13318
2378

65.9
13.0
17.7
3.4

62.7
15.1
19.0
3.2

70329

100.0

100.0

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 fuel
energy 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).

oleochemicals industry for the production of cosmetics, soap and so

on. More recently, palm oil has emerged as a substitute for nonrenewable energy sources. Biodiesel as a form of biofuel has been
derived from the transesterication of palm oil (Kiwjaroun et al.,
2009). The rest of the biomass waste is either incinerated or
dumped as organic fertiliser through natural decomposition. In
palm oil mills, palm bre and shells appear to be the main energy
source for power generation (Yusoff, 2006). These carbonaceous
materials are burnt as fuel in boilers to produce steam for power
generation. However, palm biomass is currently gaining more
attention due to its unique potential. It is increasingly being used to
produce plywood for furniture manufacturing (Sulaiman et al.,
2011), palm bres (long or short bres), pellets, high value chemicals and other products.
Palm bre consists of the vegetations vascular bundles that
have been taken out of the EFB. Due to its sturdy properties, it can
be processed into assorted grades of materials for various applications. The bre can be used in pulp production, erosion control,
mattress llings and fertiliser. Currently, most of the EFB in
Malaysia is used in soil mulching as an organic nutrient to reduce
the input of inorganic fertiliser (KeTTHA, 2011a).
Otherwise, the EFB is biologically treated and dumped in the
same manner as POME. POME is another potential energy source
from which the methane gas or biogas released can be collected for
power generation. It is estimated that 1 t of FFB processed will
generate 0.67 t of POME, and each ton of POME is able to produce
28 m3 of methane gas (Ng et al., 2011).
Palm bio-briquettes, or pellets, produced from the oil palm
waste can also serve as an alternative to fossil fuels. This material
can substitute or complement the fossil fuels in boilers, furnaces
and kilns for heat generation. Currently, most of the bres and
shells from the oil palm fruit are burned directly as fuel in boilers. In
addition, there are emerging industries, which process felled palm
trunks into plywood, oor ply and laminated lumber. The oil palm
trunks have high moisture content and are highly susceptible to
degradation agents; therefore, they cannot be treated as timber.

Nonetheless, the sap in the trunks (approximately 200e250 L of sap

per trunk) can be converted into bioethanol, which provides
another potential biofuel and value-added chemical application
for the biomass (Wan et al., 2010).
Due to the realisation of oil palm wastes potential for producing
various useful resources, previously negative-cost (money losing)
materials are now being processed into positive-earning (money
earning) materials. In other words, waste has been converted into
wealth. The conversion of waste into useful end products changes
the status of the material from a carbon source into a carbon sink
that captures the carbon that would otherwise be released into the
atmosphere. A conceptual gure of the volume of valuable biomass
that has previously been wasted by palm oil production is presented in Fig. 3. The utilisation of palm biomass is increasing
signicantly over time, which creates a symbiotic situation where
the previous waste serves as the input for other industries, leading
the palm oil industry to a zero waste path. The amount of positiveearning proportionally indicates the amount of carbon sources
being converted into carbon sinks. The more positive the earnings
magnitude, the greener the future is.
2. Promotion of the utilisation of palm biomass in Malaysia
The palm biomass industry of Malaysia is growing and taking
a leading position in South East Asia. The intention was clearly
indicated in Malaysias national economic plan by the introduction
of the National Biomass Strategy 2020 (AIM, 2011). This strategy
provides a roadmap for the oil palm biomass to wealth scenario
that aims to drive the development of national clusters in the
biofuel and biobased chemical industries as well as to full the

Table 2
The amount of biomass available as of 2010.
Biomass available
from palm oil industry

Quantity
(Mt/y)
(GGS, 2011)

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

Potential
energy
(MTOE/y)a

Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB)b

Mesocarp breb
Palm kernel shellb
Palm Oil Mill Efuent
(POME)

21.27
10.80
4.98
49.85

18795
19055
20093
16992

9.55
4.92
2.39
20.23

Total

86.90

a
b

37.09

1 Mt of oil equivalent (MTOE) 41868 MJ.

EFB, mesocarp bre and palm kernel shell are at their dry weights.

Fig. 2. The projected cumulative renewable energy target for biomass (after KeTTHA,
2011a).

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W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e65

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

national green energy target. The oil palm industry is recognised as

one of the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) in the Economic
Transformation Programmes (PEMANDU, 2010). However, due to
the nature of palm biomass and its combustible properties, the
palm biomass industry crosses three NKEAs: palm oil, agriculture
and oil, and gas and energy. To effectively implement the approved
programs listed in the national plan and the Economic Transformation Programmes, a monitoring unit within the Economic
Transformation Programmes - The Performance Management and
Delivery Unit - PEMANDU (PEMANDU, 2011) - was established.
The palm biomass industry, which provides an alternative of the
renewable energy source, shares the benets provided by the
statutory body known as the Sustainable Energy Development
Authority (SEDA). SEDA was established to assist and monitor
renewable energy growth in Malaysia. It is proposed that by 2015,
at least 6% or 985 MW of the national energy consumption will be
sourced from renewable energy, such as oil palm derived fuel,
hydro-energy and solar energy. It is projected that 11% or 2 GW of
the power generation in the country will be made up of green
energy (KeTTHA, 2011a).
As the main agency to promote green technology in Malaysia,
the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) is
responsible for formulating the policies and legal frameworks to
protect the natural environment of the country alongside industry
development. It sets the directions for the development of the
water industry, energy industry and green technologies according
to Malaysias national development plans (KeTTHA, 2011c). KeTTHA
has been emphasising the development of green technologies to
reduce environmental degradation as well as to protect environmental and ecological health. Currently, green technology acts as
another sector or tool to boost the countrys economy. The oil palm
industry, which has been identied as a main economic source to
the country, is gaining attention on its sustainable growth in both
the plantation and product development sectors. In an effort to
promote green technology development, a fund of up to 500 MUSD
has been provided under the Green Technology Financing Scheme
(GTFS) to support green technology development in Malaysia. As of
July 2011, 14 green projects have been approved for nancing, and
a balance of 433 MUSD is still available for future applications
(GTFS, 2011). Fortunately, the fund allocated for the nancial
scheme has been subjected to review and may be increased to
accommodate further industrial needs.
Moreover, the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation
(MOSTI) and the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) nancially
support Malaysias research and development sector (MOSTI, 2011

and MOHE, 2011). These ministries provide research grants to

qualied institutions to support potential research projects that are
expected to bring benets to the countrys social and economic
development.
Specically, Malaysia possesses two chief ofcial governmental
agencies, the Malaysia Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and the Malaysia
Palm Oil Board (MPOB), that manage the promotion, marketing and
research and development of the oil palm industry. The MPOC aims
to promote the production, procurement and utilisation of oil palm
products through the development and accomplishment of credible worldwide standards (MPOC, 2011b). It works to improve the
image of oil palm by stressing the techno-economic advantages of
oil palm and its environmental sustainability. The MPOB, which
was established in 2000, aims to develop the Malaysian oil palm
industry through research development as well as providing
excellent services to position the oil palm industry towards superior competitiveness and sustainability (MPOB, 2010).
Through the creation of the above agencies, Malaysia has
advanced its ability to develop green technologies related to the
palm industry. The development of palm biomass utilisation and an
evolution in the palm biomass industry in the country are currently
in progress. It is estimated that the advancement or further
breakthroughs in palm biomass utilisation can be achieved by 2020.
This advancement can be observed from the progressive switch of
palm biomass product value from low-value palm biomass products to higher-value palm biomass products.
3. Green policies in Malaysia
Malaysia has introduced several green policies to support the
above ministries and agencies more efciently in promoting the
palm biomass industry. Realising the potential of palm biomass,
Malaysia has demonstrated its intention to develop the palm
biomass industry since 2001. Since then, newer policies have
continuously been introduced to substitute for older policies
following the global trend of the palm biomass industry.
The Small Renewable Energy Program (SREP) (KeTTHA, 2012),
which was implemented in 2001, promotes the utilisation of
renewable energy sources available in Malaysia. The POME
generated from the palm industry has been identied as one of
these potential renewable energy sources. Through SREP,
a renewable energy-based power producer is allowed to sell its
generated electricity to the national grid at a maximum capacity of
10 MW.
In 2010, Malaysia introduced the National Renewable Energy
Policy 2010. This policy aims to further increase the exploitation of
local renewable energy resources, such as oil palm, and contribute
to national energy security and sustainable socio-economic development (KeTTHA, 2011c). Malaysia has proposed the introduction
of the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) from USD 0.09 kW/h onwards for
biomass-based renewable energy production (KeTTHA, 2011b). The
Renewable Energy Act (PNMB, 2011), which will contain the FiT,
was projected to be brought to the parliament house by the end of
2011. This act allows the producer or industries to trade in any
surplus energy to the national power grid or utility companies. In
addition, incentives will be offered to the industries employing
renewable energy. This approach is expected to further promote
the adoption of renewable energy sources.
In addition, Malaysia has implemented the Promotion of
Investments Act, 1986 (The Commissioner of Law Revision, 2006).
This act offers incentives to companies that generate energy from
renewable resources that is then either sold to other companies or
retained for self-consumption. The incentives offered include the
granting of Pioneer Status and the Investment Tax Allowance (ITA).
Pioneer Status allows for income tax exemption on statutory

W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e65

income, whereas ITA offers tax allowances on qualied capital

expenses. The palm oil mill, which produces biofuel or renewable
energy, is eligible for the incentives application.
Furthermore, Malaysia is keen on developing and promoting
green technology. One of the measurements includes the introduction of the Green Technology Financing Scheme that has been
functioning since 1st January 2010. This scheme offers nancial
funding up to 500 MUSD and is applicable to both the producer and
user of green technology with the expectation that it will benet
more than 140 companies in Malaysia (GTFS, 2011 and BERNAMA,
2009).
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto
Protocol (UNFCCC, 1998) is a scheme to promote sustainable
development. It introduces carbon credits through which developing countries can gain prot by trading certied emission
reductions (CER), while developed countries can achieve their
emission reduction targets by purchasing the tradable carbon
credits. The palm biomass industry is eligible to earn CER through
biogas - methane capture released by POME. Currently, more than
ve CDM projects from the oil palm industry were approved and
issued at least 0.57 Mt of CO2 equivalent CER (Wahid et al., 2009).
The execution of the ofcial policies in Malaysia, especially in
the eld of renewable energy, has induced the development of
power generation through the utilisation of local renewable energy
sources. Palm biomass as one of the readily available renewable
energy sources is gaining attention for power generation due to its
heat energy content. The tax incentives offered encourage the
development of the palm biomass industry for its renewable
properties to be eligible for tax exemption.
4. Institutional research in green palm biomass promotion

61

Table 3
Common local studies on palm biomass carried out by educational institutions in
Malaysia.
Field of research

Educational institution

Palm Oil Mill Efuent (POME)

- University of Nottingham,

Palm Biomass Supply Chain

Palm Biomass Process

Optimisation

Palm Biomass Hydrogen

Generation

Palm Biomass Bio-oil

Production

Palm Biomass
Value-Added Products

Currently, various research and developments carried out by

both public and private institutions have contributed to the pool of
new knowledge. The development of knowledge has led to the
utilisation of oil palm and its classication as bio-energy and
biomass in general. In the eld of bio-energy development, efcient palm oil production technologies and the generation of
energy from POME methane captured are currently being
researched. The production of biodiesel from oil palm has previously been implemented with successful outcomes. However,
studies on improving the efciency and new technology in
producing the oil palm-based biofuel are still ongoing. Some
common researchers and their eld of research and development
carried out by educational institutions in Malaysia are listed in
Table 3.
The diverse applications of the palm biomass are being developed and investigated to convert the previous waste into valueadded products. For instance, EFB and POME have been successfully
converted into cattle feed, cow ooring and fertiliser in a pilot study
carried out by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) (MARDI, 2011). Additionally, a collaborating
research team from different nations shows that oil palm trunks
appear to be a promising source of sugars for bioethanol production
(Yamada et al., 2010). This has improved the competitiveness of oil
palm, which has become more prominent relative to other renewable energy sources in terms of producing different products.
The previous and ongoing research and development of the
potential uses of dry residues, derived bio-oil and POME from oil
palm wastes have been discussed in detail by Sulaiman et al. (2011):
POME contains organic compounds and minerals that can be converted through microbial decomposition into fertilisers and biogas.
Additionally, the rapid pyrolysis of the biomass is currently being
investigated by Malaya University and the University of Technology
of Malaysia. The potential uses of biomass dry residues are

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)
University of Nottingham, Malaysia
Campus (Lam et al., 2010)
(Foo et al., 2011)
Universiti Technologi Malaysia
(Lam et al., 2010)
University of Nottingham, Malaysia
Campus (Chen et al., 2011)
(Tay and Ng, 2012)
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
(Inayat et al., 2011)
Universiti Putra Malaysia
(Mohammed et al., 2011)
University Sains Malaysia
(Yong et al., 2007)
Univesity of Malaya
(Abnisa et al., 2011)
Universiti Sains Malaysia
(Sulaiman and Abdullah, 2011)
Universiti Sains Malaysia
(Khalil et al., 2010) (Ibrahim et al., 2011)
Universiti Putra Malaysia
(Mumtaz et al., 2010)

presently being expanded tremendously by both private and public

research institutions such as MARDI, the Palm Oil Research Institute
of Malaysia, and Agro-Bio Fibre Sdn Bhd (Sulaiman et al., 2011). In
addition, research is being carried out to develop cleaner production technologies to reach the zero waste target in the oil palm
sector. However, to date, only 10% of the palm biomass is being
commercially exploited (KeTTHA, 2011a). In addition to these
studies, discharge wastewater quality is being studied and closely
monitored in Malaysia along with the development of the oil palm
industry.
5. Business opportunities for green biomass
Previously, the palm biomass conversion business had not been
gaining attention from oil palm growers and palm oil millers. Palm
biomass was landlled as waste or left on plantation grounds for
mulching as organic fertiliser due to its previously low economic
value. Other factors that led to the underdevelopment of the palm
biomass industry are the lack of available proven processing
technologies and the closed-door attitudes exhibited by industrial
players. In addition, the lack of mature technologies, in turn,
caused a decrease in the condence level of nancial institutions
and led to an unsuccessful nancing status for most palm biomass
investors.
In the current market, palm biomass is under focus because the
oil palm industry has been highlighted as a key indicator of the
countrys economic performance. The potential prot attainable
from the production of the biomass products drives the development of the palm biomass industry. For instance, EFB, which is sold
at USD 3.33/t locally by palm oil mills, can be further processed into

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W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e65

dried long bre, which is then sold at USD 170/t. This possibility
raises interest and attracts more investors to the palm biomass
industry. With respect to environmental sustainability, the utilisation of palm biomass generates carbon sinks, boosts the
economy of the country and simultaneously introduces Malaysia as
a green country to the world through the exploitation of renewable
energy.
However, the economic value of moderate value products such
as dried long bre and bio-briquette are predicted to decrease in
the coming few years. This decrease will most likely result from the
overwhelming production of moderate value products by millers or
industrial players. On the other hand, the market of the palm
biomass industry is expected to grow by moving up the value chain.
It is also predicted that by 2020, the biomass industry will evolve to
produce value-added biochemicals, such as bioethanol, to full the
global market demand as well as the industrial players prot
orientation. Thus, Malaysia will proceed to the next generation of
biomass conversion in the coming future.
In Malaysia, there is still no strict policy for the biomass
industry. However, it is believed that the countrys government will
introduce new policies soon to control and direct the development
of the industry.
6. Discussion - challenges in green future
Despite the existence of local policies and agencies that promote
the development of the palm biomass industry, there are barriers
that prevent the full development of the green biomass industry
and that obfuscate the direction of Malaysias green future. These
barriers exist as challenges that have to be tackled for the expansion of the palm biomass industry. This section discusses the
challenges faced by the palm biomass industry, such as biodiversity
issues, life cycle assessment, business development, eco-labelling,
health hazards, and replantation issues.
The main challenge for the development of the palm biomass
industry relates to the growth of oil palm industry, as the development of the palm biomass industry is directly affected by the
existence of the oil palm industry. In Malaysia, the projects that
utilise palm oil as feedstock have been criticised by some environmentalists. A report has been published by Friends of the Earth
International (FOEI) claiming that the clearance of lands or forests
for oil palm plantation is threatening some of the last habitats of
endangered species, including the orangutan (Buckland, 2005). To
protect these endangered species, Malaysia has introduced the
Malaysian Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund (MPOC, 2011a). The
introduction of the wildlife conservation fund and the engagements of non-governmental organisations are pacifying the groups
concerned for the welfare of orangutans in Malaysia. The Wildlife
Capture and Rescue Centre has been established and other ongoing
projects, such as the mega wildlife sanctuary, are being developed
to further tackle the issue (MPOB, 2010).
Land use issues, specically deforestation that leads to the loss
of 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 regional
factors. The projection of land use change in Malaysia has been
analysed in detail by Wicke et al. (2011), and the study revealed that
the increasing palm oil demand up to 2020 can be met without
further forest cover loss through improving yield and degraded
land conversion. Additionally, oil palm uses relatively little land
area for oil production compared to other crops, as shown in
Table 4. In terms of both economic and sustainability values, oil
palm outperforms other oil crops.
However, it has been claimed that land clearance by cutting and
burning large forests releases large net amounts of greenhouse

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

Average oil yield (t/ha/y)

Soybean
Sunower
Rapeseed
Oil palm

0.37
0.50
0.75
4.09

gases such as carbon dioxide that will not be reabsorbed by the oil
palm trees. Through the development of biomass utilisation, this
condition can be improved. The conversion of palm biomass into
bres, furniture and plywood as building materials turns the
products into carbon sinks that reduce the amount of carbon
emissions released into the atmosphere.
The combustible properties of the palm bre and shell allow the

et al., 2010).
biomass to act as an alternative energy source (Cucek
Leaving the biomass resulting from the palm oil production behind
for mulching is a conventional practice. However, the volume of
CO2 emitted from the combustion of palm briquettes, a type of
biomass product made of palm EFB, is lower compared to the
amount of CO2 emitted from mulching (Chiew et al., 2011). By
replacing fossil fuels with palm biomass for incineration, the
amount of carbon originally emitted from the combustion of fossil
fuels can be omitted. Non-governmental organisations formerly
claimed that oil palm plantation is inferior to the natural rainforest
in relation to carbon cycle succession. However, as reported by Tan
et al. (2009), the net assimilation of CO2 for an oil palm plantation is
higher, with 64.5 t/ha/y of CO2 assimilated for an oil palm plantation compared to only 42.2 t/ha/yr of CO2 for a rainforest. As far as
carbon sequestration is concerned, oil palm plantations are more
advanced than natural rainforests.
Another signicant source of carbon emissions is the greenhouse gases emitted from the transportation sector. Raw materials
such as oil palm are transported from plantation sources to processing sites and nally to demand points. Similarly, both rapeseed
and soybean are transported from farms to storage facilities before
they are crushed and processed. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and secure product supply, a proper management system or
efcient supply chain is needed. In Malaysia, the eld of biomass
supply chain optimisation is under development, and studies are
currently being carried out by researchers from both the public and
private sectors. This research in supply chain development is
expected to further advance the countrys sustainability practice
and ensure the supply security of oil palm-based products.
Other than the biodiversity and emission issues mentioned
above, the existence of challenges facing a green future depend on
national policy, the amount of research being performed and
society. Because greenness is often inversely proportional to the
size of the carbon footprint, the accomplishment of a green future
can be attained by reducing this footprint. With respect to oil palm,
this reduction can be realised through the optimisation of the total
oil palm utilisation as a whole. This may be accomplished by
carrying out Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) on the oil palm industry.
Other than the conventional LCA, some other aspect should be
analysed in the future: various other footprints - e.g. nitrogen
 
(Cu
cek 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 Ninth
Malaysia Plan (2006e2010), when it was recognised to promote the
greater use of environmentally sound technologies, industries will be
encouraged to adapt self-regulatory measures and apply the Life Cycle
Approach in their production processes and product development.

W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e65

The Malaysian Government approved a budget of 3.33 MUSD for

SIRIM Berhad, a national agency for industrial development, to
establish a Steering Committee and related groups (namely, in the
areas 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 the
National LCA project. Under this committee, SIRIM developed the
National Life Cycle Inventory Database project in collaboration with
the Japanese Standards Association, which facilitates the development of LCAs for production and manufacturing processes. Among
the different industries working on the LCA project, the agriculture
sector and particularly the Malaysian palm oil industry was the
most active due to the implications of the European Unions
Renewable Energy Directive in 2008, which affected the trade of
palm 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 at
the milling stage in particular, POME contributes up to 50% of the
GHG emissions in the life cycle of palm oil (Sundram, 2011 and
Schmidt, 2007). Thus, having methane capture facilities in Malaysian palm oil mills would be a sizable contribution in reducing the
carbon footprint. This installation will help to portray the industrys
commitment to continuing development and sustainability
practices.
Furthermore, there are other concerns over the development of
green potential in Malaysia. One of the concerns relates to business
viability in that the success of a project launch depends greatly on
funding availability from sources such as the Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) scheme (PTM, 2010) and the Ministry of Science,
Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) for research funding (MOSTI,
2009). Nevertheless, Malaysia actively promotes and supports
green technology. This could be observed in 2009 when Malaysia
launched the National Green Technology Policy. The policy aims to
minimise environmental pollution, conserve the utilisation of
natural resources and promote the use of renewable resources
(GreenTech Malaysia, 2010). Additionally, Malaysia offers the Green
Building Index (GBI) tax incentive and stamp duty exemption under
the National Green Technology Fund. The incentive takes into
account accelerated tax depreciation and the total write off of
investment tax allowance for energy savings capital expenditure
(StarProperty, 2010). All of these green policies, schemes and
funding programs aim to provide continuous support to the
development of green potential in this country.
Political issues also play an important role in ensuring the
smooth development of the oil palm industry. The split of the
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) into several associations may have compromised the functionality and efciency of the
palm oil trading process, which in turn triggered uncertainty in the
security of palm oil supply and especially palm oil exports overseas.
The RSPO, which was established in 2004 (RSPO, 2009), responds to
the global press on sustainable palm oil production by promoting
the growth and utilisation of sustainable oil palm products. Additionally, the RSPO gathers the stakeholders of the palm oil industry
(oil palm producers, palm oil processors and traders, consumer
goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental
and nature conservation non-governmental organisations and
social and developmental non-governmental organisations) to
implement and develop global standards for sustainable palm oil
(RSPO, 2009). However, in 2011, one of the groups originating from
the RSPO detached from the RSPO and formed Indonesian
Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) (Adnan, 2011). ISPO is currently
managed by the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI), while
another Malaysian group is expected to detach from the RSPO to
form Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) in the near future

63

(Chik, 2011). The segregation of these groups may lead to more

complicated processes and additional approvals that have to
be acquired prior to product release. This, in turn, will lead to
uctuations in palm biomass supply due to the erratic delivery of
palm oil.
Furthermore, the adaption of ISO 14000 standards in terms of
environmental labels or eco-labelling may help to promote the
production of environmentally friendly products. The label helps
consumers differentiate environmentally friendly products from
conventional products and signies the products grade in the
outlook of the environment. However, this green labelling scheme
is challenging due to the customary issues of information shortage
and the lack of coordination to gather the essential environmental
impact details of a product. Nevertheless, some products in
Malaysia have been eco-labelled under different names, such as
plumbed free, chlorouorocarbon free, natural ingredients, no
articial preservatives, recycle paper and packaging and so on
(Yaacob and Hameed, n.d).
Another signicant challenge to Malaysias sustainable oil palm
future relates to the threat of health hazards due to uncontrolled
use of chemical fertilisers in growing oil palm trees. However, the
Malaysian government has taken steps to improve this situation.
Malaysia implemented the Third National Agricultural Policy in
1998 to enhance food security through the optimisation of resource
utilisation. Organic farming, composting and the production of
organic fertiliser using agricultural waste have been promoted
(Ahmad, 2001). In recent years, most of the oil palm plantations
practise organic farming, which reduces costs through the reduced
use of chemical fertilisers.
Malaysia encourages the replantation of oil palm trees to restore
the economic yield of the oil palm, which declines as a result of tree
ageing. However, this replanting activity will result in a holdback
period of at least seven years, not including the seed preparation
and land clearing periods. The required biomass planted area per
year can be calculated based on the KeTTHA projected biomass
power generation target as shown in Fig. 2. Currently, the countrys
oil palm replanting rate is quoted at 4%. Based on the best FFB yield
of 25%, the critical replanting rate is found to be 10%. If the
replanting rate exceeds the critical value, the KeTTHA projected
biomass power generation target may not be realised. This poses
a difcult trade-off between yield and replanting, as yield is
inversely proportional to the replanting rate.

7. Conclusions
This paper outlines the positive potential of palm biomass utilisation in Malaysia based on the points of view from (i) the support
and policies from the Malaysian government, (ii) national and
international business opportunities and (iii) research and development activities from Malaysian agencies and higher institutions.
Obviously, Malaysia has shown a strong desire to promote itself as
a major biomass hub in the South East Asia region. Supportive
policies such as the SREP and the National Renewable Energy Policy
of 2010 have been introduced to enhance implementation and
investment from the private sector. Various agencies and policies
have been set to control and direct the development of the palm
biomass industry in Malaysia.
The new trend of business opportunities speeds up the development of the palm biomass industry in terms of technology
development, product improvement, process synthesis and supply
chain optimisation. Research and development of palm biomass by
governmental institutions and universities supports new product
synthesis and improves process efciencies. This ongoing research
and development on palm biomass is expected to promote a more

64

W.P.Q. Ng et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 34 (2012) 57e65

advanced generation of palm biomass products, where high valueadded products and biobased chemicals are produced.
In the future, Malaysia will be able to exert signicant green
potential by developing a solid supply network for proper biomass
supply and demand connection. In addition, facilities can be clustered by functions in centralising resources and management. From
facilities clustering, an industrial symbiotic approach can be
introduced for optimising resources usage and recovery among
facilities and different industries.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the corporate grant
sponsored by Global Green Synergy Sdn Bhd for nancially supporting the project studies and the nancial contribution from The
University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus through the Dean
Scholarship. In addition, highest gratitude is expressed for the
cooperation and information provided by the Malaysian Palm Oil
Council throughout the study.
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