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Malaysia has a plethora of biomass that can be utilized in a sustainable manner to produce bio-products for circular green economy. At the 15th Conference of Parties in Copenhagen, Malaysia stated to voluntarily reduce its emissions intensity of gross domestic product by upto 40% by 2020 from 2005 level. Natural resources e.g. forestry and agricultural resources will attribute in achieving these goals. This paper investigates optimum bio-based systems, such as bioenergy and biorefinery, and their prospects in sustainable development in Malaysia, while analyzing comparable cases globally. Palm oil industry will continue to play a major role in deriving products and contributing to gross national income in Malaysia. Based on the current processing capacity, one tonne of crude palm oil (CPO) production is associated with nine tonnes of biomass generation. Local businesses tend to focus on products with low-risk that enjoy subsidies, e.g. Feed-in-Tariff, such as bioenergy, biogas, etc. CPO biomass is utilized to produce biogas, pellets, dried long fibre and bio-fertilizer and recycle water. It is envisaged that co-production of bio-based products, food and pharmaceutical ingredients, fine, specialty and platform chemicals, polymers, alongside biofuel and bioenergy from biomass is possible to achieve overall sustainability by the replacement of fossil resources. Inception of process integration gives prominent innovative biorefinery configurations, an example demonstrated recently, via extraction of recyclable, metal, high value chemical (levulinic acid), fuel, electricity and bio-fertilizer from municipal solid waste or urban waste. Levulinic acid yield by only 5 wt% of waste feedstock gives 1.5 fold increase in profitability and eliminates the need for subsidies such as gate fees paid by local authority to waste processor. Unsustainable practices include consumable food wastage, end-of-pipe cleaning and linear economy that must be replaced by sustainable production and consumption, source segregation and process integration, and product longevity and circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It has been widely accepted worldwide that global warming is by far the greatest threat and challenge in the new millennium. In order to stop global warming and to promote sustainable development, renewable energy is a perfect solution to achieve both targets. Presently million hectares of land in Malaysia is occupied with oil palm plantation generating huge quantities of biomass. In this context, biomass from oil palm industries appears to be a very promising alternative as a source of raw materials including renewable energy in Malaysia. Thus, this paper aims to present current scenario of biomass in Malaysia covering issues on availability and sustainability of feedstock as well as current and possible utilization of oil palm biomass. This paper will also discuss feasibility of some biomass conversion technologies and some ongoing projects in Malaysia related to utilization of oil palm biomass as a source of renewable energy. Based on the findings presented, it is definitely clear that Malaysia has position herself in the right path to utilize biomass as a source of renewable energy and this can act as an example to other countries in the world that has huge biomass feedstock. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper gives an overview of the green potential of the palm biomass industry, which contributes to Malaysia’s 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 country’s 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 significant 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 identified 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. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]