Materials News

Oil palm biomass on its way for testing

The tests form an initial stage of the Malaysian Biomass Initiative (MBI), a cooperative venture between the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), an agency in the Prime Minister's Department, through its subsidiary MYBiomass Sdn. Bhd., and palm plantation conglomerates Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd. (FGVH) and Sime Darby Bhd. The last two companies each own a 40% stake in MYBiomass while MIGHT holds the remaining 20 percent of the special-purpose vehicle. The undertaking was endorsed by Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Abdul bin Tun Razak at the second meeting of the Malaysia's Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC), held in New York City May 16.

The shipment to Italy is intended for preliminary analyses, testing and technology adaptation in the Malaysian market. The Malaysian feedstock will be tested for its suitability to be converted into industrial sugar at commercial scale which can be fermented into building blocks of high-value green chemicals that could be produced in Malaysia. If the feedstock is found to be adequately scalable to a commercial level, Malaysia could become among the world's leaders in green chemical production from biomass. The three parties will build a plant in Malaysia that could help deliver a significant value boost to the current commodity production of crude palm oil.

"This has a 360 degree impact on everything from creating thousands of jobs in rural communities to downstream activities in logistics and transportation and, perhaps most importantly, new, high-value, knowledge-based growth in these science and technology related fields of the bio-economy," said MIGHT President and CEO Mohd Yusoff Sulaiman.