US firm to invest in Renewable Energy sector in POIC Lahad Datu, Sabah

If they benefit the people and at the same time save the environment from being further damaged, efforts to bring in investments into the state should be encouraged.

In fact, we should always be on the lookout for opportunities such as one that's created by POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd (Palm oil industrial cluster).

Yesterday, POIC Sabah Sdn signed a memorandum of understanding with Evolution Energy LLC of the United States that could translate into a RM500 million (about US$156 mil) investment to produce gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel and clean burning coal from oil palm fronds and trunks by  2015.


POIC is located in Lahad Datu in the east coast of Sabah.


RM500 million investment to produce gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel and clean burning coal

MOU worth RM500 million was signed between POIC Sabah and Evolution Energy, whereby Evolution Energy is expected to acquire some 50 hectares of land at POIC Lahad Datu for 5 plants -- three for the production of liquid biofuels and two for manufacturing the environment-friendly Nucoal, a solid biofuel. These plants are estimated to require up to one million tonnes of biomass, mainly fronds and trunks, annually.

Though fronds and trunks are targeted as the main raw materials, it said the facilities were designed to also process empty fruit bunches (EFB - from palm oil mills) and wood wastes from the state's timber industry.

Evolution Energy's entry into Sabah came in the wake of the launch last June of the Biomass Joint-Venture (JV) Cluster concept of aggregating EFB from most of the 130 palm oil mills across Sabah.

From its 1.4 million hectares of oil palm plantations, Sabah produces about 26 million tonnes of oil palm biomass comprising fronds, trunks, EFB, palm kernel shells and mesocarp fibres.


Getting around the 'biomass supply' issue

Failure in earlier attempts at securing long-term biomass supply had kept investors at bay. The JV Cluster approach circumvents issues of pricing and supply tenure by bringing in the biomass owners whose capital injections into the proposed downstream JV companies will be in the form of biomass.

Evolution Energy is based in North Carolina, US. According to its official handout, 'it pioneers new and innovative energy technologies that address the growing global demand for green power producing facilities'.

One of its businesses is the manufacturing of Nucoal, a coal substitute made from biomass that does not threaten the environment.

Source

Sabah to become second generation biofuel centre

There are more that 120 oil palm mills in Sabah, and according to industry study, they can provide sufficient residues or waste for downstream processing to produce biofuels.

If Sabah can gather these mills in a joint venture initiative, there is no doubt we will be able to tap into the biomass pellets market for Asia region which is estimated to be 10 million tonnes a year by 2020.

Syarikat Teck Guan Group, one of the palm oil industry players here, have recently launched its pilot bio-ethanol project in Tawau.

Empty fruit bunches going to waste? Photo credit: biochar.org

What are second-generation biofuels

Advance biofuels, or second generation biofuels, are fuels that can be manufactured from various types of biomass. While first generation biofuels are derived from arable crops, second generation biofuels are made from lignocellulosic biomass or woody crops, agricultural residues or waste.

It is more difficult to extract them in the second generation biofuels, but unlike in the first generation, sourcing of raw materials doesn't compete with the food supplies.


Biomass joint venture cluster formed in Sabah

The aspiration to turn Sabah into the country's second generation biofuel centre is one step closer with the signing of the first of its kind biomass joint venture cluster here yesterday.

In the ceremony, some 10 oil palm mills here made their commitment to supply oil palm biomass to the joint-venture company, Lahad Datu Biomass JV Cluster, which they themselves own.

These include major plantation companies, namely Teck Guan Group, Bell Group, Genting Bhd, Kelas Wira Sdn Bhd and Golden Elate Sdn Bhd.

The company will then decide on the best use for the biomass such as producing solid or liquid biofuels in the form of pellets or ethanol, according to a statement from Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) Sabah Sdn Bhd.

"Oil palm mills are the source of empty fruit bunches (EFB), the main ingredient in pellets and this cluster is a concept by Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM), an agency in the Prime Minister's Department.

"It aims at aggregating sufficient volumes of biomass for a portfolio of downstream processing activities, where participation of biomass owners assures long-term supply which was the main stumbling block to take-off of the biomass industry.



Solid biofuel in the form of 6mm diameter empty fruit bunch (EFB) pellets. Photo credit: Masharum Corp


"AIM has identified about 70 of the 120-plus mills in Sabah to be potential partners in biomass JV clusters, with hope to aggregate some 1.5 million dry tonnes per JV cluster to realise the objective of making Sabah the Malaysian centre for second generation biofuel," said state-owned POIC Sabah.

Agensi Inovasi Malaysia, in collaboration with POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd, was instrumental in staging workshops, visiting oil palm companies and ultimately persuading a pioneering group of private companies to set up a JV cluster amongst themselves.

"I hope these companies coming on board this JV cluster will inspire other oil palm companies to move from watching to being participants, so that we together can take our industry to an unprecedented level."
- Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, State Industrial Development Minister

AIM is the main driver of the National Biomass Strategy 2020 that seeks to unlock the potential of Malaysia's abundant biomass through value-adding manufacturing to create new wealth and high-wage jobs.

A biomass manufacturing industry is estimated to contribute RM15 billion gross national income (GNI) to Sabah's economy by 2020.

Biomass pellets have a worldwide market and in Asia, the demand to the tune of 10 million tonnes a year by 2020 is driven by Japan and South Korea as they attempt to fulfill a renewable energy mandate.

Similarly, there is a global demand for second-generation ethanol, or ethanol derived from biomass as it can be used as a fuel or can be further processed to other chemicals.


Source: Business Times

Is kelp a viable Biofuel?

According to Norway's Seaweed Energy Solutions (SES), the strange, foul-smelling brown kelp macroalgae could offer an almost unlimited global supply of commercial-quality ethanol or bio-methane.

Image credit: Renewable Energy World. (find the link below)

What is kelp

Kelps are large seaweeds (macroalgae) belonging to the brown algae. They grow in cold, nutrient-rich water - both northern and southern hemispheres - and are among the most beautiful and biologically productive habitats in the marine environment.

A dependence upon light for photosynthesis restricts them to clear shallow water and they are rarely much deeper than 20 to 80 feet.


Kelp potential according to SES

While talk of harnessing energy from macroalgae in the U.S. at the moment is often confused with microalgae or simply dismissed by environmentalists afraid of depleting existing wild seaweed populations, Europe seems to be more open toward cultivated kelp’s renewable possibilities.

“We are convinced there is a potential for seaweed as biomass for ethanol and biomethane. We have done cultivation technology development since 2008 and are now scaling up to 100,000 tons of seaweed production from about 170 hectares off the coast of Denmark.”
- Paal Bakken, founder and CEO of Seaweed Energy Solutions (SES)

Bakken says Sugar Kelp (laminaria saccharina) can produce about 50 liters of ethanol and 20 cubic meters of biomethane per wet tonne. Although SES has produced both ethanol and biomethane gas during testing, it has yet to commercially market any such bioenergy.

SES has a patent on its seaweed carrier, a “large sail-shaped structure” on which to cultivate large numbers of closely spaced macroalgae plants in the ocean itself. With a seaweed breeding facility in Norway, SES is currently conducting cultivation tests off the coasts of Norway, Denmark and Portugal.


Seaweed cultivation

As Bakken explains, with conventional seaweed cultivation, the plants are ready for harvest six to seven months after its spores (attached to ropes) are put out to grow at sea. These spores, in turn, typically spawn three- to four-meter long plants that normally grow from the surface down to depths of a few meters.

And unlike terrestrial crops, which are sensitive to the vagaries of the weather, seaweed is generally unperturbed by normal wind, waves and current.


TheGreenMechanics: We have palm oil in abundance in this region, and temperate countries have kelps for a common goal. The possibilities are endless.


Reference: REW