Malaysia To Produce 100 Million Tonnes Of Solid Biomass Annually

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is expected to produce around 100 million dry metric tonnes of solid biomass annually from the palm oil sector. Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed said apart from contributing an additional US$7.03 billion (RM30 billion) to the Gross National Income by 2020, the country is now focusing on value-added downstream activities such as bioenergy, biofuels, biochemical and its end products. Following the introduction of the government's National Biomass Strategy 2020 (NBS 2020), he said the initiative was also expected to generate US$5.86 billion (RM25 billion) in investment opportunities, create 66,000 jobs and reduce carbon emissions by 12 per cent by 2020. Mustapa said east Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak had great potential to become key players in the industry as they account for more than 50 per cent of the oil-palm acreage in the country. "Sabah and Sarawak are moving ahead to develop their own biomass industry development plan with the National Innovation Agency of Malaysia (AIM), as called for in the NBS 2020," he said at the International Biomass Conference Malaysia 2015 here Tuesday. Later, speaking at a press conference, Malaysia Investment Development Authority Chief Executive Officer Azman Mahmud told a press conference that the total investment into the biomass industry from 2013 to mid-2015 was about US$234.52 million (RM1 billion). "Moving forward, we expect the investment to reach about US$5.86 billion (RM25 billion) by 2020," he said. Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation Chief Executive Officer Dzulkifli Mahmud said currently, Malaysia was exporting biomass products to China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, and demand was growing. "Companies from South Korea and Japan are looking for a long-term biomass supply from Malaysia for their energy sector's power plant usage," he said, adding that Malaysia's biomass industry had a bright future. On biomass production, AIM Chief Executive Officer Mark Rozario said Malaysia produced about 18 million tonnes of solid palm oil biomass, annually, while production of liquid biomass amounted to 16 million tonnes yearly. --BERNAMA