China and Malaysia team up for biofuel R&D
Quicknote bioenergy cooperation
Malaysia has signed a bilateral research and development (R&D) cooperation deal with China to further develop biofuel and biomass production technologies.
The Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB) -- which is the driver of the country's biofuel policy [*.pdf] -- and the Department of High-Tech Development and Industrialisation of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology have entered into a memorandum of understanding aimed at exploring new biomass technologies.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin said a study would be conducted to set out the scope of cooperation and the possible joint R&D projects relevant to biofuel and biomass technologies. Chin said he was confident that the collaboration would augur well for the development of biomass as a new source of growth, especially for Malaysia as its vast oil palm plantations generated a high volume of biomass annually.
As we reported earlier, palm oil plantations not only yield more oil than any other oil crop, they also yield a vast amount of biomass that is currently not being used: palm fronds, kernel shells, empty fruit bunch fibre, and wood. This ligno-cellulosic waste biomass can be used to produce second generation biofuels. When this vast new potential is taken into account, oil palm becomes the most productive of all energy crops - both for biodiesel as for ethanol. The Sino-Malaysian cooperation effort is focused on converting this waste biomass into fuels. Chin said the collaboration was significant as Malaysia was now embarking on the commercialisation of biofuel. "s you are aware, the development of biofuel is not necessarily confined to the production of biodiesel only. It also includes bioethanol, which could be potentially harnessed from palm-based biomass," he added.
The bilateral agreement is further prompted by China’s growing interest in securing supply of feedstock for its biofuel industry and Malaysia's interest in the development of biofuel using oil seeds such as rapeseed as an alternative to palm oil.
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: Malaysia :: China ::
Malaysia has signed a bilateral research and development (R&D) cooperation deal with China to further develop biofuel and biomass production technologies.
The Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB) -- which is the driver of the country's biofuel policy [*.pdf] -- and the Department of High-Tech Development and Industrialisation of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology have entered into a memorandum of understanding aimed at exploring new biomass technologies.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin said a study would be conducted to set out the scope of cooperation and the possible joint R&D projects relevant to biofuel and biomass technologies. Chin said he was confident that the collaboration would augur well for the development of biomass as a new source of growth, especially for Malaysia as its vast oil palm plantations generated a high volume of biomass annually.
As we reported earlier, palm oil plantations not only yield more oil than any other oil crop, they also yield a vast amount of biomass that is currently not being used: palm fronds, kernel shells, empty fruit bunch fibre, and wood. This ligno-cellulosic waste biomass can be used to produce second generation biofuels. When this vast new potential is taken into account, oil palm becomes the most productive of all energy crops - both for biodiesel as for ethanol. The Sino-Malaysian cooperation effort is focused on converting this waste biomass into fuels. Chin said the collaboration was significant as Malaysia was now embarking on the commercialisation of biofuel. "s you are aware, the development of biofuel is not necessarily confined to the production of biodiesel only. It also includes bioethanol, which could be potentially harnessed from palm-based biomass," he added.
The bilateral agreement is further prompted by China’s growing interest in securing supply of feedstock for its biofuel industry and Malaysia's interest in the development of biofuel using oil seeds such as rapeseed as an alternative to palm oil.
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: Malaysia :: China ::
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