Palm oil’s green transition is more than just waste management
The Malaysian palm oil industry is exploring ways to leverage its significant biomass waste for energy transition and carbon credit generation. Industry leaders emphasize that while waste is a valuable resource for renewable energy, current utilization rates are already high, complicating the sector's ability to scale further.
Why it matters
As global demand for net-zero solutions grows, the palm oil industry is positioning itself as a key player in the circular economy and energy transition.
BURSA SGX Home Make The Edge Malaysia your preferred source on Google From left: The Edge ESG editor Tan Zhai Yun, Bek-Nielsen, Rashyid, Leong, Adzmi and Tan at the roundtable organised by The Edge and MPOC on Aug 12 The Malaysian palm oil industry has no shortage of biomass, with over five million hectares of plantations generating almost 94.7 million tonnes a year. This includes fronds and trunks left in the field, as well as empty fruit bunches (EFBs), palm kernel shells (PKS), palm kernel cake and mesocarp fibre produced during milling.
On paper, that makes the sector an obvious candidate to contribute more to Malaysia’s energy transition, whether through renewable power, biofuel or carbon removal.
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