OIL PALM BIOMASS RESIDUE IN MALAYSIA : AVAILABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

Oil palm plantations cover over 5 million hectares of land in Malaysia. This large area of plantations generates massive amount of oil palm biomass residue. Plantations and mill plants are the main sites of biomass residue generation. Oil palm biomass residue is classified into six types as oil palm frond (OPF), oil palm trunk (OPT), empty fruit bunch (EFB), mesocarp fibre, palm kernel shell (PKS) and palm oil mill effluent (POME). This report presents the generation rates and amounts of each type of biomass residue during the period of 2008 to 2012. Keywords: Oil Palm Biomass; Oil Palm Frond (OPF); Oil Palm Trunk (OPT); Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB); Mesocarp Fibre; Palm Kernel Shell (PKS); Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)