Oil palm biomass being sent from M'sia to Italy to be made into industrial sugar

PETALING JAYA: MYBiomass Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGVH) and Sime Darby Bhd, has dispatched its first oil palm biomass shipment for testing.
Twelve
tonnes of oil palm biomass would be shipped to a pilot plant in Italy
which converts biomass into industrial sugar, said MIGHT, an agency in
the Prime Minister's Department, in a statement.
The move comes as the three parties kick off cooperation under the Malaysian Biomass Initiative endorsed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the second Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council meeting this month.
FGVH and Sime Darby each own a 40% stake in MYBiomass and MIGHT the remaining 20% in the special-purpose vehicle.
It is currently studying the feasibility for a project to convert oil palm biomass into high-value green chemicals.
The
intellectual property gained during the testing phase had the potential
to make Malaysia a world leader in green chemical production from
biomass, MIGHT said.
“We are excited by the pace of development
as we watch the first shipment of trunks, empty fruit bunches and
fronds sent for testing in existing facilities in Europe,” MIGHT
president and chief executive officer Mohd Yusoff Sulaiman, said.
The shipment to Italy is intended for preliminary analyses, testing and technology adaptation in the Malaysian market.
The
Malaysian feedstock would be tested for its suitability to be converted
into industrial sugar which could be fermented into building blocks of
high-value green chemicals.
If the feedstock was found to be
adequately scalable at a commercial level, MIGHT said there were plans
for the three-party venture to build a plant in Malaysia that could
help deliver a significant value boost to the current commodity
production of crude palm oil.
“This deal goes well beyond the
benefit of only a few stakeholders and has the power to radically
transform the way we use our natural resources.
“This has a
360-degree impact on everything from creating thousands of jobs in
rural communities to downstream activities in logistics and
transportation and, perhaps most importantly, new, high-value,
knowledge-based growth in these science and technology-related fields
of the bio-economy,” Yusoff said.

FGVH news related with SIME..hurm +1