KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia needs a strong biomass policy to encourage investors to be involved in renewal energy by utilising the country’s oil palm industry. Palm Oil Industrial Cluster Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Dr Pang Teck Wai said the absence of such a policy discouraged many oil palm players to consider renewal energy as part of their business plan. “There is no doubt that we should be able to generate renewable energy from palm oil mill effluent (POME) and empty fruit bunches (EFBs). “However, this needs to be policy-driven because there are just not enough incentives for oil palm players to consider renewable energy as part of their business plan. “Neither is there sufficient deterrent in our laws to compel players to reduce their carbon footprints,” Pang said. He was responding to newspaper reports quoting Malaysia Palm Oil Board chairman Datuk Sabri Ahmad as saying that Sabah could tap its power-generating potential from oil palm biomass, including methane gas from what is known in the industry as POME, which is about 65% methane. He said although statistics showed that Sabah produced over 30% of Malaysia’s palm oil, little of the oil palm biomass was being commercially utilised. – Bernama Source: The Star