KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s palm oil industry produces enough waste to
generate up to 700MW of electricity, an American energy researcher said.
Dr Daniel M. Kammen said the figure was based on the 2008 palm
oil production statistics and conservative growth estimates.
He said biomass power generation plants were economically feasible
and logistically achievable via a four-project per year ramp-up
programme.
The biomass power generation plants solved two
environmental problems at once, Dr Kammen said at a forum on energy
options for Sabah organised by Green Surf, a grouping of NGOs here.
“One
problem is disposing of potentially hazardous mill wastes in open ponds
and landfills and the other problem is meeting Sabah’s energy demands,”
said Dr Kammen who carried out a study on the state’s clean energy
options with fellow researchers Tyler McNish and Benjamin Gutierrez.
Noting that several mills in Sabah were already harnessing palm oil
wastes to generate electricity, he said the 10MW limit on investment
under the small renewable energy programme should be scrapped.
“There
should be continued research and outreach efforts targeted at
increasing the quantity of grid-connected electricity available from
palm oil mills besides recognising renewable energy status as a
premium product.
“It is also important to continue studying the
feasibility of renewable investments at known geothermal, wind and
environmentally sound micro-hydro sites,” noted the Unversity of
California at Berkeley researcher.
Meanwhile, Abdul Nasir Abdul
Wahid who represented Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) at the
forum, insisted that the biomass approach to generate power was not
viable to generate 300MW of electricity needed in the state’s east
coast.
SESB and its parent company, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, have
been pushing for a controversial 300MW coal fired plant in the east
coast Lahad Datu.
The project has been opposed by various NGOs
acting under the Green Surf umbrella.
Source : The Star
