Recovery of wastes from agro‐industries is an extremely promising aspect of Zero Emissions. This project focuses on recovering all of the solid, liquid, gaseous, and thermal wastes from the Golden Hope Plantation in Malaysia, the largest oil palm plantation in the world. With the commitment of Meta Epsi, a large engineering group with substantial interests in palm oil plantations, operation of the pilot project for the total use of palm oil biomass commenced in the summer of 1996.
The pilot project uses steam explosion to provide for conversion of biomass into recoverable fibers, with a goal of reusing the spent seeds, bunches, leaves, and trunks that Golden Hope used to pay to have disposed of. It costs $50 Malaysian (M$50) to produce 1 T of commercially usable fiber, which can be sold for approximately M$350. Products made from the fiber include MDF board, stuffing for car seats, and bedding for medical use. Just one of the mills built to process waste fiber generates pre‐tax profits of approximately M$12.5 million (about $3 million) (Malaysian Ringgit ~ $0.24).
Leave a Reply