Friday 12 October 2012

COMPARING NOTES ON SUSTAINABLE FUELS






OPENING...... Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Yee Moh Chai officiate the opening of IWABF together with UMS vice chancellor Prof. Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah (left) and Dean of School of Engineering and IT UMS Prof. Dr. Rosalam Sarbatly (right)

By : REBECCA CHONG

THE QUEST for renewable power has reached feverish proportions worldwide in recent times, capped only by considerations of cost and the impact on the environment.

This is an issue of monumental consequences that brought the leading brains in the energy industry to Kota Kinabalu to explore the field from 26th to 27th of September 2012 at Megallan Sutera Harbour Resort.

Organized by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), the event brought together 200 academics, industrial players, policy makers, representatives of government and international agencies, sustainable development practitioners, environmental management professionals and other stake holders from around the world.

University Malaysia Sabah has a strong credential in green technology research and development, focusing largely on the bio-energy field such as bio-diesel, bio-fuels, biogas, bio hydrogen and biomass.

With the recent signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between UMS and Sawit Kinabalu, one of the largest palm oil producers in Sabah, it is expected that advanced research in bio-fuels will further enhance the commercial production of bio-fuel from palm oil.

The event provided a rare forum for scientists to examine how the search for sustainable energy can proceed without further worsening climate change, depleting natural resources, loss of biodiversity and other threats to the environment. The workshop also discussed the ways to make educational institutions play an active part in addressing the ever changing environmental, social and economic challenges.

Why are bio-fuels such a hot issue around the world these days? What has brought about this renewed interest in bio-technology? The answer is not difficult to find. The energy situation has become critical worldwide in recent years. Nations around the world cringe at the prospects of running out of fossil fuels and are looking for alternatives.

There is also an increasing pressure on industrialised countries to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That does not seem to be possible anytime soon. Global energy demand is estimated to increase about 60 percent by the year 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

These pressures are felt in the developing countries as well, which collectively are already the largest consumers of energy in the world. The Asian countries are currently dependent on external sources for 50 percent of their energy needs. This could rise to 70 percent by 2030.

At the same time the climate is changing. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global temperature rose by 0.7 °C in the 20th century.

Recent IPCC estimates tell us that, without action on climate change, temperature could rise by as much as 4.7°C by the end of this century.

The two are closely linked, as fossil-based energy emissions represent three quarters of greenhouse gas emissions.

And this is where bio-fuels hold the key to reversing the world's slide to disaster. Properly managed, bio-fuels offer important benefits: they can reinforce the country's security of supply through diversification of energy sources. They also provide important avenues for industrial development, innovations and high quality jobs.

Given these facts, it should come as no surprise that bio-fuels figure prominently in the Malaysian energy policy that the government is forging for Malaysia. Malaysia has introduced targets of 20 percent renewable in the Malaysia energy mix and 10 percent Bio-fuels in vehicle fuel by 2020.

"Policies on bio-fuel development must meet objectives of security of supply and our obligations with regard to climate change. In our effort to achieve sustainability in bio-fuel supplies we must guard against environmental degradation, and most importantly we must not jeopardize food security when too much focus is given on producing crops for bio-fuels." said Dr. Yee Moh Chai, Sabah's Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of of Resource Development and Information Technology.

The chairman of International Workshop on Advances in Biofuels, Assoc Prof Dr Rosalam Hj. Sarbatly emphasized the huge potential of biomass as raw material for conversion to bio-fuel.

He points to the fact that in 2011 Sabah is still the largest oil palm producer in the country with 1.43 million hectares or 28.6percent of total oil palm planted area in Malaysia, and produce 9.9percent or 5.84 million of Malaysia's crude palm oil.

Dr. Rosalam explained, "During this workshop, we have proposed to the Government that we must improve basic infrastructure in Sabah in order to attract investors. Investors could help Sabah to have the technology to use empty fruit bunches as biomass and convert it into bio-fuel. This advanced technology cost about RM10 million and could generate bio-fuel energy worth billions."

"Sabah has lost a lot as our palm oil by-products available are either wasted or exported to China at a very cheap price." he added. "This workshop is a medium to give the idea that with investors and the help of the government, we could make the technology available for Sabah and we will be able to fully utilize our palm oil by-products to generate power." (Insight Sabah)

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