Industry calls for Malaysia maximise oil palm as biomass potential

Industry stakeholders have urged stronger collaboration and more coherent policy direction to accelerate the use of oil palm biomass in supporting Malaysia’s low-carbon goals, reported The Star.

The call was made during the 5th International Oil Palm Biomass Conference 2025, held earlier this month.

Reserchers, policymakers and industry experts came together to discuss pathways for sustainable biomass utilisation.

Chemical engineer Hong Wai Onn from the Research Institute for Sustainable Excellence and Leadership highlighted the under-utilisation of oil palm biomass and stressed the need for better coordination among stakeholders.

“The oil palm industry produces over 100 million tonnes of dry biomass annually – including trunks, fronds, empty fruit bunches, and palm kernel shells – which are often treated as waste but hold significant untapped potential,” he said.

Hong proposed a collaborative ecosystem with four key players: government agencies, sustainability standard owners, technology providers, and biomass producers and valorisers.

“To truly transform the industry, we need synergy across these four pillars, with governments providing clear policy direction and funding support, standard owners encouraging carbon-footprint reductions, technology providers offering cost-effective solutions, and producers and valorisers committing to sustainability standards and ensuring stable supply and demand,” he explained.

Policy gaps and regulatory bottlenecks were also highlighted as hindrances to effective biomass utilisation.

For Hong, the establishment of an inter-ministerial biomass task force to align priorities across key sectors such as agriculture, energy, environment, industry, and science and technology would help address these issues.

He also suggested joint funding mechanisms and shared key performance indicators to improve cross-agency cooperation.

“Each stakeholder plays a vital role in driving biomass valorisation.

“Without their collective commitment, these initiatives will struggle to gain meaningful traction,” he said.

Tags: collaboration, stakeholders, biomass, Malaysia, oil palm