Sabah to make biomass a priority in devt plan

KOTA KINABALU: A focused study is currently on-going to look objectively at the biomass opportunities for Sabah to help the State realise the environmental, economic, and social benefits from biomass-based industries and maximize its impact through concrete action plans and milestones for year 2020 and beyond.
A multi-stakeholder Steering Committee led by the Ministry of Industrial Development (MID) Sabah convened its first meeting yesterday.
The Steering Committee targets completion of Sabah Biomass Industrial Development Plan within five months. This effort is in collaboration with Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM), an agency under the Prime Minister’s Department that developed and tasked to execute Malaysia’s National Biomass Strategy (NBS).
An international consulting and engineering company with global presence across the energy and industrial sectors that delivers strategic advisory and engineering services, underpinned by strong project implementation capability and expertise have been appointed to facilitate and provide objective assessment on the biomass opportunity for the State.
The study is part of AIM’s initiative under NBS to accelerate Malaysia’s opportunity to create RM30 billion in additional revenue, 60,000 new jobs and more importantly 12% abatement in CO2 emissions by capitalizing on a balanced portfolio of downstream opportunities ranging from bioenergy to biochemical laid out in NBS.
Sabah could potentially contribute half of the said target if it internalises the NBS strategy and devise and follow through on these milestone-based localized action plans to drive its biomass industry into higher value-added downstream opportunities by carefully planning the utilization of its biomass resources.
Chaired by Datuk Haji Hashim Paijian, the Permanent Secretary of MID, the Steering Committee comprises key State Government stakeholders like State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN), Ministry of Infrastructural Development, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Ministry of Finance (Sabah), Sabah Forestry Department, Department of Industrial & Research (DIR) and POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd.
The Steering Committee will govern the direction and objective of the study and will continue to ensure the execution at the working level beyond the course of the study.
Governed by the Steering Committee, the key objectives of the study would be to identify volume of mobilisable biomass in the State taking into account all existing uses and industries, assess maturity of various downstream opportunities and infrastructure gaps, develop detailed business strategies and formulate a Sabah roadmap and action plan to drive the biomass industry.
Since its launch in 2011, the National Biomass Strategy has identified one of the major opportunities in the biomass sector in Malaysia lies with Sabah, especially for palm oil biomass due its density of mills and total planted area making it one of the focal states when it comes to biomass based investments.
The biomass proposition for the State is further strengthen by the foresight of state-owned entities like POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd, the developer of the Lahad Datu Palm Oil Industrial Cluster to acknowledge the potential of this new industry and actively work to promote and attract investments in downstream biomass activities like the production of second generation biofuels and biochemical.
There is a growing global demand for sustainable feedstock and while challenges exist to mobilise these biomass resources in the State, the potential prize is tremendous if we are able to overcome these hindrances, as it would help create long-term sustainable industries.
As laid out in the National Biomass Strategy, Sabah has the potential to be a hub for the development of second-generation biofuel and biochemical. POIC Sabah has been working closely with Ministry of Plantation and Commodities, Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA), Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM) and Malaysian Biotech Corporation (BTC) over the years to bring the strategy into reality.
Today, with the setup of a State Government driven Steering Committee and commitment to incorporate this study and action plan as part of the State Development Plan, it shows the endorsement for this new industry and seriousness of the local government to make a push to realise its full potential in the biomass sector, thus strengthening the execution of the National Biomass Strategy.
Source: Borneo Post