Malaysia

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Malaysia
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Petroleum
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Information about biofuels and bioenergy in Malaysia.

  • Malaysia is a major producer and exporter of palm oil, oil derived from the oil palm.

Contents

Events

2009

2008

2007

Policy

Issues

  • Malaysia has a goal for the share of renewable energy to reach 10% of the total by 2010. [1]
  • A National Biofuel Policy was announced by the Government in August 2005 to promote development of a biofuels industry in Malaysia.
    • The National Biofuel Policy entails a four-prong strategy:
  1. the production of a biofuel blend of 5% processed palm oil and 95% diesel (or B5),
  2. encouraging the use of B5 among the public
  3. establishing an industry standard for palm biodiesel quality
  4. the setting up of biodiesel plants in Malaysia for exports. (source: MPOB)
  • In 2005, the total oil palm planted area increased by 4.5% or 174,000 hectares to 4.0 million hectares, the state of Sabah on Borneo accounted for 30% of the total area. (source: MPOB)
  • Production of crude palm oil has been increasing for 7 consecutive years and reached 15.0 million tonnes in 2005. Production growth of 7.1% was mainly attributed to the increase in matured areas, enhanced plantation and mill management, recovery in fresh fruit bunches yield per hectare to 18.88 tonnes and continued improvement in the oil extraction rate (OER) to 20.15%. (Source: MPOB)

Organizations

Governmental organizations

Nongovernmental organizations

Industry Organizations/Companies

Resources

News

2010

  • Borneo mega-dams proposal raises fears for tribes, wildlife, 2 January 2010 by The Independent: "A massive tract of Borneo jungle, an area the size of Singapore, will soon disappear under the waters of the Bakun dam, a multi-billion-dollar project nearing completion after years of controversy."
    • "a notice extinguishing the rights of the Murum people over the affected land has already been issued, and construction has begun, but so far there is no formal relocation proposal or offer of compensation."

2009

  • Controversial palm-oil plan may save the orang-utan, 22 July 2009 by New Scientist: Orang-utan "researchers and conservationists in Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo, may have to do what had until recently been unthinkable: join forces with the palm oil industry whose plantations have eaten into much of the orang-utan's habitat. October this year will see an unprecedented meeting of Malaysia's palm oil producers, conservationists and local government to figure out how to protect the world's last orang-utans."
    • "Such collaborations will be especially important given the poor start for the international Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), set up in 2002, which is supposed to address the issues of environmental damage and wildlife conflict by encouraging producers to ensure their plantations are certified as sustainable."
    • "Sabah's 26,000-hectare Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary is home to about 1000 orang-utans....The sanctuary has been heavily fragmented by oil palm plantations, and is now an archipelago of animal 'islands'."[4]
  • Small-scale biofuels production holds more promise, says USAID, 21 June 2009 by BusinessMirror: "Decentralized biofuel production, or small-scale factories built on degraded or underused lands, has the potential to provide energy to half a billion people living in poverty in rural Asia."
    • " The report, Biofuels in Asia: An Analysis of Sustainability Options…focused on China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. It analyzed key trends and concerns and highlighted sustainability options for biofuel production."
    • "Compared with large-scale biofuels production, small-scale biofuels production for local use may deliver greater social benefits, including improvement of rural livelihoods, support of local industries, and a lower tendency toward exploitation of workers and co-opting of land from indigenous peoples."
  • The world's top 15 listed palm oil planters, 9 June 2009 by Reuters: Information on the "15 largest listed palm planters, ranked by market value....mostly located in Indonesia and Malaysia".
    • Statistics provided on "plantation holdings are in hectares and include both cultivated and uncultivated land".
  • CPO Producers Say Green Efforts Not Paying Off, 31 May 2009 by JakartaGlobe: "While many palm oil plantations and farmers are struggling to get certificates proving their palm oil is produced in a sustainable manner, others that have the certificates are complaining that buyers in Europe don’t want to buy their products because they are too expensive."
    • "When the first batch of RSPO-certified palm oil arrived in Europe in November 2008, the company involved, Malaysia-based United Plantations, was accused by environmental organizations Greenpeace and Wetlands International of not actually meeting the RSPO’s requirements....Greenpeace maintains that the roundtable’s system fails to adequately address issues like deforestation, peatland clearance and other land-related conflicts."
    • "The EU is in the process of requiring all palm oil producers to certify both crude palm oil and derivative products. Companies that do not obtain certification by 2010 will not be allowed to sell to EU countries."
  • "Green" palm planters struggling to find buyers, 30 May 2009 by Alibaba.com: "JAKARTA, May 27 - Palm oil planters in the world's top two producers Indonesia and Malaysia are struggling to find buyers for their eco-friendly palm oil...threatening to slow momentum."
    • "Under fire from green groups and some Western consumers, the palm oil industry established the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2004 to develop an ethical certification system that includes commitments to preserve rainforests and wildlife."
    • "...the industry had so far sold only 15,000 tonnes of certified green palm oil since the first shipment last November while output might have reached around 600,000 tonnes."
    • "The issue of 'green' palm remains contentious and some conservation groups argue that the current voluntary rules are not effective in protecting the environment."
  • Sustainability criteria must be science based, verifiable and WTO-compatible (Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities), 25 February 2009, by the World Refining Association: Malaysia's Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, the Hon. Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui, stated in an interview that “We urge the EU to ensure that its sustainability scheme does not discriminate against third country producers and that the criteria used are science based, verifiable and WTO-compatible".
    • "One of the biggest concerns in the use of biofuels is its impact on food security [...]. As far as the Malaysian Government is concerned, the local mandate B5 if fully implemented will require only 500,000 tonnes annually or a mere 3% of our national production of CPO [Crude Palm Oil]. In fact, 90% of Malaysian palm oil is used for traditional applications such as foodstuffs and oleochemicals (soap and cosmetics), while only a small fraction is destined for biofuel production."
    • "We are engaging countries such as the EU and USA that are coming up with legislations which impose sustainability criteria on our palm and biofuel products. This includes the EU Directive on Renewable Energy."

2008

  • Biofuel producers warn EU over "unjustifiably complex" sustainability rules, 7 November 2008 by BusinessGreen: "Eight developing countries have written to the EU warning they will complain to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) if it passes proposed legislation designed to improve the environmental sustainability of biofuels by restricting the types of fuels the bloc imports."
    • "The EU is considering legislation that is intended to ban the purchase of biofuels from energy crop plantations that are believed to harm the environment and lead to food shortages by displacing land used for food crops and contributing to rainforest deforestation."
    • "[E]ight countries – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Indonesia and Malaysia – have written to the EU to protest against the proposals" in a letter that "claims that the new rules would 'impose unjustifiably complex requirements on producers' and argues that environmental criteria 'relating to land-use change will impinge disproportionately on developing countries'."[6]
  • Biofuels standards challenged by new report on Malaysian Palm Oil , 8 October 2008 by Friends of the Earth UK: "Malaysian palm oil is finding its way into British petrol tanks despite concerns about its carbon balance and the rainforest being destroyed to produce it - according to a new report by Friends of the Earth international."
    • "The UK Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) has reported that Malaysian palm oil being used for fuel in the UK meets a 'qualifying environmental standard', but Friends of the Earth's research reveals it is far from green."
    • The FOE report finds that Sarawak state in Malaysia "plans to more than double its 2007 levels of oil palm acreage by 2010....at the expense of tropical forests" and that "companies regularly practice open burning on carbon rich peat soils releasing millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere".[7]
    • See the report Malaysian Palm Oil: Green Gold or Green Wash?
  • Biofuels and banquets put pressure on stocks of palm oil, 9 January 2008 by the Times Online, reported that "The Malaysian Government has been forced to release emergency stocks of palm oil to break a wave of panic-buying after cooking oil prices soared. The crisis has prompted palm oil rationing in a country that is one of the world’s largest producers."

2007

  • Malaysia May Revoke Biofuel Permits as Palm Oil Rises, 11 December 2007, by Bloomberg: "Malaysia, the second-biggest palm oil producer, may revoke some licenses to produce biofuel from the commodity...as the surging price of the raw material makes the fuel too expensive to make, a minister said." The minister also noted that one of Malaysia's four biodiesel manufacturing plants may close in the face of increased prices for the feedstock, which has risen some 55 percent in the past year. A reduction in output by Malaysia could also make it difficult for The European Union to meet its targets for biodiesel use.[10]
  • Surging crude palm oil prices: Malaysian biodiesel plans in jeopardy, 25 April 2007 by AFP in the Daily Times (Pakistan), reports that "Surging crude palm oil prices have put a dent in Malaysian ventures to manufacture biodiesel, with licencees dragging their feet to set up factories;" currently, only six of 90 licenced firms are producing palm oil-based biodiesel, as high demand and raw material prices have threatened the financial viability of ventures, especially smaller ones.

2006

  • Biofuel to boost palm oil prices, 14 August 2006, by Fin24, reports that Malaysia's Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister stated that biofuel "had created new demand for palm oil which is currently enjoying prices of 1,600 ringgit ($436) per tonne" and that "the first palm biodiesel plant...commenced production and would be officially launched in southern Johor state". [11]
  • Grumble in the Jungle 18 June 2006 from the Observer. Palm oil plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia threaten orangutans with extinction.
  • Grumble in the wrong Jungle 23 June 2006 letter to the editor of the Observer from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council correcting "misrepresentation[s] of the current state of the palm oil industry and efforts taken to protect wildlife, particularly in Malaysia."

References

  1. ↑ Biofuel Bill ready for Parliament debate in May, 14 March 2007 from The Business Times.


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