Malaysia

Malaysia currently accounts for 39% of world palm oil production and 44% of world exports. The production of palm oil, and especially the way the waste is treated, adds significantly to the production of greenhouse gasses. Malaysia aims sustainable economic growth and wishes to promote innovation in the palm oil sector to become an economic and sustainability leader. The country has the policy target of a 40% reduction of GHG emissions per 2020, relative to the year 2005. To achieve these targets the development of a bio based economy is key. The conversion into a bio based economy can only be successful when undertaken by a strong consortium consisting of both public and private players. To this end the Oil Palm Biomass Centre will be established.

 

Oil Palm Biomass Centre (OPBC)

In April 2011 The Unit Inovasi Khas (UNIK) has signed a cooperation agreement with BE-Basic with the aim to establish the Oil Palm Biomass Centre (OPBC) in Malaysia, that will focus on the use of palm waste as a raw material for the chemical industry. OPBC partners and BE-Basic partners aim to develop concepts of waste biomass utilisation for biorenewable production, share knowledge on chain integration and socio-economic and sustainability issues and exchange students and researchers. The consortium will make use of the knowledge and experience that has been developed within the Dutch model of public-private partnerships, such as that reflected in the BE-Basic consortium. The Dutch government supports this international collaboration via the Dutch Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

OPBC website

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

The Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is a leading innovation-driven entrepreneurial research university in engineering science and technology located both in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia and Johor Bahru, the southern city in Iskandar Malaysia, which is a vibrant economic corridor in the south of Peninsular Malaysia. UTM’s mission is to lead in the development of creative and innovative human capital and advanced technologies that will contribute to Malaysia’s wealth creation. The university consists of over 2,000 academic staff of which more than 200 are foreign graduate faculty members and a total student population of more than 11,000 full-time undergraduate students and more than 9,000 postgraduate students. Within UTM BE-Basic cooperates with the Institute of Bioproduct Development (IBD), located at UTM Johor Bahru.

UTM website

Putra University Malaysia (UPM)

The Putra University, Malaysia (Malay: Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM) is a leading research intensive public university located in Serdang, close to Kuala Lumpur. UPM, formerly known as Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Agricultural University of Malaysia) has a research focus on a agricultural sciences and related fields. Its mission is to make meaningful contributions towards wealth creation, nation building and universal human advancement through the exploration and dissemination of knowledge. UPM has over 2,900 academic staff members, more than 15,000 undergraduates and more than 10,000 postgraduate students.

UPM website