RI gets ADB grant for study on palm oil mill waste

RI gets ADB grant for study on palm oil mill waste

Deutsche Press-Agentur, Manila

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday it has approved a US$500,000 technical assistance grant to study the potential for using waste from Indonesia's palm oil mills as a source of commercially viable renewable energy.

The grant, co-financed by the Canadian Government Fund, would establish a waste management framework for Indonesia's palm oil industry and study options available for energy recovery and conversion.

The Manila-based ADB noted that Indonesia is the world's second largest producer of palm oil, after Malaysia, with about 300 palm oil mills operating in the country.

These mills produce more than four billion tons of palm oil annually and generate 1$ billion in export earnings.

However, the industry also gives rise to significant amount of biomass waste and wastewater which pollute the groundwater and soil and release methane gas.

"Solid and liquid biomass waste is a renewable source of energy that could potentially be transformed into electricity, gas, bio-diesel and fertilizer to serve remote rural areas and reduce dependence on fossil fuel," said ADB project economist Sujata Gupta.

Gupta noted that one palm oil mill that processes 60 tons of fresh fruit bunches per hour could produce 11,400 cubic metres of methane per day from wastewater, and provide more than 1.5 megawatts of electricity.

"But the mills lack the expertise and access to the information about these processes as well as the appropriate technologies," Gupta said.

ADB said the Indonesian government would contribute $125,000 for the project, which would be executed by the Directorate General of Electricity and Energy Utilization. The study would be carried out until August 2005.