Investing in Innovation 2003

New Bioproducts and Carbon Credit from the Palm Oil Industry

Mohd Ali , Shahrakbah , Yoshihito , Minato , Mohamed Ismail Abdul , Suraini Abd- ,
Vikineswary and Subash

of Biotechnology, Faculty of Food Science and Biotechnology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400
UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
School of Life Sciences and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu,
Japan
of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Palm Industries, Jalan Gurney, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Mohd Ali Hassan, Shahrakbah Yacob, Yoshihito Shirai, Minato Wakisaka, Mohamed Ismail
Abdul Karim, Suraini Abd-Aziz, Vikineswary Sabaratnam and Subash Sunderaj. 2003. New
Bioproducts and Carbon Credit from the Palm Oil Industry. In Investing in Innovation 2003, Vol
3: Bioscience and Biotechnology, ed. Mohd. Ali Hassan et al., pp 165 – 166. Universiti Putra
Malaysia Press, Serdang, Selagnor, Malaysia.

Abstract
The application of industrial and environmental biotechnology to the palm oil industry to generate
new bioproducts is discussed. New bioproducts can be generated from palm oil mill effluent
(POME) and empty fruit bunches (EFB). Improved treatment and bioconversion of POME is
carried out to generate clean biogas as a green renewable energy. POME is also utilized for the
production of bioacids and bioplastics or polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). EFB is utilized for the
production of bioslurry fuel as renewable diesel substitute. Bioconversion of EFB by local fungi
produces biosugars which can be converted to polylactate, an important bioplastic with high
industrial demand. The reduction of greenhouse gases emission can be used as carbon credit under
the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the Kyoto Protocol.

Introduction
The palm oil industry has been and will continue to be an important factor in the national
economy. Unfortunately the palm oil mills generate air and water pollution. Currently palm oil
mill effluent (POME) is treated mainly to remove its high biological oxygen demand (BOD) in
order to meet discharge standards prior to disposal. The most common treatment system presently
employed in Malaysia for POME is the anaerobic ponding system whereby the biogas produced is
released into the atmosphere, causing environmental pollution due to greenhouse effect. However,
with its high organic content (more than 20,000 mg/L BOD) and being non-toxic, POME could
serve as a suitable carbon source in fermentation systems for the production of value-added
compounds. Another by-product from the palm oil industry which is not optimally utilised is
empty fruit bunch (EFB). Currently EFB is either incinerated, used for mulching or dumped in
landfills. With rising environmental concern and increased focus on biotechnology in Malaysia,
EFB is a good candidate for creating new bioproducts through industrial and environmental
biotechnology.

Methodology
Overall methodology is based on three concepts: (a) zero emission, (b) utilization of waste
resources to useful bioproducts and (c) carbon credit. Our research team developed an integrated
process incorporating the controlled anaerobic treatment of POME to produce organic acids,
recovery of the organic acids and finally fed-batch production of biodegradable plastics
(polyhydroxyalkanoates or PHA) under open and non-sterile conditions (1,2). Different
components of this zero emission system separately were studied (3) that also involved on the
improved bioconversion of POME to biogas and utilization of the biogas for green and renewable
energy. As for EFB, current studies conducted on its conversion to carbonaceous slurry fuel, for
use as renewable diesel substitute where this product is of high demand in Japan. As an extension
of earlier work on the production of cellulases (4,5), research is being carried out on the
bioconversion of EFB to sugars by local fungi as substrates for the production of polylactate, a
biodegradable plastic with increasing applications in industry. The reduction of greenhouse gases

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Mohd Ali, H. et al New Bioproducts and Carbon Credit from the Palm Oil Industry

emission can be used as carbon credit under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the
Kyoto Protocol.

Results and Discussion

The overall mass balance for a typical palm oil mill was obtained based on the production figures
as well as the conversion and yield factors. For a typical mill processing 60 tons fresh fruit bunch
per hour or 81000 tons fresh fruit bunch per year, 200 tons cell mass containing PHA could be
produced annually. Since the cell PHA content was about 50-60%, about 100 tons PHA could be
obtained per year upon recovery. The clean water could be partly recycled (15000 tons per year)
and the remainder safely discharged due to its low BOD of 80 mg/L. The energy required could be
generated within the mill itself, since the palm oil industry is an energy-surplus industry.
Therefore no additional outside energy is necessary for this system. The by-product in the form of
dewatered digested solids could be utilised as a fertiliser either in the palm oil plantation or sold.
Based on our research, we have successfully produced organic acids from POME which were used
as fermentation substrates to produce bioplastics. We have also succeeded in applying the
evaporation system for the recovery of organic acids as well as bioplastic production in an open
non-sterile fermentation. Our results showed that by evaporation, the organic acids could be
concentrated to 100 g/L for use as substrates for the fed-batch fermentation. Upon condensation of
the steam, the BOD of the water was low enough for it to be either recycled or discharged. The
concentrated organic acids were successfully converted to PHA by Alcaligenes eutrophus under a
non-sterile fermentation system when the initial cell density was kept high at 4 g/L. After 150
hours, 20 g/L cells were obtained with more than 60% PHA content. A repeated fed-batch system
was also performed to obtain a high cell inoculum and to mimic to operation of a large PHA
production fermenter. The success of these operations suggests that by integrating all these
processes, it is possible to establish an appropriate zero emission system for POME coupled with
the production of biodegradable plastics.
Presently a 500 ton pilot tank for the improved treatment of POME is being constructed in
FELDA Serting Hilir mill. This tank is designed to achieve good mixing characteristics for better
mass and heat transfer in order to reduce the treatment time. The biogas will be collected,
scrubbed, stored and used to generate green renewable electricity. As an extension to the main
project, biohydrogen production will also be attempted. The other components of the project are
still under progress. Baseline data on methane and carbon dioxide emission from the palm oil
mills has been collected over the past 15 months. Bioconversion of EFB to sugars, polylactate and
bioslurry fuel are currently being carried out in our laboratories both in Malaysia and Japan.

Conclusion
Apart from generating new bioproducts from the palm oil industry, overall this project will help to
reduce the environmental pollution due to the release of methane and carbon dioxide which will
facilitate the carbon credit between Malaysia and the developed countries such as Japan.
Furthermore, it would be in line with the concept of clean processing or zero emission system.
There is a lot of potential in utilizing POME and EFB to generate new bioproducts in the near
future.

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support and assistance provided by Universiti
Putra Malaysia, Kyushu Institute of Technology and FELDA Palm Industries Sdn. Bhd. The
technical support provided by EX Corporation, Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Tokyo Electric
Power Company is also acknowledged.

References
1. Hassan, M.A., Y. Shirai, M. Inagaki, M.I. Abdul Karim, K. Nakanishi and K. Hashimoto. 1997a.
Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan 30(4): 751-755.
2. Hassan, M.A., Y. Shirai, H. Umeki, M.I. Abdul Karim, K. Nakanishi and K. Hashimoto. 1997b.
Journal of Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry 61(9): 1465-1468.
3. Hassan, M.A., O. Nawata, A.R. Nor Aini, L.Y. Phang, Y. Shirai, A.B. Ariff and M.I. Abdul Karim.
2001. Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan 35 (1): 9-14.
4. Umikalsom, M.S., A.B. Ariff, Z.H. Shamsuddin, C.C. Tong, M.A. Hassan and M.I.A. Karim. 1997a.
Journal of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 47: 590-595.
5. Umikalsom, M.S., A.B. Ariff, Z.H. Shamsuddin, C.C. Tong, M.A. Hassan and M.I.A. Karim. 1997b.
Journal of Bioresource Technology 62: 1-9.

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