618MW electricity potential from oil palm kernels

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah's oil palm kernel shells and empty fruit bunches combined have a potential to generate 618 megawatts of electricity or equivalent to the capacity of a nuclear power plant or which can produce 648mw if wastes from coconut, rice, livestock and forest are also utilised. Suzuki Kazunobu (pic), Chief Advisor of the Japan International Co-operation Agency – Sustainable Development on Biodiversity and Ecosystem conservation Sabah, said using data from the State Statistics Department, he and Professor Shirai Yoshito, a Professor of Graduate School of Life Sciences and System Engineering presently attached to Universiti Putra Malaysia, calculated that a total of 70,909,239 gigajoules or an equivalent of 618MW can be generated from 8,000 hours of firing kernel shells per year, for instance, even at a 25pc efficiency rate.

There are 8,660 hours in a year.

The maximum demand for electricity in Sabah is said to be 874 megawatts, according to recent statistics.

This potential resource to produce such a substantial amount of renewable energy is certainly worth raising Sabah's awareness, Suzuki said, noting that Prof. Yoshito is actively involved in a pilot test project between a private palm oil mill in Keningau and UPM with zero discharge as the end in mind.

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If wastes from coconuts, rice, livestock such as buffaloes, cows, goats, pigs and forests are thrown into the pack, the renewable energy capacity can rise to 648 megawatts, with 16MW form forest, 7MW from livestock, 6MW from rice and 1MW from coconut shell, Suzuki said.

Oil palm wise, Kinabatangan ranks top with a potential for 16,659,558 gigajoules, followed by Lahad Datu with 13,990,539 gigajoules, Beluran at 13,756,887 gigajoules, Tawau 8,646,364 gigajoules, Sandakan 6,221,056, Kunak, 3,990,883, Tongod, 1,364,781, and Keningau 009,069 gigajoules.

This is followed by Beaufort, Kudat, Kota Marudu, Tenom, Papar, Babawan, Ranau, Kota Belud, Sipitang, Tuaran, Tambunan (13,088) and last, Kota Kinabalu, with zero gigajoule potential.

Coconut shell wise, Kudat ranks top with a potential for 25,844 gigajoules, Pitas next with 19,4788 gigajoules, Lahad Datu third with 11,631 gigajoules, followed closely by Semporna.

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Rice wise, Kota Belud ranks top with a possibility for 173,723 gigajoules, Kota Marudu 108,247, Keningau 69,140 and Tenom 66,825 gigajoules. Livestock wise, Lahad Datu ranks top with a potential for 195,609 gigajoules, Tawau 85,751, Keningau 52,955 and Tuaran 51,743 gigajoules.

Forest wise, Tongod tops the list with a potential for 509,429 gigajoules, Nabawan –333,853, Beluran- 220,401 and Tawau – a potential for 149,270 gigajoules.

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