The total land area in Malaysia amounts to 32.90 million hectares. According to Hoi and Koh [32], the major agricultural crops grown in Malaysia are rubber (39.67 %), oil palm (34.56 %), rice (12.68 %), cocoa (6.75 %) and coconut (6.34 %) which indicated that major production of the agricultural sector had been rubber derived products including wood residues, however, by 1995 oil palm products became more significant [34].

Lignocellulosic biomass which is produced from the oil palm industries include oil palm trunks (OPT), empty fruit bunches (EFB), fronds, palm pressed fibres (PPF) and shells. Table 2.3 shows the breakdown of wastes from palm oil production in 2007 [35].

One of the major characteristics of the forestry and agricultural sector is the production of large quantities of processing residues that have no economic value other than energy generation. Their presence in recent years has created a major disposal problem due to the fact that open burning is being discouraged by the Department of Environment in Malaysia. Other than biomass from the plantations, the palm oil industry also produces other types of waste in large quantities mainly EFB, PPF, shell and palm oil mill effluent (POME). Table 2.4 shows the breakdown of product or waste from each bunch of fresh fruit (FFB) [36].

The EFB are usually air dried until the moisture content reaches about 40% when it is ready to be used as fuel in the palm oil processing plant [37]. The burnt waste is then used as fertiliser in plantations [38]. Other than that, EFB were also used in the plantations as a mulch, thus, can reduce the applied fertiliser cost and is a step towards environmental conservation by reducing dependence on fossil fuel required for the manufacture of inorganic fertilizer [39]. It is claimed that using the EFB as mulch has several advantages for the nutritional sustainability of the plantation. Some plantation owners claimed that the benefits of EFB as a fertiliser and as a soil conditioning agent are significant, because it releases nutrients slowly to the soil via microorganisms therefore effectively recycling the plant nutrients. It improves the soil structure due to better aeration, increases the water holding capacity and increases the soil pH, whilst other mill owners welcomed alternative methods of disposal. This is due to the inconvenience of handling and transporting, as well as the costs and problems concerning disposal of the waste on the plantation. However, open burning is no longer allowed by the authority because this process causes air pollution and by this means of disposal no energy is recovered [40].

Oil-palm fronds have been successfully used as a substitute for tropical grasses by ruminant producers in Malaysia [41]. Nowadays, the PPF is usually burnt in the palm oil processing plant as fuel and the excess is disposed of in the plantations [42]. The PPF are burnt in a boiler with some palm shells to produce the power for running the mill (self-sufficient). The boilers used are normally of grate-type beds which are manufactured locally [13]. Most of the crude palm oil mills harness the energy from the shell and fibre in their own low — pressure boilers and normally the oil palm trunk would be left to decompose naturally at the plantation [37]. This practice not only disturbs the process of plantation due to the low decomposition rate, it also encourages the spread of diseases and insects like rhinoces beetles

and ganoderma that are harmful to the plantation [37]. Moreover, most of the plantations have to adopt the push-felling technique and trunk-shredding which leads to burning [43].

The utilization and generation of oil palm biomass is widely accepted and offers benefits for rural areas related to employment, rural infrastructure, the conservation of cultivated areas and hence the attractiveness of rural regions. The new markets for Malaysia can be developed, especially for developing countries, where oil palm biomass has a higher contribution to the overall energy supply. Also the establishment of an industry related to ‘oil palm biomass for energy» technology could be supported.