Promotion of Green Economy with Palm Oil Industry for Biodiversity Conservation

Utilizing Surplus Resources and Energy to Protect both Biodiversity and Local Industry

Principal Investigator

- Prof.
  SHIRAI Yoshihito
  Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology
- Prof.
  Mohd Ali Hassan
  Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia (UPM)

ODA Recipient Country

Malaysia

Research Institutions in Japan

Kyushu Institute of Technology / The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) / Kyushu University (KU)

Research Institutions in Counterpart Country

Putra University, Malaysia (UPM) / Sabah University of Malaysia (UMS)

Adoption fiscal year

FY 2012

Research Period

4 Years

Overview of the Research Project

Flexible initiative protects the environment while maintaining the industry required for growth
Sabah on the island of Borneo is a treasure-house of biodiversity and a popular destination for ecotourism, but in the upper reaches of its rivers there are many oil palm plantations and palm oil mills, and there is concern that effluent and other waste from the mills may pollute the environment. However, the palm oil industry provides a vital source of income in Sabah state, so it is necessary to discover how to protect the environment while still benefiting from the industry. By applying environmental energy technology from Japan, this project aims to create an innovative green industry that makes effective use of surplus biomass and surplus energy while preserving the environment.

Innovative green industry creates jobs through an approach that is scalable to other countries
At the same time as providing employment by creating a biomass plastic industry, the project aims to improve the environment for Sabah’s vast wetlands and rivers, which contributes to preserving biodiversity. This model is also applicable to other palm oil producers such as Indonesia and Nigeria. In addition, the project is contributing to Japanese industry through the development of innovative nano-composite technology.
* Nano-composite: Composite material with nano-size biomass particles mixed into plastic.
Materials as strong as steel may be feasible with this technology.