Second biomass refinery set to be located in Asia

A biomass refinery in Malaysia is set to become the second in the world to convert biomass waste into renewable products before 2017.

Work is scheduled to begin on the facility in Johor by the end of 2014 and will be developed by MYBiomass, a collaboration between the Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), renewable energy business Sime Darby and Felda Global Ventures.

‘This refinery will start off with a focus on oil palm biomass where it will be converted into industrial sugar and isobutanol,’ MIGHT CEO Yusoff Sulaiman says.

MYBiomass CEO R Puvaneswari adds around RM350 million (€81.3 million) is needed to ensure the plant will be able to have a production capacity of 60,000 tonnes a year.

The only biomass refinery currently operational in the world is based in Italy.