THE Government should encourage the use of bio-methane (biogas) as a source for renewable energy (RE) as it would help small holders and other plantation players to generate additional revenue for themselves.
“Since 2012, the Government had introduced Feed-In-Tariff (FiT) for electricity generated from RE, including bio-methane.
“Electricity from bio-methane remains the least developed RE in Malaysia due to high capital cost to purchase generator to burn the bio-methane.
“However, the investment cost for bio-methane capture, storage and transport is extremely low, which can be developed by our plantation players,” Parti Sosialis Malaysia central committee member Sharan Raj told FocusM.
Elaborating, the PSM leader said that bio-methane can be sourced not only from plantation areas but also landfills and sewerage systems.
“Basically, we can source for bio-methane from any rotting organic items. For a commodity-driven nation like ours, we have more than enough sources to capture bio-methane to generate electricity,” he said.
On that note, Sharan acknowledged that building a power generator to harness bio-methane was very expensive, adding running the place also involves complex processes.
He also said that as most plantation areas are away from power grids, business onwers may need to invest in building power lines, storage areas and generators, which would cost a bomb.
However, Sharan offered a solution to the matter; invest in capturing bio-methane gas and transport it to the nearest gas power station for processing.
“Investing in the technology to capture and transporting bio-methane is quite cheap. So, once the plantation owners capture the biogas, they can sell it to the nearest traditional power plant for burning purposes.
“If we can do that, bio-methane will displace fossil fuel to some extent, reducing our dependence on the latter for power generation and cut costs for the Government,” he stated.
Sharan added plantation players such as the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) can embark on such a project, which will add revenue to the company.
“Plus, small holders can also capture bio-methane and sell them to the power plants. This will generate more revenue for them too.
“In turn, it will give our rural economy a much-needed boost as small holders can monetise their waste and create new jobs. Local councils can also participate in this to generate income for themselves,” Sharan opined. – Feb 15, 2021.
