The Star, 6 Oct 13;
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is keen to develop a biogas sector to tap into fuel that can be harvested from millions of tonnes of waste generated yearly by the agriculture industry.
A move to diversify the state’s energy sources is always a good idea, said state tourism, culture and environment minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.
“We will look into this further with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry,” he said after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Sabah Environmental Department and Natural Resources and Environment Ministry as well as 22 other agencies and companies.
Masidi urged all those involved in the signing of the MoU to be committed to promoting green living.
He added that an annual report should be done to analyse what environmental activities had been carried out and to monitor progress.
Among those present at the event was Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dr James Dawos Mamit who said that biogas could be an effective fuel.
Dr James said this method could help rural folk because they have larger land areas as well as resources such as animal and human waste.
He also said this method could be implemented in Sabah because of the huge number of oil palm estates here.
SESB may look at biogas
Jenne Lajiun, Borneo Post, 5 Oct 13;
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) may consider biogas as an alternative to the coal-fired power plant in the generation of electricity for Sabah.
There is a big opportunity for the production of biogas in Sabah due to the presence of many oil palm mills and their effluents.
Deputy Natural Resource Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit said the sludge produced by oil palm mills could produce biogas, which in turn could be used to generate fuel for the production of electricity as well as for cooking and so on.
“The operators refuse to treat the sludge so anyone who wants to generate biogas can collect it. I hope they don’t sell it because if they don’t treat it, they will be penalised by the DOE (Department of Environment),” he told reporters after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between 28 organisations to make way for a collaboration in implementing environment awareness programmes.
James added that the oil palm mills would realise the value of the sludge when people started using them to generate biogas and fuel.
“It is all about balancing an act on how to utilise our waste,” he said.
He also said he was willing to help SESB by giving it advice and even designing a bio-digester for them.
Earlier in his speech, James also provided a glimpse on the benefits of biogas.
He explained that biogas could be produced by waste generated by people, and that included human excrement.
“Two schools with 150 students have been adopted, and the 75 cubic meters of biogas produced has the potential of producing more heat. It is also free so it is better than LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas)…we don’t need LPG,” he said.
He also said the bio-digestor he designed had been adopted by companies in Japan, Myanmar and in Korea.
Meanwhile, a total of 22 agencies in Sabah and eight from the Federal Territory of Labuan yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to embark on a smart partnership to raise awareness of conserving the environment in Sabah.
The MoU shall also act as a medium for the agencies to implement, encourage and raise the membership in its Friends of the Environment programme.
James said if the agencies were successful in protecting and conserving the environment, they would encourage others to follow suit.
Also present to grace the event was Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.
