65 / 2016-04-27 20:04:17

WASTE TO WEALTH: GREEN ENERGY GENERATION IN MALAYSIA

9935,9943,9938,9944,6875,9937

Biomass is an important renewable source of energy and has been used to provide energy to human activities. Residues obtained from harvesting and milling agricultural produces can be utilised as fuel for energy generation. Malaysia is gifted with conventional energy resources such as oil and gas as well as renewables like hydro, biomass and solar energy. The equatorial climate of Malaysia is ideal for dense tropical forest growth and agricultural vegetation. Biomass in Malaysia contributes about 14% of the approximately 340 million barrel of oil equivalent (boe) of energy used every year and wood products, palm oil mill effluents, goat dung, chicken dung, fish waste etc., are extensively utilised. Waste-derived biogas seems a promising technology to yield renewable, sustainable and green source of energy. This study was conducted to determine the production of biogas from six different substrates (i.e. goat dung, chicken dung, fish waste, rice waste, palm oil mill effluent and sewage sludge). The production of biogas from these substrates were compared using industrial inoculum and tradisional bokashi as catalysts. Biophysical characteristics were assessed using laboratory-based analyses, whereas the Bio-Methane Potential (BMP) assay was used to measure anaerobic biogas production in mesophilic condition for 20 consecutive days. In this study, we found that rice waste using industrial inoculum produces the highest amount of biogas, followed by goat dung, chicken dung, fish waste, palm oil mill effluent and sewage sludge with total amount of 3508.9 mL, 2141 mL, 1885.7 mL, 1546.0 mL, 743.8 mL and 547.7 mL, respectively. No methane gas was produced from the substrates by using traditional bokashi. As a conclusion, by using industrial inoculum, all substrates can be used as feeders in producing energy in a small scale industry.

Keywords: Bio-methane Potential, biogas production, inoculum, bokashi, Malaysia