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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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NOR AISHAH SAIDINA AMIN: Since
the Industrial Revolution

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began 250 years ago,
people have been

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burning fossil fuels
like coal and oil

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to generate electricity.

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Hi, I'm Professor Nor
Aisha Saidina Amin,

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professor of
chemical engineering,

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and a visiting fellow with
the MIT UTM Sustainable Cities

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Program.

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My research is focused
on renewable energy,

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and today I am going
to talk about climate

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change and renewable energy.

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The primary product of
burning of fossil fuels

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is carbon dioxide.

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For centuries, the amount
of carbon dioxide emissions

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in the atmosphere was
300 parts per million.

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But carbon dioxide have
increased dramatically

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and reached an
unprecedented value

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of about 400 parts per million.

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High levels of carbon
dioxide emissions

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are linked to
climate change, which

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has led to increasing
temperatures, melting glaciers,

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rising sea level, changing
rain and snow patterns,

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and also drought, floods,
and other extreme events.

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Climate change is
an important issue,

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and reducing carbon
emission is a challenge.

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In December 2015, world
leaders convened in Paris

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to discuss the reduction of
carbon emissions and climate

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change impacts at a United
Nations Global climate

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conference.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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SPEAKER 1: There is no doubt
that the global climate change

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agreement we seek must be
part of what Paris has become.

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NOR AISHAH SAIDINA
AMIN: Even Hollywood

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is taking a public
stand on this issue.

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SPEAKER 2: And the Oscar
goes to Leonardo DiCaprio.

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[CHEERING]

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LEONARDO DICAPRIO:
Climate change is real.

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It is happening right now.

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It is the most urgent threat
facing our entire species.

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NOR AISHAH SAIDINA
AMIN: One of the ways

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to address climate
change is to replace

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fossil fuels with renewable
energy for electricity

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production.

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Carbon emissions from
renewable energy power plants

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are much lower compared to those
that run with fossil fuels.

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According to the Energy
Information Administration,

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although there are plenty
of renewable resources

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available on Earth, only 10%
of the world's energy output

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is from renewable sources.

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Types of renewable
energy include

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solar, geothermal,
wind, and biomass.

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There are many
lessons that can be

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learned from Malaysia's success
with using renewable energy.

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Given Malaysia's
tropical biodiversity,

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conversion of biomass to
energy is a promising approach

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to establishing sustainable
energy production.

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JOHN WOODLEY:
Malaysia will also be

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an excellent example
where there is

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plenty of agricultural waste.

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And it could be a
wonderful idea to try

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to use that waste in a way which
brings a little bit of value

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to your community, to the
country, but at the same time,

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can help us to reduce
carbon dioxide emissions.

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NOR AISHAH SAIDINA
AMIN: Situated in Johor,

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the most southern state in
peninsula Malaysia, Iskandar,

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Malaysia is a new
development region that

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advocates low carbon emission.

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Most of its carbon
dioxide emission

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are from the electricity
and heating sector.

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As documented in
their low carbon plan.

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Iskandar, Malaysia is
projected to be a sustainable

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city by 2025 with only $18.9
million tons of carbon dioxide

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emissions, a 40% reduction
from 2005 levels.

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How can this Iskandar,
Malaysia achieve this target?

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One of the methods
is to utilize waste

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from the oil pump industry to
generate heat and electricity.

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Iskandar, Malaysia is easily
accessible to large areas

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of oil palm plantation.

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The oil pump industry produces
waste such as empty fruit bunch

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and palm oil mill effluent.

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Empty fruit bunch is the residue
you produced when palm fruit is

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taken from a fresh fruit
bunch in the initial process

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of a palm oil production.

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Palm oil mill effluent is
the voluminous liquid waste

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that comes from the
sterilization and clarification

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processes in milling oil palm.

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By utilizing waste,
carbon dioxide emissions

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can be significantly
reduced and make the air

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in the region cleaner
and healthier.

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One way to measure
carbon dioxide emissions

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is to use an
integrated model that

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takes into account direct
and indirect carbon dioxide

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emissions.

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The concept of the
model used to probe

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quite a systematic and
comprehensive carbon accounting

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to evaluate carbon
performance, as well

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as to determine the
potential carbon emission

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reduction in the process.

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The model calculates carbon
dioxide emissions from three

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by biomass power plants-- the
bio-xcell plant, Kulim group

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plant, and Ronser biogas plant.

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Initially, carbon accounting
centers for each process

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is divided into smaller units.

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Next, the total monthly
carbon emission equivalent

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is determined, followed by
calculation of the carbon

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dioxide emissions and
carbon emission index

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across the carbon
performance indicators.

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Strategies for reduction
of carbon emissions

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are then implemented.

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The five main
emission contributors

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are identified as carbon
performance indicators.

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These are fuel, water, and
electricity consumption.

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And also waste water and
solid waste generation.

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Empty fruit bunch is
fed into Bio-Xcell Plant

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to generate steam
and electricity.

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Empty fruit bunch is
shredded and then formed

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as solid pellets.

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The pellets are used as
fuels for the boilers

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to produce steam.

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The steam turbine then
generates electricity.

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Meanwhile, Kulim and Ronser
utilize palm oil mill effluent.

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The effluent is retained
in an anaerobic digester

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to produce bio gas.

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The gas runs the turbine
to generate electricity.

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The total monthly
carbon dioxide emissions

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before and after
the implementation

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of the reductions strategies
are exhibited in figure one,

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showing a 27% emissions
reduction at Bio-Xcell,

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15% at Kulim, and 41% at Ronser.

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Figure two compares the
carbon emission index

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after implementing the
reduction strategies.

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In general, all
performance indicators

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show reduced emissions
after innovative strategies

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are implemented.

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In Bio-Xcell, the
carbon emission index

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for fuel and water consumption
decreased significantly

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after solid, empty fruit bunches
replaced the shredded ones.

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In addition, a reduction
of solid waste generation

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in runs of bio gas
was also registered

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after water from the
effluent is recycled.

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Carbon dioxide emissions
can be easily predicted

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using the income model.

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A power plant that utilizes
biomass contributes

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less to climate change since
the carbon dioxide released

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is absorbed by trees
through photosynthesis.

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The process is cyclical.

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The industry could
play a big role

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in reducing carbon
dioxide emissions

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by switching to renewable energy
for generating electricity.

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[MACHINERY MOTOR]

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HO CHIN SIONG: The key
players-- the key players

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for CO2 reduction has to be
also from the private sector.

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NOR AISHAH SAIDINA AMIN:
Globally electricity generation

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from renewables, and
particularly from biomass,

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is increasing.

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Biomass supplies such
as pump or mill effluent

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is steady due to the number of
oil pump mills in the region

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as stated by Dr. Azhar Aziz
of Gait Rungkai company.

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AZHAR AZIZ: I will say it's
very, very valuable Very

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significantly valuable because
based on the number of palm oil

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mills in the country,
as of 2014, there

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are at least 480 mills in the
country, including [INAUDIBLE].

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So from this huge number of oil
mills, there are [INAUDIBLE].

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It's just a matter of how we
are going to maximize this.

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Because to me, it's not being
maximized in terms of effort

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to reducing the carbon
emission in the country.

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NOR AISHAH SAIDINA AMIN:
The significant decline

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in capital costs for
electrical generation

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suggests that investment
in renewable energy

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is economically viable.

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The utilization of
renewable energy waste

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for re-powering power plants
could help realize Iskandar,

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Malaysia's low carbon goals.

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Since biomass emits
less carbon dioxide

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compared to fossil fuels,
the move to clean energy

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could reduce the magnitude
of climate change risks.

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Renewable energy
is the way forward

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to a wonderful more
sustainable world.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]