1

Report on the 2
nd
Annual Biogas Asia Pacific Forum, 12 14
th
June
2013, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The 2
nd
Annual Biogas Asia Pacific Forum was held at the J W Marriot Hotel, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, 12 14
th
J une 2013 with a site tour to a Plant producing biogas from
POME (Palm Oil Mill Effluent) on 14
th
J une. The Forum was organized by the
International Clean Energy & Sustainability Network (ICESN) of Singapore and
supported by the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation Sdn Bhd (Biotechcorp) and
Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Malaysia (keTTHA). ANGVA
Executive Director participated and presented a paper on Opportunities For Biogas As A
Renewable Fuel For Natural Gas Vehicles In The Asia Pacific Region at this Forum.
At the Forum



It was highlighted that there are big potential for the generation of biogas from Palm Oil
Mill Effluent (POME) in Malaysia and Indonesia. Most of the biogas produced are
currently used to generate electricity (via biogas engines) for own use by the palm oil
mills. In some cases the electricity generated were feed into the electricity grids through
the Fit-in-Tariff system introduced by the government to promote the use of renewable
energy. However, it was pointed out that there are still excess of biogas production and
these are flared as the biogas plant are far from the electricity grids and also the Fit-in-
Tariff pricing are not that attractive in some cases.

Of particular interest to the NGV industry is the paper presented by Mr. Chatchaphol,
Executive President of Universal Adsorbents & Chemicals Public Company Limited
(UAC), Thailand on Compressed Bio-Methane Gas (CBG) for Vehicles. He reported
that UAC is now operating the first biomethane plant in Thailand in Mae Tang, Chiang
Mai, Northern Thailand, using animal waste and Napier grass silage as feedstock. This
plant started operation in Feb 2013 and supplies biomethane to PTTs NGV refueling
stations under a 15 years supply agreement. The plant is producing 6 ton of biomethane
and 25 ton of fertilizer per day from feedstock of 700 m3 animal (swine) waste and 15
ton of Napier grass silage per day.

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With the success of this 1
st
project, UAC plan to built another 10 new similar biomethane
plants (capacity of 6 ton biomethane and 25 ton fertilizer per day) in Northern Thailand
and another 10 in Northeastern Thailand. The feedstock will be energy crop Napier Grass
which will be planted to provide enough feedstock to the 20 plants that are projected to
begin operation in 2015.

Another NGV related paper presented at the Forum is on Biogas Application in NGV
Industry by Grace Zhu, International Department Manager, ENRIC (Bengbu)
Compressor Co., Ltd, Anhui, China. She informed that China has formulated a national
development programme for the longterm development of renewable energy in the
country to achieve renewable energy consumption of 15% of total energy consumption in
2020 (at present this is only 6.9%). She highlighted that in some cases in China it is more
economically attractive to purify the biogas as fuel for NGVs as compared to generation
of electricity and feeding it to the electricity grids.

On 14
th
J une 2013, a technical visit was made to a biogas production plant, Bell Green
Power. This plant, located at Kampung Kuala Linggi, Melaka (about 160 km south of the
city of Kuala Lumpur) is producing biogas from POME. The plant uses an above-ground
anaerobic digestion system, incorporating the BIODOME Double Membrane Roof.
However, the biogas produced is currently flared as preparation is still ongoing for the
production of electricity to feed to the nearby palm oil mill. Most palm oil mills in
Malaysia have excess biogas and to avoid releasing the biogas (methane) into the
atmosphere, the biogas is flared.


Technical visit to the biogas plant in Melaka.







Reported by Lee Giok Seng, ANGVAs Executive Director. 28
th
J une 2013.