SPECIAL REPORT
INGENIEUR
INNOVATION IN WASTE-TO-
ENERGY IN PALM OIL MILLS
“Two Roads Diverged in A Wood And I –
I Took The One Less Traveled By,
And That Has Made All The Difference”
– Robert Frost, 1916
By Ir. Dr K S Kannan
ISI Ventures Sdn Bhd, UTM
Ir. Krishna Moorthy Palanisamy
Rank Tower Sdn Bhd
Waste-to-Wealth (WtW) promotes
a sustainable lifestyle where waste
valorisation is not just a means to
harness intrinsic economic and
environment benefits, but also for
spurring the development of new
technologies, jobs and sustainable
livelihoods.
WtW depends on how one views it.
In engineering practice, operational
waste refers to the inefficient and
wasteful use of resources in the
production of goods and services.
Resource efficiency is a measure
of the economic and environmental
impacts associated with resource
use.
We already use more resources than
the planet is capable of regenerating.
So, we have to find ways to utilise less
energy, water, materials, and other resources in
general. Issues such as climate change, energy
waste and resource scarcity have been under
the spotlight, demanding urgent international
attention. We need radical innovation to develop
new technologies and new business models to
keep pace with world trends and concerns on
these issues.
Time is running out to prevent catastrophic
(some believe irreversible) climate change, which
research has shown to be caused largely by
the burning of fossil-based fuels. The world is,
therefore, racing to find alternatives to traditional
forms of energy that are also depleting. At the
same time, we are obliged to make the most out
of precious resources, waste as little as possible
and find ways to repurpose whatever waste is
unavoidable.
Most WtW initiatives tend to focus on end-ofpipe
measures, which do not deal with waste by
“stopping” the production of it. Instead, they simply
deal with the waste that is output from the process,
which is what comes out at the “end of the pipe”.
This article puts forward the premise that topof-pipe
initiatives can be just as promising, and
perhaps even more. But it is a path less travelled
since it would involve considerable creativity and
innovation, and more importantly, a keen eye to
spot the “unseen”. Known also as the Zero Waste
concept, it refers to waste prevention as opposed
to end-of-pipe waste management, and it is a
paradigm shift that is slowly taking place. This
approach is useful to help uncover wastes that are
obscure and not readily visible.
70 VOL 82 APRIL-JUNE 2020