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GROUP PRESENTATION
EGR 5201- SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SYSTEM

SWOT ANALYSIS ON BIOMASS ENERGY

GROUP 2
Naresh Kumar I10006627
Kok Chee Yung I12001714
Pang Jun Hau I12001217
Lim Boon Chai I11008885
LECTURER : Dr. Girma
Content 2
 Introduction.
 Background of biomass.
 Strengths of biomass.
 Importance of biomass.
 Biomass in Malaysia and Portugal comparison
 Opportunities of biomass.
 Resources availability, market, research, business, and policies Malaysia.
 Weaknesses of biomass.
 Low power efficiency.
 High capital and operating cost.
 Resources availability.
 Lack of Experience and environment pollution.
 Threats of biomass.
 Deforestation, health issues, water usage, pollutions, fire and explosion hazards.
Introduction 3

 What is Biomass?
 Organic matter produced by photosynthesis.

 Substitute for fossil fuel.

 Natural energy containing carbon resource .

 Available in large quantity.

 Short time to replace the energy resource .

 Malaysia produces palm oil waste and wood waste, great

potential renewable energy.
Strength of the Biomass 4

 Renewable.
 Using Sun as the primary source of energy.
 Recycle through photosynthesis process.
 With the aid of the environment.
Strength of the Biomass
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Importance of Biomass
Title:Urban biomass and methods of estimating municipal biomass resources. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews
Source: Y.Li(2017)

Y.Li support biomass energy because:

 An enormous quantity of municipal biomass yields which able to produce huge
energy.
 All the application of municipal biomass in charged by the environment
protection and sustainability.
 Wise exercise of biomass resource will help to improve the land availability for
the upcoming city or village.
 All of the biomass research field will be summarized.
Strength of the Biomass
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Importance of Biomass
Title:Urban biomass and methods of estimating municipal biomass resources. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews
Source: Y.Li(2017)
Strength of the Biomass
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Biomass In Malaysia
Title:Biomass and bioenergy: An overview of the development potential in Turkey and Malaysia. Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews,
Source: Ozturk, M. (2017)
Strength of the Biomass
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Biomass In Portugal
Title:Biomass resources in Portugal: Current status and prospects. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review,
Source: Ferreira, S., Monteiro, E., Brito, P. and Vilarinho, C. ,(2017)
Strength of the Biomass
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Biomass In Portugal
Title:Biomass resources in Portugal: Current status and prospects. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review,
Source: Ferreira, S., Monteiro, E., Brito, P. and Vilarinho, C. ,(2017)
OPPORTUNITIES of the BIOMASS
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Opportunities
Biomass
Biomass resources
resources and
and
availability
availability

Biomass
Biomass Green
Green
Market
Market Incentives
Incentives

Institutional
Institutional research
research Green
Green policies
policies in
in
in
in green palm biomass
green palm biomass Malaysia
Malaysia
promotion
promotion

Business
Business opportunities
opportunities
for
for green
green biomass
biomass
OPPORTUNITIES of the BIOMASS
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Opportunities
Biomass resources and
Biomass Green Incentives
availability.
 Investment Tax Allowance (ITA).
 Income Tax Exemption (ITE).
OPPORTUNITIES of the BIOMASS
Opportunities
Green policies in Malaysia
• The Small Renewable Energy Program (SREP).
• National Renewable Energy Policy 2010.
• Feed-in Tariff (FiT).
• ‘Green Technology Financing Scheme’.
• Trade certified emission reductions.
Institutional research in green palm
biomass promotion
• New studies on biomass potential being explored.
• Altering waste into product of value.
• MARDI, empty fruit bunch conversion.
• Bioethanol available in palm trunk.
• Dry residues as fertilizers.
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Business opportunities for green biomass
• Potential profit attainable.
• Expected to grow by moving up the value chain.
Market
• Very less capital investment.
• The vast variable from industries, increases growth and
demand.
• Gestation period low.
• Power generation cost lower than fossil fuel.
• Improves foreign trade balance.
WEAKNESSES of the BIOMASS
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Low Power Efficiency
 Energy obtained from Biomass = 75% - 80%.
 Power generation from Biomass = 20% - 25%.
 Biofuel conversion from Biomass = 7% - 13%.

(Source: Akash K.R., 2008 & Wei-Dong Huang et al., 2011)

WEAKNESSES of the BIOMASS
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High Capital Cost and Operating Cost
No. Type of Cost Categories Justification

Property cost Huge area of land

1 Capital Cost Construction cost Storage, Power generation house

Equipment cost Boilers, Generator (Depends process)

Transportation cost Further distance, more expensive

Raw material cost Oil Palm waste, Rice husk

2 Operating cost Material handling cost Storage space, Loading raw material

Labor cost Supervising the process

Utilities cost Electricity and water

(Source: Herui Cuia et al., 2012 & Dato’ Leong Kin Mun, 2015)
WEAKNESSES of the BIOMASS
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Availability of Biomass Sources

• Sessional production.
• Other purpose of
production.
(Exportation)

(Source: Dato’ Leong Kin Mun, 2015 & USDA, 2012)

WEAKNESSES of the BIOMASS
Availability of Biomass Sources 16

(Source: Dr. Ahmad Kushairi Din, 2017)

WEAKNESSES of the BIOMASS
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Lack of Experience

 In-depth analysis concerning the distribution of biomass resources.

 Lack of scientific planning in biomass resources management.
 Biomass conversion technology.
 Efficient uses of variety of biomass resources of Malaysia.
 Existing technology is insufficient to operate biomass power generation at its
maximum.
 For example, the difficulty of gasification power generation focuses on effective
tar removal technique.

(Source: Salman Zafar, 2011; Herui Cuia et al., 2012 & Zaipul A.Z., 2015)
WEAKNESSES of the BIOMASS
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Environment Pollution

 The immaturity in biomass energy technology.

 Process gasification, it may produce tar-contained water sewage which causes water pollution.
 Solid waste incineration process will produce harmful gases such as carbon dioxide and harmful
carcinogens such as dioxin.

(Source: Jianfeng Li et al.,2011)

THREAT of the BIOMASS
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Deforestation

• Carbon that present in the global forest is as much as 296 Giga tonnes (Global
forest resources assessment, 2015).
• The forests are a sink for these carbons where the forest role in limiting the
exchange of carbon to the atmosphere.

(Forests could face threat from biomass power ‘gold rush’, Jamie Doward 2013)
THREAT of the BIOMASS
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Methane Gas
 • Methane that producing bacteria under anaerobic digestion are the last link in a chain
of micro-organisms which degrade organic material and return the decomposition
products to the environment.

• When CO2 presence in the combustion, we can categorize methane gas as

greenhouse gaseous.
• It is initially far more devastating to the climate because of how effectively it absorbs
heat.
• In the first two decades after its release, methane is 84 times more potent than carbon
dioxide. 
• The two sorts of outflows must be tended to if we need to viably decrease the effect of
environmental change.

(Forests could face threat from biomass power ‘gold rush’, Jamie Doward 2013)
THREAT of the BIOMASS
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Requires Great Deal of Water

• To drive a turbine and generator, a biomass power plant would require a cooling
water system to condense steam.
• Is the largest water consumption of water usage at any thermoelectric power plant
• 400 to 700 gallons of water (per minute) are often required for each of the operation
system.
• Only produce one megawatt power.
• A biogas waste digester system for municipal waste sludge would typically require
about 30,000 gallons per day of water in addition to the more than 100,000 gallons
per day contained in the sludge feedstock.

(Forests could face threat from biomass power ‘gold rush’, Jamie Doward 2013)
THREAT of the BIOMASS
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Health Issues
• A significant number of the ecological issues related with gasification, for example,
tidy, clamour, smell, fly fiery remains, deplete gasses and tar, can cause a few
wellbeing related issues for people.
• Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulphur, nitrogen oxide, and so on.
• These gasses may cause lethal ailments like strokes, incessant obstructive aspiratory
sicknesses, ischemic heart ailments, bring down respiratory contaminations and
lung malignancy.

Global challenges in the sustainable development of biomass gasification, SK Sansaniwal 2017

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Global challenges in the sustainable development of biomass gasification, SK Sansaniwal 2017

THREAT of the BIOMASS
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Air Pollution
• Air contamination emissions of tidy, biomass slag, fly fiery debris and other hurtful
substances amid the gasification procedure lessens the virtue of the encompassing
air.
• Biomass store network administration and pre-treatment techniques are noteworthy
wellsprings of airborne particles and add to air contamination.
• Hot particles discharged amid gasifier operation may meet combustible materials
and cause fires.
• The main result of gasification is carbon monoxide which oversees gas harming and
causes a few serious cardiovascular sicknesses.

Global challenges in the sustainable development of biomass gasification, SK Sansaniwal 2017

THREAT of the BIOMASS
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Water Pollution
• Gas moulding, which is involved both cooling and cleaning of maker gas that the
waste water refluent prompts numerous difficult issues including defilement of
drinking water and dangers to water species.
• The examination announced the lethality of waste water from the updraft gasifier to be
one time more outstanding than the open best downdraft gasifier, two times more
noteworthy than the downdraft gasifier and three times more noteworthy than the two-
arrange gasifier.
• Amid cooling of maker gas, numerous unsafe natural mixes, for example, polycyclic
fragrant hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene, ethyl, benzene and xylene, gather with water
vapor and prompt water contamination, wellbeing perils and other unfriendly
ecological effects.

Global challenges in the sustainable development of biomass gasification, SK Sansaniwal 2017

THREAT of the BIOMASS
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Fire and Explosion Hazards

• The significant reasons for flame in gasification are related with so much exercises as
fuel stockpiling, fuel drying, start, development of a flammable blend amid bolster
readiness.
• The little ignitable strong particles from wood and coal can frame a touchy blend with
air.
• Can be controlled with HIRARC.

Global challenges in the sustainable development of biomass gasification, SK Sansaniwal 2017