Oil Palm Biomass Biorefinery for Sustainable Production of Renewable Materials

Catalase (CAT) Gene Family in Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.): Genome-Wide Identification, Analysis, and Expression Profile in Response to Abiotic Stress

Catalases (CATs) play crucial roles in scavenging H2O2 from reactive oxygen species, controlling the growth and development of plants. So far, genome-wide identification and characterization of CAT genes in oil palm have not been reported. In the present study, five EgCAT genes were obtained through a genome-wide identification approach. Phylogenetic analysis divided them into two subfamilies, with closer genes sharing similar structures. Gene structure and conserved motif analysis demonstrated the conserved nature of intron/exon organization and motifs among the EgCAT genes. Several cis-acting elements related to hormone, stress, and defense responses were identified in the promoter regions of EgCATs. Tissue-specific expression of EgCAT genes in five different tissues of oil palm was also revealed by heatmap analysis using the available transcriptome data. Stress-responsive expression analysis showed that five EgCAT genes were significantly expressed under cold, drought, and salinity stress conditions. Collectively, this study provided valuable information on the oil palm CAT gene family and the validated EgCAT genes can be used as potential candidates for improving abiotic stress tolerance in oil palm and other related crops.

Genomic analysis of Paenibacillus macerans strain I6, which can effectively saccharify oil palm empty fruit bunches under nutrient-free conditions

The improper disposal of palm oil industrial waste has led to serious environmental pollution. In this study, we isolated Paenibacillus macerans strain I6, which can degrade oil palm empty fruit bunches generated by the palm oil industry in nutrient-free water, from bovine manure biocompost and sequenced its genome on PacBio RSII and Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platforms. We obtained 7.11 Mbp of genomic sequences with 52.9% GC content from strain I6. Strain I6 was phylogenetically closely related to P. macerans strains DSM24746 and DSM24 and was positioned close to the head of the branch containing strains I6, DSM24746, and DSM24 in the phylogenetic tree. We used the RAST (rapid annotation using subsystem technology) server to annotate the strain I6 genome and discovered genes related to biological saccharification; 496 genes were related to carbohydrate metabolism and 306 genes were related to amino acids and derivatives. Among them were carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes), including 212 glycoside hydrolases. Up to 23.6% of the oil palm empty fruit bunches was degraded by strain I6 under anaerobic and nutrient-free conditions. Evaluation of the enzymatic activity of extracellular fractions of strain I6 showed that amylase and xylanase activity was highest when xylan was the carbon source. The high enzyme activity and the diversity in the associated genes may contribute to the efficient degradation of oil palm empty fruit bunches by strain I6. Our results indicate the potential utility of P. macerans strain I6 for lignocellulosic biomass degradation.

Biomass Energy in Malaysia: Current Scenario, Policies, and Implementation Challenges

The energy demand in Malaysia has shown a dramatic increase over the last few years: with natural gas and coal being the primary contributors. Nevertheless, due to declining in fossil fuel reserves coupled with negative environmental impacts, shifting to sustainable renewable energy for meeting the future energy demand is recommended. Since Malaysia is rich with natural resources, utilization of biomass energy (bioenergy/biofuel) as the alternative energy is promising to be further explored. Therefore, this review paper intents to discuss the current scenario of different types of biomass energy in Malaysia along with the up-to-date local biomass energy-related environmental policy (from 2016 onwards). In addition, challenges and barriers for large-scale implementation of the biomass energy in Malaysia are to be discussed. Overall, this review paper is interesting as it can assist in promoting the biomass utilization as energy source, and to ensure the future growth of biomass energy market in the country along with its effective implementation while alleviating poor disposal problem and to create job employment opportunities. Furthermore, a collective effort to expand potential biomass feedstocks, apart from oil palm, should be emphasized to encourage the renewable energy production diversification in the nation.

Integrated Biorefinery of Empty Fruit Bunch from Palm Oil Industries to Produce Valuable Biochemicals

Empty fruit bunch (EFB) utilization to produce valuable bio-chemicals is seen as an economical and sustainable alternative to waste management in palm oil industries. This work proposed an integrated biorefinery configuration of EFB valorization considering sustainability pillars—namely, economic, environmental, and safety criteria. Techno-economic analysis, life cycle assessment, and hazard identification ranking methods were used to estimate annual profit, global warming potential (GWP), fire explosion damage index (FEDI), and toxicity damage index (TDI) of the proposed integrated biorefinery. A multi-objective optimization problem was then formulated and solved for simultaneous maximization of profit and minimization of GWP, FEDI and TDI. The resulting Pareto-optimal solutions convey the trade-off among the economic, environmental, and safety performances. To choose one of these optimal solutions for implementation, a combined approach of fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and a technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution was applied. For this selection, the economic criterion was more preferred, followed by the safety and environmental criterion; thus, the optimal solution selected for integrated biorefinery configuration had the highest annual profit, which was at the maximum capacity of 100 ton/h of EFB. It can fulfill the global demand of xylitol (by 55%), levulinic acid (by 98%), succinic acid (by 25%), guaiacol (by 90%), and vanillin (by 12%), and has annual profit, GWP, FEDI, and TDI of 932 M USD/year, 284 tonCO2-eq, 595, and 957, respectively.

Biodiesel production from palm olein: A sustainable bioresource for Nigeria

Dangerous environmental consequences and market unpredictability of fossil fuels have necessitated the need for sustainable large-scale production of biofuel in Nigeria. Unrefined palm oil (UPO) is a significant product of commercially available oil palm plants in the country. This study experimentally investigates the production of biodiesel from refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm olein extracted from UPO obtained from batch reactors. The transesterification process of the RBD palm olein with methanol and in the presence of potassium hydroxide (KOH) catalyst produced biodiesel with a 62.5% yield, thus confirming its feasibility for mass production. The derived biodiesel has properties equivalent to ASTM D792 standard for biodiesel fuels.