Oil palm is a remarkable plant that embodies the zero waste concept. This description fits perfectly, as every part of the oil palm can be transformed into value-added products to meet human needs. As the public is already aware, palm oil (CPO/CPKO) is the main product of the oil palm and has long been used as a raw material for food products, toiletries, biosurfactants, and bioenergy products such as biodiesel. However, beyond its oil, other parts of the plant known as oil palm biomass which are often regarded as waste, can be turned into “gold” with high economic value and practical uses.
Oil palm plantations produce biomass in the form of empty fruit bunches, oil palm fiber and shells, oil palm trunks, and oil palm fronds. Each hectare of oil palm plantation can generate around 16 tons of dry matter biomass per year (Foo-Yuen Ng, et al., 2011). With Indonesia’s oil palm plantation area projected to reach around 16.8 million hectares in 2025, the total biomass output from Indonesian oil palm plantations could reach approximately 261.7 million tons of dry matter annually. In terms of quantity, this volume of oil palm biomass is about three times greater than the production of crude palm oil (CPO), the main product of oil palm plantations.
As one of the key stakeholders in the national palm oil industry, the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP/BPDPKS) has developed an innovation research ecosystem for utilizing oil palm biomass. Through the Palm Oil Research Grant (GRS) program managed by BPDPKS, research and innovations in downstream biomass-based products have been produced, including bioenergy, biomaterials, biochemicals, biofertilizers, biocoal, biopellets, biochar, and bioplastics. The utilization of oil palm biomass offers substantial business potential while supporting a circular and sustainable economy.