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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to develop an inexpensive, environmentally-friendly adsorbent for capturing CO 2 using coconut shells, widely abundant in Asian agricultural waste. The raw coconut shell adsorbent (CS) has undergone dual functionalization utilizing Chlorella microalgae and magnesium oxide (MgO) to enhance its physicochemical properties. Through dual functionalization, minimizing the loss of surface area and reducing the temperature sensitivity often occurring during CO 2 adsorption is possible. The surface morphology, functional groups, and thermochemical properties of CS-hydrochar were characterized and evaluated. The characterization demonstrates the successful development of the ternary composite (HCS-A-Mg), with a specific surface area of 1045 m2/g and containing nitrogen and metal oxide functional groups. XRD analysis of HCS-A-Mg reveals crystalline peaks at 36.8°, 42.9°, and 63°, confirming the successful impregnation of MgO. The adsorption result showed that HCS-A-Mg exhibits a higher CO 2 adsorption capacity of 2.63 mmol/g, 50% higher than pristine hydrochar (HCS). The adsorption study revealed that the CO 2 adsorption capacity of HCS-A-Mg can be maximized to 3.23 mmol/g at 101 °C and 4.6 bar. Adsorption isotherms shows that the non-linear Sips model best describes the adsorption process, indicating a multilayer adsorption mechanism with profound surface heterogeneity of n = 2.3 for HCS-A-Mg, signifying higher accessibility of gas molecules deep into pores, enabling a variety of adsorption sites for CO 2 binding. Selectivity and reusability studies were conducted to validate the adsorbent applicability for industrial applications. HCS-A-Mg has higher CO 2 /N 2 selectivity by 41–57% and 0.05% loss of adsorption capacity after the 10th cyclic operation, suggesting their suitability for industrial applications. This finding underscores the potential of microalgae and magnesium oxide in advancing carbon capture technology and addressing environmental challenges. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]