Accessing risk for Malaysian palm oil biomass industry with FANP-DEMATEL model

Abstract

The urge for climate change mitigation has created a strong resonance in industrial world on the utilization of renewable resources. As the second-world largest palm oil exporter, Malaysia produces abundant amount of oil palm biomass which can be best utilized for “waste-to-wealth”. As the country attempts to transition towards green growth, policy frameworks have been established and implemented to promote and support the industry. However, the overall development of the biomass industry remains underdeveloped. Lack of understanding of risks associated with the industry is often cited as one of the reasons for the industry’s slow growth. Therefore, it is imperative that these risk factors are identified and evaluated in a comprehensive manner so that industry players can address these risks and put in place risk management and mitigation mechanisms. In this study, Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP), and Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) are employed to develop a hybrid model to assess risk factors typically found in biomass industry to determine the top risks in order to put in place effective risk mitigation mechanisms to spur up the growth of the industry in Malaysia.