Assessing the Environmental Performance of Palm Oil Biodiesel Production in Indonesia: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach

Abstract

The production of palm oil biodiesel in Indonesia has the potential to negatively impact the environment if not managed properly. Therefore, we conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) study on the production of palm oil biodiesel to assess the environmental performance in Indonesia. Using an LCA approach, we analyzed the environmental indicators, including the carbon footprint, as well as the harm to human health, ecosystem diversity, and resource availability in palm oil biodiesel production. The functional unit in this study was 1 ton of biodiesel. The life cycle of palm oil biodiesel production consists of three processing units, namely the oil palm plantation, palm oil production, and biodiesel production. The processing unit with the greatest impact on the environment was found to be the oil palm plantation. The environmental benefits, namely the use of phosphate, contributed 62.30% of the 73.40% environmental benefit of the CO2 uptake from the oil palm plantation processing unit. The total human health damage of the life cycle of palm oil biodiesel production was 0.00563 DALY, while the total ecosystem’s diversity damage was 2.69 × 10−5 species·yr. Finally, we concluded that the oil palm plantation processing unit was the primary contributor of the carbon footprint, human health damage, and ecosystem diversity damage, while the biodiesel production processing unit demonstrated the highest damage to resource availability.

Multifeedstock Biodiesel Production from a Blend of Five Oils through Transesterification with Variation of Moles Ratio of Oil: Methanol

“…Methanol is an essential material in transesterification for biodiesel production. An environmental life cycle assessment study on biodiesel production has shown that methanol is one of the causes of the high environmental pollution of transesterification (Soraya et al, 2014;Siregar et al, 2015;Wahyono et al, 2020). Methanol is a volatile organic compound (VOC); as it evaporates into the atmosphere, it reacts with NOx, water vapor, and sunlight radiation, thereby forming photochemical oxidants (Zou et al, 2015;Wahyono et al, 2020).…”

Impact of Plant-Based Meat Alternatives on the Gut Microbiota of Consumers: A Real-World Study

“…Firstly, not all meat substitutes are sustainable. Some contain palm oil, known to increase pollution, GHG emissions and land conversion [ 21 , 22 ], and some may include genetically modified foods, which remain a contentious issue worldwide [ 23 ]. Secondly, certain meat substitutes may be classed as ultra-processed [ 24 ] because of their high fat or sodium content, or on the basis of a long list of what consumers consider “unnecessary ingredients”, i.e., preservatives, sweeteners, etc.…”

"Biopellet" as One of Future Promising Biomassbased Renewable Energy: a Review

“…Zentrum für rationelle Energieanwendung und Umwelt (ZREU) has calculated the potential of biomass resources in Indonesia to be around 146.7 million tons/year. Biomass can be produced from sugarcane bagasse, soybean stover, peanut shell waste, palm oil waste biomass (husk, fiber, empty fruit bunches, palm oil mill effluent), coconut stems and midribs, and agricultural waste corn (corncobs, corn stalks, and leaves) can be used as alternative fuels [9]. The results of burning biomass produce biogenic CO2, which is more environmentally friendly than the combustion of fossil fuels which produce fossil CO2 [10].…”