Life cycle assessment of palm biodiesel: Revealing facts and benefits for sustainability

Yee, Kian Fei; Tan, Kok Tat; Abdullah, Ahmad Zuhairi; Lee, Keat Teong

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2009.04.014

Cited by 263 publications

(167 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…A thorough review of literature published to date suggests that this aforementioned definition could substantially strengthen the framework for assessing sustainability of Malaysian palm oil industries [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Existing sustainability assessment that involves a number of assessment methods including Life Cycle Assessment, measurement of palm oil sustainability standards and certification schemes have not adequately addressed the sustainability of Malaysian palm oil production due to the following reasons [16,21,22]: the absence of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) assessment, use of ambiguous or unmeasurable indicators (e.g., Criterion 6.11 of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) principles would require growers and millers to contribute to local sustainable development as "wherever appropriate", while the indicator is "demonstrable contribution to local development that are based on the results of consultation with local community".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Evaluation of Holistic Sustainability Assessment Framework for Palm Oil Production in Malaysia

Lim

Biswas

2015

Sustainability

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Palm oil based biodiesel offers an alternative energy source that can reduce current dependence on conventional fossil fuels and may reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions depending on the type of feedstock and processes used. In the Malaysian context, the palm oil industry not only provides high-yield, renewable feedstock to the world, it brings socio-economic development to the Malaysian rural community and contributes to the national income. However, the sustainability of palm oil remains controversial, due to deforestation, pollution and social conflicts associated with its production. Sustainability assessment is vital for the palm oil industry to identify weaknesses, improve its sustainability performance and improve consumer confidence. This paper proposes a holistic sustainability assessment framework for palm oil production with the aim to address the weaknesses of existing palm oil sustainability assessment methods. It identifies environmental, social and economic Headline Performance Indicators, Key Performance Indicators and their Performance Measures in crude palm oil production in a structured framework. Each quantitative/semi-quantitative performance measure is translated into Likert Scale of 1-5, where 3 is the threshold value, 5 is the ideal condition, and 1 is the worst case scenario. Calculation methods were established for the framework to provide quantitative assessment results. The framework was tested using a hypothetical example with data from existing studies. The results suggest that crude palm oil production in Malaysia is below the sustainability threshold. Evaluations of this sustainability assessment framework also demonstrate that it is a comprehensive assessment method for assessing sustainability of feedstock for biofuel production.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Evaluation of Holistic Sustainability Assessment Framework for Palm Oil Production in Malaysia

Lim

Biswas

2015

Sustainability

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“…Implementing an LCA the fuel life cycle can be studied systematically in terms of energy efficiencies and environmental impacts. Numerous LCA studies have been carried out on alternative fuels such as biodiesel, methanol, and others [1,19,23,24,25] The goal of this study is to evaluate the environmental performance of biodiesel production from palm oil. The impact assessment is carried out regarding greenhouse gas emissions only; other LCA impact categories like acidification or eutrophication are neglected in this study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Comparison between independent smallholders in Kalimantan and in Sumatra According to different inventory studies [8,18,23,24,25] the main material input in palm oil mills are FFB from palm oil plantations and water for the processing and steam used. Although occasionally power from diesel as boiler start-up fuel is needed, the mill can still be considered to be selfsufficient concerning energy.…”

Section: Energy Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biofuel life cycles are often assessed from "cradle to gate". Several authors [24] [25] have noted that the LCA of palm oil industries often led to diverging results due to different approaches and methodologies, especially in the case of biofuels. An assessment focusing on the mere energy balance of biodiesel production from palm oil in Thailand was carried out to provide reliable information for promotion decisions [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Land-Use Implications to Energy Balances and Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Biodiesel from Palm Oil Production in Indonesia

Harsono¹,

Subronto²

2013

JCEA

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The objectives of this study are to identify the energy balance of Indonesian palm oil biodiesel production, including the stages of land use change, transport and milling and biodiesel processing, and to estimate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from different production systems, including large and small holder plantations either dependent or independent, located in Kalimantan and in Sumatra. Results show that the accompanied implications of palm oil biodiesel produced in Kalimantan and Sumatra are different: energy input in Sumatra is higher than in Kalimantan, except for transport processes; the input/output ratios are positive in both regions and all production systems. The findings demonstrate that there are considerable differences between the farming systems and the locations in net energy yields (43.6 to 49.2 GJ t -1 biodiesel yr -1 ) as well as greenhouse gas emissions (1969.6 to 5626.4 kg CO 2eq t -1 biodiesel yr -1). The output to input ratios are positive in all cases. The largest greenhouse gas emissions result from land use change effects, followed by the transesterification, fertilizer production, agricultural production processes, milling and transportation. Ecosystem carbon payback times range from 11 to 42 years.

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“…Although a large number of patents have been proposed to solve many technical problems, the sudden peak in demand for biofuels has uncovered serious technical limitations of the currently used production systems. As a consequence, a growing controversy about the real sustainability and environmental friendliness of the actual biofuels industry has been generated (Fortman et al, 2008;Abdullah et al, 2009;Demirbaş, 2009;Yee et al, 2009;Jaruwat et al, 2010). In addition, the consequences of biofuel production for farming practices or food markets, as well as real greenhouse gases (GHG) emission reduction along the biofuel life cycle, represent an important issue that, frequently, is not clearly treated.…”

Section: Bioethanol and Biodiesel Advantages And Drawbacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioresources for Third-Generation Biofuels

Picazo-Espinosa¹,

González‐López²,

Manzanera³

2011

Biofuel's Engineering Process Technology

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Life cycle assessment of palm biodiesel: Revealing facts and benefits for sustainability

Cited by 263 publications

References 15 publications

An Evaluation of Holistic Sustainability Assessment Framework for Palm Oil Production in Malaysia

An Evaluation of Holistic Sustainability Assessment Framework for Palm Oil Production in Malaysia

Land-Use Implications to Energy Balances and Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Biodiesel from Palm Oil Production in Indonesia

Bioresources for Third-Generation Biofuels

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