Attachment 2 

Displacement of Fossil based Energy Using Biomass Energy 

1.0 Biomass Energy for processing crude palm oil (CPO) at the palm oil mill 

The average power consumption from turbine for per tonne of CPO is 2

101 kWh (363.6 

MJ) as shown in Table 1 (power from turbine). 

This power from the turbine is a renewable energy source. In the palm oil mills pressed

mesocarp fibre and shell are used as fuel in the boiler and are burnt to produce heat to 

convert water into steam as shown in Table 1 2

(Boiler fuel: shell and mesocarp fibre).

This steam is then used to run a turbine which generates electricity for the milling process

and the whole mill compound. If this renewable energy source is not available, the 

milling process will have to use the electricity from the Grid or diesel powered generator 

set. In this manner the use of this renewable energy in the palm oil mills displaces the use 

of fossil based energy from the grid. 

The pressed mesocarp fibre and shell are actually wastes from the FFB which are 

recycled as boiler fuel. The pressed mesocarp fibre is the waste after oil has been pressed

out of the mesocarp of the fruit. The shell is the outer layer of the nut which when 

cracked produces kernel and shell. Kernel will be shipped to kernel crushing plants to 

extract crude palm kernel oil while shell is a waste. However in the palm oil mill these

wastes are considered very valuable by products which serve as an energy source for the 

mill. Due to the existence of these by-products, the palm oil mills are very self sufficient

producing their own energy to operate and also to supply energy to the surrounding 

estates in some cases. The load to produce electricity using fossil fuel sources has been 

taken off from the environment and at the same time the load to treat the recycled amount 

of pressed mesocarp fibre and shell has been removed from the environment. 

1
1.1 Displacement of fossil based Energy to Process CPO for the year 2009 

As mentioned above the palm oil mills will have to use either the electricity from the grid

or diesel to generate power for processing CPO if the biomass energy is not available.

The amount of fossil energy displaced in the year 2009 for processing CPO is as shown 

in Table 2. In 2009 the amount of CPO produced: 17.56 million tones. 

Table 2: Displacement of Fossil Energy to process CPO 

Displacement of Electricity from the 

Grid 

Displacement of Diesel 

101 kWh/tonne CPO * 17.56 million tones

CPO = 1774 million kWh is displaced 

This equals to 

1774 million kWh * 4

0.000594 tCO2 eq/ 

kWh = 1.05 million t CO2 eq 

363.6 MJ / tonne CPO * 17.56 million 

tonnes CPO = 6385 million MJ is displaced 

6385 million MJ/ 1

39.6 MJ/L diesel = 161 

million L diesel 

This equals to 

161 million L * 4

0.00268 t CO2 eq/ L 

= 431,480 t CO2 eq 

With the use of biomass energy in the palm oil mills, 

1.05 million tones CO2 eq is saved (if the mill will have to use Electricity from the Grid 

without the biomass energy) 

431,480 tones CO2 eq is saved (if the mill will have to use Diesel to generate Electricity 

without the biomass energy) 

2
1.2 Displacement of fossil based fuels for production of process stream in the year 

2009. 

In the palm oil mills steam is an important element in the processing of CPO. Steam is

used for sterilization of the oil palm fruitlets. At the palm oil mills the steam that has

passed through the turbine to generate electricity is stored at a back pressure receiver tank. 

This steam now which is at a lower pressure is used for the sterilization or cooking 

process. Here this steam is recycled and the load to produce steam again for this process 

has been taken off from the environment. 

The average steam consumption for sterilization is 2

2.59 t per tonne of CPO as shown in 

Table 1 (steam for sterilization) 

3

Specific heat of water = 4.186 J/ g oC 

3

Latent Heat of vaporization = 2261 J/g 

Water temperature = 25 oC 

In the year 2009, the steam required, 

2.59 t steam/ t CPO * 17.56 million t CPO = 45.5 million t steam

The Energy required to produce 45.5 million tones of steam, 

{4.55 x 1013g * (100 oC -25 oC) * 4.186 J/g} + {4.55 x 1013g * 2261 J/g} 

= 117000 million MJ 

The Energy needed to produce the steam would have either come from the Electricity

from the Grid or Diesel if the steam was not produced with the biomass energy or 

recycled. Since the steam is recycled this amount of energy is displaced is shown in Table 

3. 

3
Table 3: Displacement of Fossil Energy for Stream Production 

Displacement of Electricity from the 

Grid 

Displacement of Diesel 

117000 million MJ / 1

3.6 MJ/ kWh =

32500 million kWh 

This equals to 

32500 million kWh * 4

0.000594 tCO2 eq/ 

kWh = 19.3 million t CO2 eq 

117000 million MJ/ 1

39.6 MJ/L diesel = 

2954 million L diesel 

This equals to 

2954 million L * 4

0.00268 t CO2 eq/ L 

= 7.9 million t CO2 eq 

 

With the use of biomass energy in the palm oil mills to produce steam and due to the 

recycling of the steam, 

19.3 million tonnes CO2eq is saved (if the mill will have to use Electricity from the Grid 

without the biomass energy) 

7.9 million tonnes CO2 eq is saved (if the mill will have to use Diesel to generate

Electricity without the biomass energy) 

2.0 Conclusion 

The recycling of biomass as boiler fuel as well as the recycling of steam displaces large 

amounts of fossil fuels mainly electricity and diesel use. 

4
3.0 References 

1) IOR Energy Pty Ltd (2008). Engineering Conversion Factors. 

http://www.ior.com.au/ecflist.html

2) Vijaya Subramaniam. (2008). Environmental Performance of the Milling process of 

Malaysian Palm Oil Using the Life Cycle Assessment Approach. American Journal of 

Environmental Sciences 4 (4):310-315. 

3) Waterencyclopedia. (2008). Fresh water, Physics and Chemistry of water. 

http://www.watercyclopedia.com/En-Ge/Fresh-Water-Physics-and-Chemistry-of.html

4) Wisions Sustainable Energy Support Program SEPS. Baseline Calculations. 

http://www.wisions.net/Download-Dateien/CO2BaselineCalculation_new.pdf (2009) 

5
2Table 1: P

alm Oil Milling Inventory Data 

Palm Oil Mill 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Mill Type PL PL PR PR PL PL PL PL PL Processing Capacity (t/hr) 20 30 40 40 45 45 50 50 60 Fuel Flo

w Rate

(t/hr) 2.50 3.50 5.60 4.50 4.88 5.00 6.00 5.90 7.50 7Fuel Ratio Fibre:ShellSteam output (t/hr) 10.00 14.00 22.50 17.50 19.00 18.00 24.00 23.50 30.00 3Environmental Inputs Fresh fruit bunch (t) 4.93 5.07 5.34 5.48 5.27 4.67 5.47 5.10 4.67 4Power from turbine (k

Wh) 98.59 101.38 106.73 109.57 105.48 93.41 109.34 101.91 93.48 9

Power from Grid (k

Wh) 2.00 1.99 0.18 0.25 2.95 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0

Diesel for Mill Use (L) 2.17 0 1.29 1.98 2.92 2.86 2.45 2.12 4.47 3Diesel for Vehicles in Mill (L) 0.28 0.15 2.60 2.96 0.84 3.54 1.08 1.25 3.40 3

0.13 0.27 0.22 0.14 0.20 0.06 0.14 0.13 0.11 0

Boiler fuel : Shell (t) Mesocarp Fibre (t) 0.51 0.63 0.52 0.57 0.47 0.58 0.55 0.52 0.43 0Boiler water consumption (t) 2.50 3.64 2.92 2.79 2.66 2.35 2.88 2.54 2.10 2Steam for Sterilization (t) 2.46 3.29 2.77 2.63 2.64 2.34 2.84 2.55 2.10 2Steam to turbine (t) 2.50 3.64 2.92 2.79 2.66 2.35 2.88 2.54 2.10 2Waterconsumption for process t) 3.42 2.95 3.48 3.79 3.67 3.26 3.68 3.57 3.51 3Environmental Outputs Kernel (t) 0.39 0.41 0.43 0.44 0.42 0.37 0.44 0.41 0.37 0Mesocarp Fibre (t) 0.08 0.00 0.12 0.09 0.16 0.00 0.10 0.09 0.13 0Shell (t) 0.22 0.09 0.15 0.24 0.17 0.26 0.24 0.23 0.22 0Empty Fruit 1.13 1.17 1.23 1.26 1.21 1.07 1.26 1.17 1.08 1
Bunch (t) 

Palm Oil Mill Effluent (t) 2.96 3.04 3.20 3.29 3.16 2.80 3.28 3.06 2.80 2Methane formPOME pond (m3) 53.83 55.35 58.27 59.82 57.59 51.00 59.70 55.64 51.04 5CO2 form POME

pond (m3) 28.99 29.81 31.38 32.21 31.01 27.46 32.15 29.96 27.48 2

Boiler Ash (t) 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.01 0Flue gas from stack Particulate Matter (kg) 0.07 0.15 0.11 0.13 0.14 0.13 0.15 0.15 0.16 0CO (kg) 0.02 0.05 0.06 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.07 0CO2 (kg) 13.74 43.47 56.87 57.39 56.06 60.72 60.70 59.41 67.99 6SOx (kg) 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0NOx (kg) 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.10 0.09 0.11 0.10 0.09 0.10 0WastesEFB 

Mulching Mulching

Shredded 

for fuel use Mulching 

Mulching Mulching Mulching Mulching Mulching Mu

POME 

Treated for fertilizeruse 

Treated for fertilizeruse 

Treated & 

sold as 

fertilizer

Treated & Discharged

Treated for fertilizeruse

Treated for fertilizeruse

Treated for fertilizeruse

Treated for fertilizeruse

Treated for fertilizeruse

Treafertiluse

Excess Mesocarp Fiber& Shell 

Sold as fuel 

Sold as fuel

Sold as fuel

Sold as fuel

Sold as fuel

Sold as fuel

Sold as fuel

Sold as fuel

Sold as fuel

Sold fuel 

Boiler ash 

Land 

Application 

Land Application

Land Application

Land Application

Land Application

Land Application

Land Application

Land Application

Land Application

Land App