895

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF THE PRODUCTION OF CRUDE PALM OIL (part 3)

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF THE 

PRODUCTION OF CRUDE PALM OIL (Part 3)

VIJAYA SUBRAMANIAM*; CHOO YUEN MAY*; HALIMAH MUHAMMAD*; ZULKIFLI HASHIM*; 

YEW AI TAN* and PUAH CHIEW WEI*

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 22 December 2010 p. 895-903

ABSTRACT

The oil palm industry is a very important industry which contributes immensely towards the economy of the 

country. In 2009 alone, the total exports of oil palm products, constituting palm oil, palm kernel oil, palm kernel 

cake, oleochemicals and finished products, amounted to 22.40 million tonnes, resulting in totalexportearnings 

of RM 49.59 billion. The oil palm industry is an export-orientated industry which relies heavily on the world 

market. Therefore, it is vital for the oil palm industry to be sustainable and competitive to increase its longterm profitability. The objective of this study is to identify the potential environmental impacts associated 

with the production of crude palm oil (CPO), and to evaluate opportunities to overcome the potential impacts. 

This study has a cradle-to-gate system boundary. This article is part of the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the 

whole supply chain for palm oil, and is linked to the upstream LCA for nursery and plantation which can be 

found in Parts 1 and 2. This article examines the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) of the production of 1 

t of CPO at the palm oil mill.

For this study, 12 palm oil mills were selected. These mills were selected based on the type of mill, i.e. 

whether they were plantation-based mills or private mills, and having different processing capacities for fresh 

fruit bunches (FFB). The mills selected were all located in different zones in West Malaysia. Inventory data 

collection consisted of inputs and outputs of materials and energy. LCIA was carried out using the Simapro 

software version 7.1 and the Eco-indicator 99 methodology. Results show that the impact categories with 

significant impacts were from fossil fuels, respiratory inorganics and climate change. The impact under the 

fossil fuels category came from the production of the fertilizers used as well as diesel usage for transportation 

and harvesting in the nursery and plantation phases. The impact categories of climate change and respiratory 

inorganics came from upstream activities and the palm oil mill effluent (POME) in the mill. Both these 

impact categories are related to air emissions. The main air emission from the POME ponds during the 

anaerobic digestion was biogas which consisted of methane, carbon dioxide and traces of hydrogen sulphide. 

The unharvested biogas is a greenhouse gas. The impact under respiratory inorganics and climate change 

from upstream was caused by the application of nitrogen fertilizers in the plantation as well as the nursery. 

When biogas was captured, the impact under climate change was reduced. What was left were the impacts 

from upstream activities. The Malaysian oil palm industry should seriously look into the old sludge treatment 

system which is emitting biogas. They should capture the biogas and use it as renewable energy source, or

produce value-added products such as fertilizer from POME which will eliminate methane generation.

* Malaysian Palm Oil Board,

P. O. Box 10620,

50720 Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia.

E-mail: vijaya@mpob.gov.my

Keywords: life cycle assessment, life cycle impact assessment, palm oil mill, crude palm oil, biomass, Malaysian oil palm industry.

Date received: 4 October 2010; Sent for revision: 6 October 2010; Received in final form: 18 October 2010; Accepted: 25 October 2010.
Journal of Oil Palm Research 22 (december 2010)

896

INTRODUCTION

The world is demanding for economic growth, 

yet this growth must be achieved through 

environmental conservation while enhancing 

the quality of human life. Sustainability is about 

preserving the health of the biosphere, and the 

efficient use of natural resources like air, water, 

land, flora and fauna (Chan, 2004). Sustainable 

development has been popularly defined as 

development that meets the needs of the present 

without compromising the ability of future 

generations to meet their own needs (UNCED, 

2002). This clarion call has resulted in the recognition 

of environmental issues increasing enormously 

from the last decade onwards as well as gaining 

momentum each year. The consumers or public 

have become more aware that the consumption of 

manufactured products and services offered may 

contribute to adverse effects on resources and the 

quality of the environment, and that these effects 

can occur at all stages of the life cycle of the product 

and service, and not just during its manufacture.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool to evaluate 

the environmental impacts of a product or process 

throughout its entire life cycle (SETAC, 1993). LCA 

has become a common environmental management 

tool, and is a good analytical method for assessing 

and optimizing the environmental quality of a 

system over its whole life cycle (Stalmans et al., 

1995).

The oil palm industry is a very important 

industry which contributes immensely towards 

the economy of the country. In 2009 alone, the total 

exports of oil palm products, constituting palm oil, 

palm kernel oil, palm kernel cake, oleochemicals 

and finished products, amounted to 22.40 million 

tonnes, resulting in total export earnings of 

RM 49.59 billion (Basri, 2010). The oil palm industry 

is an export-orientated industry which relies 

heavily on the world market. Therefore, it is vital 

for the oil palm industry to be sustainable and 

competitive to increase its long-term profitability 

and sustainability.

The flow chart of the milling process is shown 

in Figure 1. Fresh fruit bunches (FFB) which are 

delivered to the palm oil mills are received at 

the FFB hoppers, and are transferred into the 

sterilization cages. These cages are rolled into the 

sterilization chambers. Live steam passes through 

these chambers for a duration of 90 min, and this 

process called sterilization helps to loosen the 

individual fruits from the stalk or bunch. The 

steam also deactivates the enzymes which cause 

the breakdown of the oil into free fatty acids (FFA). 

FFA are undesirable in palm oil. The industry tries 

to limit the development of FFA to less than 4% 

(Pathak, 2005). Next, the sterilized FFB are sent to a 

stripper where the fruitlets are separated from the 

stalks or bunches which are now called empty fruit 

bunches (EFB). EFB are normally sent back to the 

Figure 1. Flow chart for palm oil milling.

FFB sterilization

FFB at plantation

FFB at mill

Sterilized FFB

Fruits

Crude palm oil

Stored bulk CPO

Electricity

Steam

Empty fruit

bunches

(EFB)

Steam Water

EFB for composting

EFB as fuel in

Boiler Boiler

Ash

Pressed fibres & nuts

Shells

Fibres

Nut

Nut polishing

Kernel bulk

Polished &

destoned

Kernel

Discharge

Sludge

Flaring Fuel for grid

Transportation equipment

production

T

Transportation equipment

(tractors, lorries)

T

FFB sterilization

FFB stripping

Extraction of oil at press station

Sludge +

treatment

Biogas capture CPO drying & purification

Fibre

cyclone

Depericarping

Nut

cracking

Land

application

T

Boiler

Turbine

T
897

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF THE PRODUCTION OF CRUDE PALM OIL (part 3)

plantations for use in mulching and as a fertilizer 

substitute.

The fruitlets from the stripper are then sent 

to a digester where they are converted into a 

homogeneous oily mash by means of a mechanical 

stirring process. The digested mash is then pressed 

using a screw press to remove most of the crude 

palm oil (CPO). At this point, CPO comprises of 

a mixture of oil, water and fruit solids which is 

screened on a vibrating screen to remove as much 

solids as possible. Then, CPO is clarified in a 

continuous settling tank operation. The decanted 

CPO passes through a centrifugal purifier and 

desander to remove any remaining solids, and is 

then transferred to the vacuum dryer to remove 

the moisture. Finally, CPO is pumped into storage 

tanks before it is sent off for export or refining at 

the refineries. The nuts with the pressed mesocarp 

fibre are separated at the fibre cyclone. The nuts 

are then cracked to produce kernels and shells. The 

kernels are shipped to kernel-crushing plants to be 

processed into crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) while 

the shells and pressed mesocarp fibre are used as 

boiler fuel. The main solid wastes from the milling 

process are EFB, pressed mesocarp fibre, shells and 

boiler ash, while the liquid waste is palm oil mill 

effluent (POME). The gaseous emissions are from 

the boiler stack while biogas is emitted from the 

effluent treatment ponds.

The concept of recycling the palm oil mill 

by-products is not new but has merely resurfaced 

in the light of recent economic and environmental 

concerns. Over the years, the oil palm industry 

has been very responsible and all the by-products 

have gradually been utilized. By the 1980s, the 

judicious utilization of the various by-products 

through nutrient recycling in the fields has reduced 

the environmental impact, paving the way towards 

achieving a zero waste policy. Currently, there 

is a further move to improve the use of these 

by-products through the development of valueadded products (Chan, 1999).

OBJECTIVES

The objectives or goals of this study are to:

•	 identify the potential environmental impacts

associated with the production of CPO; and

•	 to use this assessment for evaluating

opportunities to overcome the potential 

impacts.

SCOPE/SYSTEM BOUNDARY

The life cycle inventory (LCI) data presented in this 

article (Table 1) has a gate-to-gate system boundary. 

The starting point is at the oil palm FFB hoppers 

where the FFB are received, with the ending point at 

the production of CPO in the storage tanks. The life 

cycle impact assessment (LCIA), on the other hand, 

is carried out for a cradle-to-gate system boundary 

TABLE 1. LIFE CYCLE INVENTORY FOR 1 t CRUDE PALM 

OIL (with weight allocation)

Parameter Amount

Fresh fruit bunches (t) 3.10

Power consumption from 

turbine (MJ)

 224.08 

Power consumption from grid 

(MJ)

1.76 

Diesel consumption for mill 

(MJ)

100.33

Transportation of diesel to mill 

(tkm)

0.54 

Fuel used in boiler:

Mesocarp fibre (t)

Shells (t)

0.36

0.09 

Boiler water consumption (t) 1.57 

Water for processing (t) 2.17 

Kernels (t) 0.41 

Mesocarp fibre (t) 0.00

Shells (t) 0.23

Empty fruit bunches (EFB) (t) 0.71

Palm oil mill effluent (POME)(t) 1.86 

Methane gas (kg) 22.21

CO2 from POME pond (kg) 36.04

Boiler ash (t) 0.01 

Steam input to turbine (t) 1.62

Steam input for sterilization (t) 1.56

Flue gas from stack:

Particulate matter (kg)

CO (kg)

CO2 (kg)

SOx (kg)

NOx (kg)

0.12

0.04

41.28

0.0006

0.07

Wastes

EFB

POME

 Excess mesocarp fibre and 

 shells

Boiler ash

Mulching

Treated as 

fertilizer

Sold as fuel

Land application

Capital goods

Buildings, steel (kg)

Buildings, concrete (kg)

Oil mill machinery (kg)

Tractors (kg)

1.00

3.14

2.83

0.02
Journal of Oil Palm Research 22 (december 2010)

898

as shown in Figure 2 which includes LCI from the 

Part 1 and Part 2 articles. This article is linked to 

LCA of oil palm seedling production (Part 1) and 

LCA of FFB production (Part 2). The functional unit 

for this study is 1 t of CPO produced.

In this study, all processes are considered 

relevant unless excluded based on the exclusion 

criteria shown in Table 2. In general, processes are 

excluded if they are judged to have an insignificant 

contribution (<3%) to the overall environmental 

load; if representative data for the processes are 

extremely difficult or impractical to gather; or if 

the processes are clearly part of a separate product 

system.

METHODOLOGY

Inventory Data

Inventory data were collected directly 

from the palm oil mills and millers through 

questionnaires which were developed specifically 

for data collection, and also through actual on-site 

measurements and quantification. Compliance 

with geographical coverage for data collection 

was adhered to by collecting data from different 

regions in Malaysia. For each data set, the period 

during which the data were collected and how the 

data were collected were documented. The data 

TABLE 2. SYSTEM BOUNDARY DEFINITION CRITERIA

Processing category Included

Excluded

Insignificant 

environmental 

impact

Difficult to obtain 

representative 

data

Part of a 

different system

Production, maintenance and 

replacement of capital equipment

 - - -

Transportation of capital goods -   

Water treatment and supply  - - -

Extraction of crude palm oil from 

FFB

 - - -

Transportation of diesel to mill  - - -

Management of solid waste in mill  - - -

Electricity generation  - - -

Production of fuel for boilers  - - -

Processing of co-products e.g. palm 

kernels, palm shells

- - - 

Capital goods  - - -

Wastewater treatment  - - -

Figure 2. Palm oil milling process (system boundary).
899

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF THE PRODUCTION OF CRUDE PALM OIL (part 3)

validation procedure was carried out by on-site 

visits, on-site measurements, communication and 

discussions via e-mail and telephone, and through 

interviews to obtain evidence and to verify the 

reliability of the collected data.

For this study, 12 palm oil mills were chosen 

from the main clusters which contain a high density 

of palm oil mills within them. The palm oil mills 

were chosen from these clusters to ensure that 

they were representative of and cover the main 

areas that have palm oil mills in Malaysia. Within a 

cluster itself, the palm oil mills were chosen based 

on the age, type of mill (either plantation-based or 

private mills), FFB processing capacity, location and 

also other variables such as grid connection and oil 

extraction rate. The reason for using these selection 

criteria is to ensure that the chosen mills had all the 

different variations existing in the palm oil mills in 

Malaysia.

Data on all capital goods were collected from the 

mills through actual visits or information supplied 

by the palm oil mills except where stated. The use 

of capital goods is obtained by estimating the total 

stocks of capital goods divided by the amount 

of CPO produced in the year 2007, followed by 

multiplying the estimates with a replacement factor 

expressing the fraction of the goods replaced each 

year. Based on the data collected from the 12 palm 

oil mills with CPO processing capacities ranging 

from small to large volumes, the average total FFB 

processed was estimated at 270 000 t yr-1.

Allocation of Co-products

More often than not, a system will yield more 

than one product. In such cases, allocation must 

be made for input and output flows for each 

product. The main by-product from the milling 

process is palm kernel. Besides the main products 

comprising CPO and palm kernel, other outflows 

include the production of sludge or POME during 

the clarification step, EFB during the stripping of 

FFB, pressed mesocarp fibre from the mechanical 

pressing of palm fruits, nuts from the depericarping 

stage and, lastly, shells after nut cracking to release 

the palm kernels.

The kernels are subsequently sent to kernelcrushing plants for extraction of CPKO which will be 

discussed in LCA of CPKO (Part 3a). This crushing 

process is not accounted for in this study because 

CPKO extraction is considered as part of a different 

system which is excluded from the boundary of the 

system under study. POME is an important semisolid stream. The biological treatment of POME to 

reduce biological oxygen demand (BOD) to 5000 

ppm for land application, and below 50 ppm for 

discharge into waterways, results in the emission of 

biogas which can be captured. This can be done by 

diverting the POME to digester tanks where biogas 

is trapped for use as fuel. The pressed mesocarp 

fibre and shells would have been solid waste 

emissions from the milling process but they serve 

as alternative fuel sources to fire the boilers in the 

palm oil mills to produce steam used for electricity 

generation and sterilization of FFB. EFB is used 

as mulch or compost to substitute fertilizer. The 

treated POME is also used as a fertilizer substitute. 

The recycling of solid wastes such as mesocarp 

fibre and shells for use within the milling process 

establishes closed-loops for these outputs from 

the palm oil mill, while EFB and POME which are 

recycled for use in the plantation are considered to 

be open-loop processes.

In this study, the method selected for partitioning 

co-products was allocation based on weight. 

Palm kernels and palm shells are considered as 

co-products. System boundary expansion was 

conducted for EFB and POME which are recycled in 

the plantation as part of fertilizer substitution. The 

savings from using both EFB and POME as fertilizer 

substitute are given in LCA of FFB production (Part 

2). The pressed mesocarp fibre and shells are burnt 

as fuel in the palm oil mill boiler while the excess 

shells are sold to other biomass boilers. However, 

the credits from the use of shells elsewhere are 

not included in this study as it is out of the system 

boundary, and so allocation is carried out for the 

shells.

The value for biogas emission was sourced from 

literature (Ma et al., 1999) and not calculated or 

quantified according to the COD in the respective 

palm oil mills. The typical chemical oxygen demand 

(COD) range in the palm oil mills is from 47 500 

to 70 000 mg litre-1 (Tong, 2008). The statistics on 

just what percentage of the mills falls closer to a 

particular value are not available as most mills do 

not capture their biogas. The higher biogas value 

will be 41 m3 t-1 POME which is equivalent to COD 

of 70 000 mg litre-1. For this study, the lower value 

of 28 m3 t-1 POME was adopted.

Life Cycle Impact Assessment

LCIA was conducted using the SimaPro software 

version 7.1 and the Eco-indicator 99 methodology. 

LCIA was conducted for two scenarios. Scenario 1 

was for a palm oil mill with biogas emissions while 

Scenario 2 was for a palm oil mill that captured the 

biogas.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)

LCI data is inventory data that have been 

calculated to quantify the environmental inputs 

and outputs of the functional unit within the 
Journal of Oil Palm Research 22 (december 2010)

900

Pt

Carcinogens Resp. organicsResp. inorganics Climate

change

Radiation Ozone layer Ecotoxicity Acidification/

eutrophication

Land use Minerals Fossil fuels

016

014

012

010

08

06

04

02

00

-02

CPO (No LUC with biogas) Sept 2010

Empty fruit bunch

Mesocarp fibre

Water for boiler & process at POM

Fibre cement corrugated slab, at plant/CH U

Tractor, production/CH/I U

Electricity generated at POM

Truck 28t B250

Analyzing 1 t CPO (No LUC with biogas) Sept 2010, Method: Eco-indicator 99 (H) V2.03 / Europe EI 99 H/A/weighting.

FFB production (continued land use) September 2010

Palm oil mill effluent (no recycling savings) 28m3

Boiler Ash2

Reinforcing steel, at plant/RER U

Steel low alloy ETH U

Electricity Malaysia

Traction

system boundary. Table 1 shows the LCI data for 

1 t CPO produced at the palm oil mill. The LCI data 

shown in Table 1 are data which had been allocated. 

As discussed earlier, CPO is not the only product 

produced in the palm oil mills. The by-products 

of the milling process are palm kernels and palm 

shells. In view of this, weight allocation has been 

conducted to allocate part of the inputs and outputs 

to palm kernels and palm shells. The allocation 

between CPO, palm kernels and palm shells was 

61%, 25% and 14%, respectively.

Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)

LCIA was also conducted using the SimaPro 

software version 7.1 and the Eco-indicator 99 

methodology. The characterization and weighted 

results for both scenarios were for the system 

boundary which started from the nursery right up 

to the production of CPO at the palm oil mill. Land 

occupation by the mill was not included in LCIA for 

both scenarios.

Scenario 1

LCIA was conducted for 1 t CPO produced at 

the palm oil mill. The system boundary included:

•	 nursery;

•	 plantation (continued land use); and

•	 palm oil mill (allocation with palm kernels

and shells and with biogas emissions).

The characterization and weighted results are 

shown in Figures 3 and 4, respectively.

Figure 3. Characterization in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) for 1 t crude palm oil (CPO) – continued land use, 

biogas emission.

Figure 4. Weighting in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) for 1 t crude palm oil (CPO) – continued land use, 

biogas emission.

%

Carcinogens Resp. organics Res[. inorganics Climate

change

Radiation Ozone layer Ecotoxicity Acidification/

eutrophication

Land use Minerals Fossil fuels

0120

0100

080

060

040

020

00

-020

CPO (No LUC with biogas) Sept 2010

Empty fruit bunch

Mesocarp fibre

Water for boiler & process at POM

Fibre cement corrugated slab, at plant/CH U

Tractor, production/CH/I U

Electricity generated at POM

Truck 28t B250

Analyzing 1 t CPO (No LUC with biogas) Sept 2010, Method: Eco-indicator 99 (H) V2.03 / Europe EI 99 H/A/

characterization.

FFB production (continued land use) September 2010

Palm oil mill effluent (no recycling savings) 28 m3

Boiler Ash2

Reinforcing steel, at plant/RER U

Steel low alloy ETH U

Electricity Malaysia

Traction

%

Carcinogens Resp. organics Res[. inorganics Climate

change

Radiation Ozone layer Ecotoxicity Acidification/

eutrophication

Land use Minerals Fossil fuels

0120

0100

080

060

040

020

00

-020

CPO (No LUC with biogas) Sept 2010

Empty fruit bunch

Mesocarp fibre

Water for boiler & process at POM

Fibre cement corrugated slab, at plant/CH U

Tractor, production/CH/I U

Electricity generated at POM

Truck 28t B250

Analyzing 1 t CPO (No LUC with biogas) Sept 2010, Method: Eco-indicator 99 (H) V2.03 / Europe EI 99 H/A/ characterization.

FFB production (continued land use) September 2010

Palm oil mill effluent (no recycling savings) 28 m3

Boiler Ash2

Reinforcing steel, at plant/RER U

Steel low alloy ETH U

Electricity Malaysia

Traction

CPO (No LUC with biogas) Sept 2010

Empty fruit bunch

Mesocarp fibre

Water for boiler & process at POM

Fibre cement corrugated slab, at plant/CH U

Tractor, production/CH/I U

Electricity generated at POM

Truck 28t B250

FFB production (continued land use) September 2010

Palm oil mill effluent (no recycling savings) 28 m3

Boiler Ash2

Reinforcing steel, at plant/RER U

Steel low alloy ETH U

Electricity Malaysia

Traction

CPO (No LUC with biogas) Sept 2010

Empty fruit bunch

Mesocarp fibre

Water for boiler & process at POM

Fibre cement corrugated slab, at plant/CH U

Tractor, production/CH/I U

Electricity generated at POM

Truck 28t B250

FFB production (continued land use) September 2010

Palm oil mill effluent (no recycling savings) 28 m3

Boiler Ash2

Reinforcing steel, at plant/RER U

Steel low alloy ETH U

Electricity Malaysia

Traction
901

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF THE PRODUCTION OF CRUDE PALM OIL (part 3)

The weighted results show that the impact 

categories with significant impacts were from fossil 

fuels, respiratory inorganics and climate change. 

The impact from the fossil fuels category came from 

the production of the various fertilizers as well 

as diesel usage for transportation and harvesting

which were used in the nursery and plantation 

phases. The parameters that contributed towards 

the impact categories of climate change and 

respiratory inorganics were from upstream 

activities and POME at the mill. Both these impact 

categories are related to air emissions. The main air 

emission from the POME ponds during anaerobic 

digestion was the biogas which consisted of 

methane, carbon dioxide and traces of hydrogen 

sulphide. The unharvested biogas is a greenhouse 

gas which harms the quality of the air. The impact 

from the biogas falls under the climate change 

impact category.

The impact under respiratory inorganics and 

climate change from upstream activities was 

caused by the application of nitrogen fertilizers in 

the plantation as well as the nursery.

Scenario 2

LCIA was conducted for 1 t CPO produced at 

the palm oil mill. The system boundary included:

•	 nursery;

•	 plantation (continued land use); and

•	 palm oil mill (allocation with palm kernels

and shells, with biogas captured).

The characterization and weighted results are 

shown in Figures 5 and 6.

Figure 5. Characterization in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) for 1 t crude palm oil (CPO) – continued land use, 

biogas capture.

Figure 6. Weighting in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) for 1 t crude palm oil (CPO) – continued land use, 

biogas capture.

%

Carcinogens Resp. 

organics

Resp.

inorganics

Climate

change

Radiation Ozone layer Ecotoxicity Acidification/

eutrophication

Land use Minerals Fossil fuels

0120

0100

080

060

040

020

00

-020

Analyzing 1 t CPO (No LUC with biogas capture) Sept 2010, Method: Eco-indicator 99 (H) V2.03 / Europe EI 99 H/A/

characterization.

Water for boiler & process at POM

Boiler Ash2

Mesocarp fibre

Palm oil mill effluent (biogas harvested) 85(%) no recycling savings 28 m3

Empty fruit bunch

FFB production (continued land use) September 2010

CPO (No LUC with biogas capture) Sept 2010

Truck 28t B250

Traction

Electricity generated at POM

Electricity Malaysia

Tractor, production/CH/I U

Steel low alloy ETH U

Fibre cement corrugated slab, at plant/CH U

Reinforcing steel, at plant/RER U

Pt

Carcinogens Resp. organics Resp. inorganics Climate

change

Radiation Ozone layer Ecotoxicity Acidification/

eutrophication

Land use Minerals Fossil fuels

014

012

010

08

06

04

02

00

-02

Analyzing 1 t CPO (No LUC with biogas capture) Sept 2010, Method: Eco-indicator 99 (H) V2.03 / Europe EI 99 H/A/

weighting.

Truck 28t B250

Traction

Electricity generated at POM

Electricity Malaysia

Tractor, production/CH/I U

Steel low alloy ETH U

Fibre cement corrugated slab, at plant/CH U

Reinforcing steel, at plant/RER U

Water for boiler & process at POM

Boiler Ash2

Mesocarp fibre

Palm oil mill effluent (biogas harvested) 85(%) no recycling savings 28m3

Empty fruit bunch

FFB production (continued land use) September 2010

CPO (No LUC with biogas capture) Sept 2010

Truck 28t B250

Traction

Electricity generated at POM

Electricity Malaysia

Tractor, production/CH/I U

Steel low alloy ETH U

Fibre cement corrugated slab, at plant/CH U

Reinforcing steel, at plant/RER U

Water for boiler & process at POM

Boiler Ash2

Mesocarp fibre

Palm oil mill effluent (biogas harvested) 85(%) no recycling savings 28 m3

Empty fruit bunch

FFB production (continued land use) September 2010

CPO (No LUC with biogas capture) Sept 2010
Journal of Oil Palm Research 22 (december 2010)

902

The weighted results show that when biogas was 

captured, the impact from the climate change impact 

category due to POME was reduced significantly. 

The only remaining impacts were from upstream 

(in green) under the fossil fuels impact category 

due to the production of fertilizers, and for the 

climate change and respiratory inorganics impact 

categories from the application of those fertilizers.

Although biogas from POME has great potential 

to be used as a renewable energy source, the capture 

of biogas is not actively adopted by the industry 

due to several issues related to costs, benefits and 

risks, poor logistics associated with national grid 

connection, feed-in tariffs, stage of technology 

maturity, and a general lack of interest from mills 

which are operating in a ‘comfort zone’. However, 

the ’business as usual‘ attitude in the industry is 

beginning to change (Basri et al., 2008). Currently, 

the industry is moving towards either harnessing 

biogas from POME, or producing value-added 

products such as fertilizer from POME which will 

eliminate methane generation.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

All this while, environmental management has 

been more for image purposes. However, in recent 

developments, with a shift towards wanting 

a ’greener‘ earth, environmental demands are 

becoming marketing tools. Consideration for the 

environment is becoming a determining factor for 

the use of products. In view of the current shift 

towards higher environmental demands from 

customers as well as the emergence of eco labels, 

the need for the oil palm industry to also shift in 

parallel with the current trend is unavoidable. The 

findings of this study are based on the Eco-indicator 

99 methodology and on a system boundary from 

nursery to the palm oil mill. Based on the results from 

the two scenarios, the parameters causing impact 

were the biogas emission, fertilizer production and 

application. The emissions from the production 

and application of fertilizers are unavoidable as 

fertilizers have to be used to grow oil palm. A 

better alternative to achieve the best environmental 

performance in the production of CPO is to process 

FFB from plantations that have been replanted with 

oil palm practicing continued land use, to capture 

the biogas at the POME anaerobic ponds and to use 

it to generate renewable energy. It should be noted 

that the impact from capital goods is negligible 

in both scenarios. It is strongly recommended for 

palm oil mills either to capture their biogas and use 

it as renewable energy, or to move into measures 

that avoid methane generation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to thank the palm oil 

millers for allowing them to conduct the study at 

the mills.

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