Life Cycle Analysis on Production of Renewable Chemicals, Materials, and Energy from Oil Palm Wastes
摘要
Management of the oil palm residues is one of the most demanding hitches in the industry of palm oil. Palm oil is the main product while the most abundant oil palm residues are empty fruit bunch and palm oil mill effluent after palm oil extraction. There are numerous ways of treating both empty fruit bunch and palm oil mill effluent. It is crucial to find sustainable alternative ways to treat both abundant residues and also to assess the environmental sustainability. For this, life cycle assessment on the environmental impacts of biodiesel production from palm oil, compost from empty fruit bunch and energy generation from palm oil mill effluent are discussed in this chapter. Decision-makers are able to choose the best alternatives with the lowest environmental impacts using life cycle assessment. Life cycle assessment shall be a great tool to assess the effects on environment due to various products or processes as well as to provide crucial insights for decision-making. Overall, global warming potential, eutrophication potential, and acidification potential are the most common types of environmental impacts reported for the production of biodiesel, compost, and energy from palm oil and oil palm residues.