AbstractPurpose With increasing att

Abstract
Purpose With increasing attention on sustainable development,
the environmental and social relevance of palm oil
production are now important trade issues. The life cycle
assessment (LCA) study of Malaysian oil palm products
from mineral soils including palm biodiesel was aimed to
provide baseline information on the environmental performance
of the industry for drawing up policies pertaining to
the sustainable production. The share of greenhouse gas
(GHG) contribution by the various subsystems in the oil
palm supply chain is considered here.
Materials and methods The life cycle inventory data for the
study were collected based on subsystems, i.e., gate-to-gate.
The subsystems include activities in oil palm nurseries and
plantations, palm oil mills, refineries, biodiesel plants and the
use of biodiesel in diesel engine vehicles. Two scenarios were
considered: extraction of crude palm oil (CPO) in a mill
without and with a system for trapping biogas from palm oil
mill effluent (POME). Inventory data were collected through
questionnaires. On-site visits were carried out for data
verification. Background data for resource exploitation and
production of input materials were obtained through available
databases and literature. Foreground data for all subsystems
were site-specific data from nurseries, plantations, palm oil
mills and refineries and biodiesel plants in Malaysia.
Results and discussion Using a yield of 20.7 t oil palm
fresh fruit bunches (FFB)/ha, the results showed that the
production of 1 t of FFB produced 119 kg CO2 eq. The
production of 1 t of CPO in a mill without and with biogas
capture emitted 971 and 506 kg CO2 eq, respectively. For
the production of 1 t of refined palm oil in a refinery which
sourced the CPO from a mill without biogas capture and
with biogas capture, the GHG emitted was 1,113 kg and
626 kg CO2 eq, respectively. For palm biodiesel, 33.19 and
21.20 g CO2 eq were emitted per MJ of biodiesel produced
from palm oil sourced from a mill without and with biogas
capture, respectively.
Conclusions GHG contribution by the nursery subsystem
was found to be minimal. In the plantation subsystem, the
major sources of GHG were from nitrogen fertilizers,
transport and traction energy. For the mill, biogas from
POME was the major contributor if biogas was not trapped.
Excluding contribution from upstream activities, boiler fuel
and transport were the major sources of GHG in the
refinery subsystem. In the biodiesel subsystem, activities
for production of refined palm oil and methanol use were
the most significant contributors.