Role of Methane Capture for Sustainable Biodiesel Production from Palm Oil: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach

Abstract

Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is one of the major wastes generated by palm oil milling which is a part of palm oil diesel production chain. POME contain of methane (about 60-70 %), which contribute to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission. Due to reduction GHG emission is one of indicator bioenergy sustainability, some alternatives have been implementing to reduction it. One of the alternatives is implementing of methane capture technology which able to capture and/or utilize it for energy source. In this paper, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was employed to identify role of methane capture technology in sustainability of palm oil biodiesel production. By employed cradle to gate LCA on biggest producer of palm oil biodiesel in Indonesia, GHG emission is 23.00 g CO2eq per Mega Joule (MJ) biodiesel production with methane capture, and 40.79 g CO2eq per MJ biodiesel without methane capture. From this result, it was concluded that implementation of methane capture could reduce GHG emission significantly (more than 70 %).