Sustainability of Biofuel Production from Oil Palm Biomass

Efficient biofuels production that meets the needs of the local, regional, national, and global population are affected by economic, environmental, socio-political, and thermodynamic factors, which have to be managed right in order to achieve sustainable development for the biofuel industry. Biofuels production has various impacts on certain activities such as food production, water quality, biodiversity, etc. Thus, the choice of raw materials, plantation and harvesting technologies, production process designs, product delivery methods, etc., largely determine their sustainability. This chapter therefore elaborates on key issues pertaining to sustainability and sustainable development for the biofuel industry. Some initiatives, which spell out principles and criteria for sustainable biofuels production, are also discussed in this chapter.

In spite of the benefits associated with the production and consumption of biofuels, there are some crucial debatable issues like high cost, food insecurity, etc., that put them to the negative side. However, biofuels still hold impressive market potentials in the world today though most of their production technologies are sophisticated and costly. Liquid biofuels like bioethanol and biodiesel are commonly produced from feedstocks like corn, rapeseed, soybean, etc., but there are other potential feedstocks, which are more sustainable like palm oil. This chapter discusses the major sources of biofuel feedstocks, types of biofuels, their production technologies, and global market potentials.

Palm oil is currently the cheapest vegetable oil on the world’s international market. The oil palm in general is found to be the most productive crop in terms of oil yield per cultivated area. The palm oil industry in the world generates over 190 million tons of wastes in the form of solid and liquid residues. Out of this only about 10 % are utilized commercially for value-added bioproducts like biofertilizers. Oil palm biomass is found to possess unique characteristics which make them suitable for the production of biofuels. This chapter discusses into detail the various forms of oil palm biomass, their characteristics, and potential applications in the biofuels industry.

The oil palm presents a comparatively advantageous source of feedstock for biofuels production compared to other first-generation biofuel feedstocks. Among the sources of feedstocks for biofuel production currently available and developed in the world, the oil palm is the prime option which fulfills the sustainability criteria for high productivity, efficiency, competitive price discounts, and above all it is cost effective. Biofuels produced from oil palm biomass would be considered sustainable only when all the production chains from oil palm cultivation to biofuels production (including the production of input materials and energy) are within the acceptable production criteria for sustainable oil palm and biofuels developments. In order for the oil palm industry to fully accomplish the objectives of sustainable oil palm biofuels production, Malaysia and Indonesia are currently ensuring the implementation of stringent sustainability standards via best management practices especially for the production of palm biofuels so as to improve yield and reduce the amount of input resources. This chapter highlights on some best management practices involving globally accepted initiatives for sustainable oil palm agriculture, palm oil milling, and refining as well as different production routes to palm biofuels production. Integration of different production routes for various types of palm biofuels through effective utilization of wastes for sustainable development are also elaborated in this chapter.

With the aim of minimizing the dependency on fossil fuels whilst improving the economic viability and environmental performances of oil palm production for biofuels production, emission control from these systems become invincible. However, with best management practices couples with stringent adherence to basic environmental sustainability principles, these hurdles may be surmounted. The environmental sustainability dimension of impact assessment for this chapter is based on life cycle assessment for common palm biofuels like biodiesel, bioethanol, bio-methanol via BtL route, biogas and bio-electricity from oil palm biomass. Possible improvement options are also outlined in this chapter to ensure more positive energy balance and almost zero emissions from each of the biofuels production systems considered.

The production of palm biofuels provides the prospects for new economic opportunities for most people in rural communities in developing countries. Oil palm cultivation and palm oil milling provide wide avenues for people in terms of job creation, investment opportunities, etc. In spite of all the benefits of palm biofuels, they are also found to cause negative socio-economic impacts to the society. The economic impacts of oil palm and palm biofuels production are elaborated in this chapter. Oil palm biomass is a cheap source of feedstock for palm biofuels compared to other feedstocks used for biofuel production. In this chapter, biodiesel production from palm oil and palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) are found to be economically viable compared to fossil diesel and biodiesel from other oils. Bioethanol and biomethanol production from oil palm biomass are also found to be cost competitive compared to gasoline and other cellulosic ethanol. Other potential types of palm biofuels are assessed for economic sustainability and improvement options are also suggested in this chapter.

In reality, all production processes proceed with the generation of entropy and destruction of useful energy of resource inputs. In view of this, the second law of thermodynamics can be directly linked with sustainability and sustainable development. Estimation of a system’s exergy status in order to know the distribution of energy and matter, especially emissions, would help identify the efficiency of the system, hence improving it for sustainable development. In this chapter, the thermodynamic sustainability of biodiesel, bioethanol, biogas, and briquettes production from oil palm biomass are investigated via exergy analysis. Most studies on exergy analysis of biofuels production systems do not consider the production of the feedstocks though these stages are materials and energy intensive. The production of oil palm biomass for palm biofuels is assessed for thermodynamic feasibility in this study in order to give a complete overview of the contributions of every single unit within the palm biofuels production systems. Aspen Plus software was used for the mathematical modeling for all the case studies considered in this chapter. Potential causes and improvement options are also discussed in this chapter for sustainable palm biofuels production.

Social sustainability of the palm biofuel industry stresses on the need to produce favorable social and distributional effects like employment, food security, conservation of cultures, equality in sharing between involving parties, technological advancement and training, etc., that would continue to benefit the future generation. The expansion of the oil palm biofuel industry in reaction to the climate change mitigation has necessitated the industry over social, environmental, and political sustainability of palm feedstocks production. Though the production of oil palm biomass and subsequent conversion into biofuels have positive social impacts, some research reports reveal the high rate of unemployment, homelessness and poverty among rural folks who are engaged in oil palm cultivation. This chapter outlines the factors that affect the socio-political sustainability of palm biofuels where real situations on the ground are discussed and suggestions made.