Life cycle assessment for the production of biodiesel: A case study in Malaysia for palm oil versus jatropha oil

One of the most promising forms of renewable energy is biodiesel produced from vegetable oils, such as rapeseed, soybean and palm oil. Malaysia, being the world's second-largest producer of palm oil, therefore begins to align herself as the potential world producer of palm biodiesel apart from exporting palm oil as feedstock for the food and oleochemical industries. However, due to the recent food versus fuel debate, Malaysian palm oil has received a lot of negative attention especially from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The sustainability of palm biodiesel production and environmental issues are constantly being questioned. Many quarters have even claimed that the use of non-edible oils, such as Jatropha curcas L., should be promoted rather than palm oil for biodiesel production. Therefore, this study aims to compare and validate the production of biodiesel from palm and jatropha using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The assessment encompasses the cultivation of the crop, the oil extraction stage and finally, the biodiesel production stage. We found that to produce 1 tonne of jatropha biodiesel, the land area requirement is 118% higher than to produce 1 tonne of palm biodiesel. The energy output-to-input ratio for palm biodiesel is 2.27, slightly higher than jatropha biodiesel at 1.92. Furthermore, CO(2) sequestration for the whole life cycle chain of palm biodiesel is 20 times higher than jatropha biodiesel. All these results show the superiority and sustainability of palm oil as a feedstock for biodiesel production (C) Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley a Sons. Ltd

[1]  Y. Basiron,et al.  THE OIL PALM AND ITS SUSTAINABILITY , 2004 .

[2]  Haji Hassan Masjuki,et al.  Potential CO2 reduction by fuel substitution to generate electricity in Malaysia , 2002 .

[3]  S. Saradha,et al.  Biodiesel production process optimization and characterization to assess the suitability of the product for varied environmental conditions , 2009 .

[4]  K. Openshaw.  A review of Jatropha curcas: an oil plant of unfulfilled promise☆ , 2000 .

[5]  Sune Balle Hansen,et al.  Feasibility Study of Performing an Life Cycle Assessment on Crude Palm Oil Production in Malaysia (9 pp) , 2007 .

[6]  L. Verchot,et al.  Jatropha bio-diesel production and use , 2008 .

[7]  Kritana Prueksakorn,et al.  Full chain energy analysis of biodiesel from Jatropha curcas L. in Thailand. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[8]  Keat Teong Lee,et al.  Malaysian palm oil: Surviving the food versus fuel dispute for a sustainable future , 2009 .

[9]  Y. Shirai,et al.  Baseline study of methane emission from anaerobic ponds of palm oil mill effluent treatment. , 2006, The Science of the total environment.

[10]  Teuku Meurah Indra Mahlia,et al.  An alternative energy source from palm wastes industry for Malaysia and Indonesia , 2001 .

[11]  R. Scholes,et al.  Natural and human-related sources of ozone-forming trace gases in southern Africa , 1998 .

[12]  Ashwani Kumar,et al.  An evaluation of multipurpose oil seed crop for industrial uses (Jatropha curcas L.): A review , 2008 .

[13]  P. Venkatachalam,et al.  Optimisation of experimental conditions for biodiesel production from alkali-catalysed transesterification of Jatropha curcus oil , 2005 .

[14]  M. Huijbregts,et al.  Palm oil and the emission of carbon-based greenhouse gases , 2008 .

[15]  Yusof Basiron,et al.  Palm diesel: an option for greenhouse gas mitigation in the energy sector. , 2005 .

[16]  Greenhouse gas emissions from vegetation fires in Southern Africa , 1995, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[17]  A. Faaij,et al.  Different palm oil production systems for energy purposes and their greenhouse gas implications , 2008 .

[18]  Nik Meriam Nik Sulaiman,et al.  Environmental performance of the milling process of Malaysian palm oil using the life cycle assessment approach. , 2008 .

[19]  J. Agudelo,et al.  Basic properties of palm oil biodiesel–diesel blends , 2008 .