GHG Emissions: From Oil Palm
Cultivation to Biodiesel Production
Dato’ Dr. Mohd Basri Wahid
Director General
Malaysian Palm Oil Board
Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Malaysia
Presentation Outline
• Biofuel Policy
• Demand and Supply
• EU Directive
• LCA – Oil Seed and Oil Palm
• Upstream – Land Use Change,
GHG Emissions
• Conclusion
National Biofuel Policy
• Use of environment-friendly, sustainable
and viable alternative source of energy in
order to reduce dependency on depleting
fossil fuels; and
• Enhanced prosperity and well-being of
all the stakeholders in the agriculture
and commodity-based industries,
through stable and remunerative prices
Released in March 2006
Five Strategic Thrusts
Thrust 1: Biofuel for Transport Sector
Thrust 2: Biofuel for Industrial Sector
Thrust 3: Biofuel Technologies
Thrust 4: Biofuel for Export
Thrust 5: Biofuel for Cleaner Environment
Mandatory Blending
(Biodiesel)
• Require 500,000 tpa biodiesel for 5%
blend
• RM 200 million allocated for
implementation
• February 2009 in Government
Vehicles, subsequent nationwide
Biodiesel Production
• 12 biodiesel plants in operation with
combined capacity of 1.5 million tpa
• Four plants completed, yet to start
operation (190,000 tpa)
Progress of Approved Biodiesel Projects (October 2008)
* 12 biodiesel plants (include the capacity for expansion)
0
2
4
6
8Mil. Tonnes
Biodiesel Capacity 1,472,000 190,000 605,000 1,306,500 6,620,130
Feedstock Requirement 1,498,750 192,000 608,000 1,315,895 6,787,276
In OperationConstruction
CompletedConstruction
Pre-
ConstructionPlanning
58
9
6412*
-
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08
'000 Tonnes
-
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
RM/Tonne
Biodiesel Production (Tonnes) Biodiesel Export (Tonnes) CPO Prices (RM/Tonne)
Production and Export of Biodiesel (Tonnes) and CPO Prices (RM/Tonne) (Oct 2007 – Oct 2008)
Scope: Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas emissions
cultivation
biomass transport
conversion
biofuel distribution
use of biofuel
fossil fuelcomparator
biofuel
Comparison on the basis of the fuel (gCO2eq/MJ)
“Off limit” areas
Highly biodiverse land
High carbon stock land
– Wetlands, peatlands and continuously forested areas
E = eec + el + ep + etd + eu – eccs – eccr – eee
E total emissions
eec emissions from the extraction/cultivation of raw materials
el annualized emissions from C stock changes caused by land
use change
ep emissions from processing
etd emissions from transport and distribution
eu emissions from the fuel in use
eccs emission savings from C capture and sequestration
eccr emission savings from C capture and replacement
eee emission savings from excess electricity from cogeneration
Calculation of GHG emissions
(Goedkoop & Spriensma 2001)
No Impact Category Damage Category Emissions to Examples
1 Carcinogens Human Health Air, Water & Soil Chlorinated compounds,
Heavy metals
2 Respiratory Organics Human Health Air Organic particulates
3 Respiratory inorganics Human Health Air Particles from combustion
processes
4 Climate Change Human Health Air CO2 from combustion, CH4
from anaerobic digestion
5 Radiation Human Health Air, water & soil Cobalt, hydrogen, Radon,
Plutonium etc
6 Ozone Layer Human Health Air CFC 11, HCFC 22
7 Ecotoxicity Ecosystem Quality Air, water & soil Pesticides, Heavy metals
8 Acidification
Eutrophication
Ecosystem Quality Air
Water
SOx, NOx
NO3 from fertilizers,
Nitrogen& Phosphate
compounds
9 Land Use Ecosystem Quality - Emissions from raw
materials, traffic
10 Minerals Resources - Al, Fe, Cu, Pb
11 Fossil Fuels Resources - Coal, oil, gas
Damage Categories
Different Phases of Palm Products Production
Upstream
Midstream
Downstream
Palm Seedling
Oil Palm (immature)
Oil Palm (mature)
Palm Fruit Bunches
Crude Palm Oil Kernel
Refined Oil
Processed
Food
(Cooking
Oil etc.)
Processed
Non food
(Biodiesel,
Alpha SME etc.)
Land Preparation
Palm based products
Palm Kernel Oil
ExportExport Processed
Non foodProcessed
Food
BiomassIn Estates
Agro-based Products
Compost (as soil
Conditioner/fertiliser)
Mulch (Estates)
Biomass
Palm Kernel Cake
Animal Feed
Renewable Energy
Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) of production of CPO
Characterization
LCI of OP cultivation, for production of 1 ton FFB
Input Output /
parameters
N (kg) P2O5
(kg)
K2O
(kg)
Diesel
(l)
Pesticides Yield
(t/ha)
Average over
102 estates
3.49 2.8 11.5 2.37 0.126 20.5
Comparison of fertilizer usage for oil palm and oil seed crop (kg/t oil)
N P2O5 Pesticides
Oil Palm 18.62 14.15 0.126
Soya Bean 124.77 101.34 1.827
Sunflower 38.03 94.73 1.764
Rapeseed 39.22 55.36 0.693
Source: FAO 1999
Total CO2 Emissions in Plantation
Total CO2 emission in the plantation
= 7 g CO2/MJ biodiesel,
Much lower than 18 gCO2 /MJ (EU)
GHG Emission Savings
Type of Biodiesel Typical GHG Emission savings (%)
Palm oil biodiesel (process not specified)
36
Palm Oil Biodiesel (processwith methane capture at oil mill)
62
Soyabean oil biodiesel 40
Rapeseed oil biodiesel 45
Sunflowerseed oil biodiesel 58
Source: European Commission 7th Nov 2008
19
1.13
1.22
1.05
kg C m-2y-
1
M A P
kg
C m
-2 y
-1
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
kg C m-2y-1
2.10
1.10
1.50
Forest Sago Oil Palm
g C
m-2
y-1
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Melling et al. TELLUS, 2005
20
• IPCC estimated value of 54,750 mg C m-2 yr-
1.
F S P
mg
C m
-2 y
-1
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
mg C m-2y-1
18.34
180
-15.14
mg C m-2y-1
1414
1065
1443
M A P
mg
C m
-2 y
-1
0
500
1000
1500
2000
Melling et al. Soil Biol & Biochem. 2005
Annual CH4
flux
21
F S P
mg
N m
-2 y
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
M A P
mg
N m
-2y-1
0
100
200
300
400
500
mg N m-2y-1
447
218
116Melling et al. SSPN. 2007
mg N m-2y-1
70
330
120
Land Use Change
Lightly forested area (181 t/ha) to oil palm (189 t/ha)*
Logged-over forest to oil palm
Grassland (82 t/ha) to oil palm (189 t/ha)*
Rubber, Cocoa, Coconut to oil palm
Peat to oil palm
Shallow Vs Deep peat
Setting up Tropical Peat Research unit
Source: * EU proposal January 2008
The Way Forward
Developing countries have social equity in biofuel production
Afforestation, reforestation , Avoided deforestation and Reduced Emissions from degradation and Deforestation (REDD) negotiated for compensation
Tier 2 and Tier 3 data to be collected to quantify emission and sequestration to obtain carbon footprint (CFP)
Continuous improvement for enhancing sustainability
Conclusion
• Malaysian palm oil is produced in a
sustainable manner
• Malaysia is implementing biodiesel blending in
February 2009
• LCA for the whole supply chain is ongoing and
iterative
• Some data have been submitted to JRC/EC
• Research ongoing to clarify controversies
Acknowledgement
Dato’ Dr Choo Yuen May
Dr Chan Kook Weng
Dr Lim Weng Soon
Dr Puah Chiew Wei
Dr Zulkifli Hashim
Dr S. Vijaya
Dr Tan Yew Ai
Direct planting in biomass Chipping of EFB
Applying POME to Chipped EFB windrow Applying POME to Chipped EFB windrow
Production of compost from EFB and effluent – Asia Green
Effluent pond Tank Digester
Poly ethylene membrane