Abstract
Problem statement: The oil palm industry is an export orientated industry which heavily relies on the world market. In 2007 alone the total export earnings reached RM 45.1 billion. It is essential that the oil palm industry is ready to meet the higher expectation of its overseas customers on the environmental performance of the industry. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product or process throughout its entire life cycle. To identify the potential environmental impacts associated with the production of CPKO and to use this assessment for evaluating opportunities to overcome the potential impacts. Approach: This study had a gate to gate system boundary that starts with the collection and transportation of the palm kernel from the palm oil mills to the production of Crude Palm Kernel Oil (CPKO) at the kernel crushing plants. Six kernel crushing plants were selected to collect inventory data which consists of inputs of raw materials and energy; outputs of solid, liquid and gaseous wastes. Five crushing plants used electricity directly from the grid while one crushing plant used the electricity generated at the neighboring palm oil mill for processing. This study compared the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) of two scenarios namely; when the crushing plants uses electricity from the grid versus the crushing plant which uses electricity generated from the palm oil mill. The LCIA was conducted using the Simapro software and the Eco-Indicator 99 methodology. Results: For scenario one there was two potential impacts mainly from the electricity consumption from the grid for processing and diesel consumption for transporting the palm kernel from the mills. For scenario two, the potential impact from the electricity consumption from the grid was reduced due to the use of renewable energy from the palm oil mill and the impact from diesel consumption was reduced due to the short distance for transporting the palm kernel. Conclusion: It was recommended that more kernel crushing plants should be integrated with the palm oil mills to over come these impacts.
Highlights
The world is demanding for economic growth but yet this growth must be achieved through environmental conservation while enhancing the quality of human life
Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) was conducted for the five kernel crushing plants A to E which uses electricity from the grid and are all located at a distance from the palm oil mills as shown in Fig. 3 and 4
Mitigation using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) concept must be viewed as an investment for our future generation if not for ourselves because efforts in mitigation of environmental degradation will translate into a concerted effort to combat the many environmental impacts resulting from mismanagement of natural resources and energy
Summary
The world is demanding for economic growth but yet this growth must be achieved through environmental conservation while enhancing the quality of human life. Sustainable development has been popularly defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs[7]. This clarion call has resulted in the recognition of environmental issues to increase enormously from the last decade onwards gaining momentum each year. Since the late 1990s there is a widespread emergence of eco-labeling criteria and EMS which extends into agriculture products and processing sectors. Eco-labeling is slowly evolving to become a market-based voluntary mechanism in the greening of agriculture products supply chain. Eco-label Type III requires a LCA for certification
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