Analysis of Energy Consumption and GHG Emission in Biodiesel (B100) Production: A Case Study of Oil Palm Plantation, Crushing Mill and Biodiesel Plant in Thailand

Abstract

The biodiesel (B100) production starting from the plantation, crushing mill and biodiesel plant can generate high amount of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission which is harmful to the global environment. To reduce the GHG emission, an efficient managing strategy of the entire production process must be introduced. This paper presents a case study of the GHG emission analysis in Trang, Krabi and Chumporn province in 2013. The entire year data of each activity such as amount of energy, fertilizer and herbicides used, main product, residues produced in oil palm plantation, milling and biodiesel plant were analyzed and calculated by the basis of Gate to Gate. The result shows that the production process in the plantation generates the GHG emission of-0.54 ton CO2-eq /ton FFB while the GHG emitted from the crushing mill is at-2.89 ton CO2-eq /ton RPO and from the biodiesel plant is at-2.30 kg CO2-eq /liter B100.These calculated values show that the biodiesel production can alleviate the greenhouse effect. If the bio solid residues are used as a mixture for fertilizer and the wastewater is used to produce the biogas to generate electricity, the GHG emission can then be reduced.