Sustainability assessment of palm oil mills effluent utilization for electricity conversion

Abstract

The sustainability of the palm oil agroindustry development has been widely discussed. Currently, there has been an issue regarding the sustainability of palm oil agroindustry in certain parts with specific systems. Thus, aspects and indicators built in general need to be adjusted. This study assesses the sustainability of the palm oil mill effluent utilization for electricity conversion. The adjustment of sustainability indicators on economic, social, and environmental aspects has been studied through expert discussions. The selected indicators are weighted using the analytical hierarchy process method which a competent expert assesses. The aggregated sustainability value is determined by a decision matrix calculated using the composite performance index. The proposed method has been tested with field data on two palm oil mills that convert liquid waste into electrical energy involving Palm Oil Mill A and Palm Oil Mill C and a palm oil mill that still uses co-firing technology, Palm Oil Mill B. The results of the analysis show that the sustainability status of case A is Sustainable, B is Less Sustainable, and C is less Sustainable. Further research is needed to formulate strategies for improving the sustainability status and efforts to generalize the sustainability assessment model.