Waste to Energy Production from Agricultural Waste of Paddy (Oryza Sativa) Industry in Malaysia: Life Cycle Cost Exploration

Abstract

Due to rapid expansion in road transportation, a more environmentally benign fuel is required in order to control the air pollution. More competent and feasible development of the transportation sector has attracted many interests from various countries including Malaysia. Ethanol fuel is cleaner and sustainable compared to gasoline fuel. Although first generation bioethanol has been utilized globally, it raised the concern about food versus fuel issues. The solution for this is by utilizing agricultural waste as feedstock for bioethanol production. Therefore, this paper investigated the rice straw bioethanol production and its effect on economy and environment when rice straw bioethanol is utilized as a gasoline substitute in Malaysia. Approximately 6% of total gasoline consumption could be saved if rice straw is utilized for bioethanol production, while reducing 92% of air pollution. Based on the life cycle cost model, it was found that the total production cost for 50 ML rice straw bioethanol production plant with a lifetime of 20 years amounts to nearly 200 million USD, which the unit production cost is 0.16 USD per liter of bioethanol, which is Lower than the gasoline price. Therefore, Malaysia should consider bioethanol as a potential alternative fuel to address the problem of depleting fossil sources and global warming.