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