Page 121 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Life Cycle Assessment of Biodiesel from Palm Oil 107

Fig. 8 Life cycle assessment
methodology framework
Goal and scope
RESULTS
Life cycle Inventory INTERPRETATION

Life Cycle
Impact

were taken from GABi database and Ecoinvent 99 database version 2.1. GaBi 4.2
LCA software was used for the data analyses.

4.1 Goal and Scope Definitions

The goals of this chapter are (1) to come up with an inventory of resources
associated with the production of palm oil biodiesel over its entire life cycle (from
cradle to grave), (2) to identify and compare the major environmental impacts
(damages) associated with each life cycle stage of the production of biodiesel from
palm oil, (3) to identify the most important environmental loads on the production
systems and suggest improvement measures. The focus of this chapter is geared
toward the energy balance of biodiesel production from palm oil and its effect on
the emissions of greenhouse gases, air, water, and solid waste pollutants on the
environment. The assessment of the domestic economic importance of using the
palm oil biodiesel does not fall within the scope of this chapter.
The scope according to ISO 14040 and 14044 includes the system boundary
definition, the functional unit, allocation steps, temporal and geographical
boundaries, data quality requirement, technology coverage, etc. This chapter
dwells on palm oil production and conversion into biodiesel based on Malaysia’s
conditions (including plant location, feedstock origin, sources of electricity, and
end-uses). Thus, geographical boundaries are not considered in this chapter as
there are no assumptions of imports of biodiesel into the country.

4.1.1 System Boundary and Functional Unit

Figure 9 shows the system boundary for the production of biodiesel from palm oil
considering the stages from cultivation of palm fruits to transesterification of palm
oil into biodiesel. However, Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 detail the process flows of oil palm
cultivation, palm oil milling, palm oil refining, and transesterification of palm oil
into biodiesel, respectively. The major considerations within the system boundary
for this chapter include the production of FFB (which comprises nursery stage and