Page 124 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

110 K. T. Lee and C. Ofori-Boateng

4.2 Life Cycle Inventory Analysis

4.2.1 Data Collection

Life cycle inventory (LIC) is a methodology for estimating the utilization and
consumption of resources and the amount of waste streams and environmental
emissions ascribed to a product’s life cycle. The LCI analysis used in this chapter
focused on materials and energy resource use, air emission, water emission, soil
emissions, land use, and other wastes involved in the life cycle of biodiesel pro-
duction based on 1 kg of 100 % PME. Data used for the LCI analysis in this
chapter were obtained from plant reports, literature reviews (Yusoff and Hansen,
2005; Schmidt 2007), Ecoinvent database (GaBi Software and database for life
cycle Engineering 4 2003), experimental results (Novizar and Dwi 2010; Choosak
et al. 2009), and estimations based on Malaysia’s oil palm industry (MPOB 2006).
Table 2 shows the summary of materials and energy resources as inputs and
outputs for producing 1 kg biodiesel from palm oil. The most important param-
eters associated with the key environmental impacts of biofuels were estimated for
each impact category as detailed in Sect. 4.3 of this chapter.

4.2.2 Assumption and Limitations

For 1 ha of land, the oil palm plantation produces averagely 20 t of FFB annually
which yields about 4.6 t of mesocarp oil (crude palm oil), and 0.750 t PKS which
produces about 0.250 t of PKO, 0.500 t of kernel meal, and 300 t of POME. For
the same size of oil palm plantation, about 18 t of oil palm fronds (OPF), 3 t of oil
palm trunks (OPT), 15 t of EFB, and 3 t of palm pressed fiber are produced
annually. In this chapter, methane from POME is assumed to be emitted into the
air. However, efforts are currently being made to trap the methane as biogas for
energy production. OPF and OPT are also assumed to be used as mulch in the oil
palm plantation.
In Malaysia, the cultivation of 1 hectare land of oil palm requires about 191 kg
nitrogen/year, 62 kg phosphorus oxide/year, 318 kg potassium oxide/year, and
98 kg magnesium oxide/year (Ng and Thamboo 1967). Comparing these fertilizer
quantities to those applied in Nigeria, Malaysia’s conditions require quite higher
fertilizer quantities for the same hectare of land use in Nigeria. In Nigeria,
1 hectare of oil palm plantation requires about 149, 48, 236, and 93 kg nitrogen,
phosphorus oxide, potassium oxide, and magnesium oxide per year, respectively
(Tinker and Smilde 1963). Before field planting, the nursery also receives some
amount of fertilizer in the form of nitrogen, phosphorus oxide, potassium oxide,
and magnesium oxide. The first few weeks (from 8 to 24 weeks) may require little
fertilizer (from 3.5–10 g fertilizer per seedling) bi-weekly. From the first year to
the time of transplanting, in every 3 weeks, a seedling of oil palm may require
about 12 kg nitrogen (from ammonium sulfate), 12 kg of phosphorus oxide (from