Assessing the Environmental Impact of Empty Fruit Bunches for Electricity Generation in Malaysia: A Life Cycle Perspective

Empty fruit bunches (EFB) constitute a significant residual byproduct of the palm oil mill industry in Malaysia, representing approximately 22% of the weight of every fresh fruit bunch. This study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with electricity generation utilizing EFB as a primary fuel through a cradle – to – grave life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The system boundary encompasses the power plant construction, fuel preparation, electricity generation and all transportation activities throughout its life cycle. The EFBs are sourced from seven palm mills situated within a 50-kilometer radius of the plant. SimaPro 9.4.02 software integrated with Ecoinvent 3.8 database was employed to quantify the magnitudes of significant environmental indicators, such as global warming potential (GWP), ozone depletion potential (ODP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), and photochemical oxidant creation potential (POCP), based on a functional unit of 1 kWh of electricity produced. The emission rate for the biomass plant stands at – 5.31 kgCO2eq/kWh, signifying a net carbon sink. The electricity generation process accounts for a substantial 96.48% of the total CO2eq/kWh emissions, thus bearing the greatest environmental burden. The construction phase of the biomass plant contributes approximately 3.06% of the total emissions, while the EFB transportation to the power plant represents a minor 0.19% of the overall emissions. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate the plant’s efficiency across fiscal years 2018 to 2021 and its corresponding global warming impacts. In 2021, the plant’s operations resulted in the most significant carbon avoidance, given the combustion of a high volume of EFB (188 kilotons) to produce 49.3GWh of electricity. The findings from this study serve as a valuable benchmark for evaluating emissions in the context of the empty fruit bunch-based plant in Peninsular Malaysia, hence offering profound insights into the environmental sustainability of the palm oil industry.