Assessing the Environmental Performance of Palm Oil Biodiesel Production in Indonesia: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach

Yoyon Wahyono, Hadiyanto Hadiyanto, Mochamad Arief Budihardjo and Joni Safaat Adiansyah
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Yoyon Wahyono: Graduate Program of Environmental Science, School of Postgraduate Studies, Diponegoro University, Jawa Tengah 50241, Indonesia
Hadiyanto Hadiyanto: Graduate Program of Environmental Science, School of Postgraduate Studies, Diponegoro University, Jawa Tengah 50241, Indonesia
Mochamad Arief Budihardjo: Graduate Program of Environmental Science, School of Postgraduate Studies, Diponegoro University, Jawa Tengah 50241, Indonesia
Joni Safaat Adiansyah: Mining Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Muhammadiyah University of Mataram, Nusa Tenggara Barat 83115, Indonesia

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-25

Abstract: The production of palm oil biodiesel in Indonesia has the potential to negatively impact the environment if not managed properly. Therefore, we conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) study on the production of palm oil biodiesel to assess the environmental performance in Indonesia. Using an LCA approach, we analyzed the environmental indicators, including the carbon footprint, as well as the harm to human health, ecosystem diversity, and resource availability in palm oil biodiesel production. The functional unit in this study was 1 ton of biodiesel. The life cycle of palm oil biodiesel production consists of three processing units, namely the oil palm plantation, palm oil production, and biodiesel production. The processing unit with the greatest impact on the environment was found to be the oil palm plantation. The environmental benefits, namely the use of phosphate, contributed 62.30% of the 73.40% environmental benefit of the CO 2 uptake from the oil palm plantation processing unit. The total human health damage of the life cycle of palm oil biodiesel production was 0.00563 DALY, while the total ecosystem’s diversity damage was 2.69 × 10 −5 species·yr. Finally, we concluded that the oil palm plantation processing unit was the primary contributor of the carbon footprint, human health damage, and ecosystem diversity damage, while the biodiesel production processing unit demonstrated the highest damage to resource availability.

Keywords: biodiesel; carbon footprint; ecosystems; human health; resources (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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