Environmental Impact Assessment of Utilizing Palm Oil as Biofuel for Engines

This study examines the techno-environmental analysis of utilizing palm oil as biofuel for engines. It aims to assess transesterification, pyrolysis, and hydrogenation processes for palm oil based biodiesel production, and evaluate the effect of crude palm oil on the performance of engine and emissions through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The investigation focuses on the influence that palm oil biodiesel has on the performance of engine, emphasizing power and torque output, considering engine speed and biodiesel blend ratio. A sensitivity analysis using relevant research data will illustrate their interaction effects. Additionally, it will examine the potential for additional fuel use due to biodiesel’s reduced energy density. By integrating technical and economic analyses, this work provides insights into the feasibility and palm oil green diesel impact as a fuel alternative for engines. Results showed that SPOP, IPOP, and CPOP reported 18.52%, 33.33%, and 48.15% GHG emission. A comprehensive analysis of GHG emissions data for the three consecutive years 2019, 2020, and 2021 shows that energy sector and industrial processes reported the highest and lowest contributions to the overall emission of GHG respectively. The environmental impact assessment results for different stages of palm oil based biodiesel production reveals that the cultivation stage emits 2,762 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per functional (epf) unit, the eutrophication stage emits 0.12 kg of phosphorus epf unit, the acidification stage emits 0.06 kg of sulfur dioxide epf unit, and the photochemical oxidation stage emits 0.02 kg of ethylene epf unit. Palm oil biodiesel shows higher heat release rate than diesel suggesting that it is more environmentally friendly and provide more energy per unit of fuel compared to diesel.