Benefits of Palm Oil Company When Produce Biochar

There are at least four things that become motivation for biochar production, namely as in the chart above. There are a number of slices that make the impact of biochar application multi-benefits, which is very much in line with today's world problems, namely climate change and global warming. Biochar has also been accepted as an instrument to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere which causes the two big problems above, namely in 2018 biochar was included in the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as one of the negative emissions technologies (NETs). Biochar application is a carbon negative scenario because biochar can absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. This is slightly different from the use of biomass fuels such as wood pellets, wood briquette and palm kernel shell (PKS) in industrial boilers or power plants, which are carbon neutral scenarios. Indeed, basically there are 3 big scenarios to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, namely increasing the efficiency of equipment that uses fossil fuels, using carbon neutral fuels and carbon negative scenarios such as biochar.

Palm oil trees are known to require a lot of water and fertilizer to maintain the life sustainability and productivity of their fruit, so practical efforts in the form of increasing fertilizer nutrient efficiency and increasing fruit productivity are important. Besides that, palm oil mills produce a lot of biomass waste, especially empty fruit bunches (EFB ) and mesocarp fiber, which are very potential for biochar raw materials. The biochar is then applied in palm oil plantations which can be used with chemical fertilizers or with compost / organic fertilizers.

Pyrolysis and gasification technologies are commonly used for the production of the biochar. Apart from producing biochar by pyrolysis or gasification, energy is also produced which can be used for the business development of the palm oil industry or for electricity production. Production of PKO (Palm kernel oil) from kernel processing at KCP (kernel crushing plant) or production of torrefied PKS from PKS processing with torrefaction can be done by utilizing excess energy from the production of biochar. Most of the palm oil mills or CPO mills do not have kernel processing or KCP to produce PKO. And by making torrefied PKS, the caloric value of PKS will increase, it is easy to downsizing (increased grindability), for example in the use of cofiring and does not absorb water (hydrophobic property). In general, palm oil mills will have many advantages, both economically / financially and environmentally, with this biochar production.

Apart from being used for business development like the diagram above, excess energy from pyrolysis or gasification can also be used as boiler fuel in the palm oil mill. In this way the energy to heat the boiler, which is usually with palm kernel shell and mesocarp fiber, can be replaced by energy from pyrolysis or gasification. After that, all of the palm kernel shells / PKS can be sold or exported, thus providing additional profits for the palm oil company. The need for biomass fuel, especially palm kernel shell / PKS, is predicted to increase, both in the domestic market and in the export market. Japan is currently the largest consumer or user of palm kernel shells and it is predicted that the demand will also increase. Japan will also impose stricter standards on imports of palm kernel shells to ensure environmental sustainability by applying the GGL (Green Gold Label) certification which will be effective starting April 2023. This is like the wood pellets with FSC certification. If anyone is interested in an economic analysis of the use of biochar in palm oil business, please contact us.  

The Big Vision of the Palm Oil Mill: Not Only Generating Electricity with Steam Turbine Generators but also Biochar and Bio-Oil

At the palm oil mill, electricity is generated from a steam turbine generator so a water treatment unit is needed to provide boiler feed water and a boiler unit to produce steam. The specifications of the steam produced are superheated steam with a pressure of 30 bar or equivalent to a temperature of 240 C. The steam then powers the turbine and drives the generator to produce electricity. Steam that comes out of the turbine with a decrease in temperature and pressure is not thrown away, but is used for steamming fresh fruit bunches (TBS) in the sterilizer unit. That is the reason why electricity production in palm oil mills uses steam turbine generators, even though actually producing electricity does not have to use the steam turbine. There are a number of technologies that can be used for electricity production.

The boiler fuel for steam production also does not use fossil fuels but uses palm oil mill waste itself (mesocarp) fiber and palm kernel shell (palm kernel shell). This is what makes palm oil mills very environmentally friendly in terms of their use of energy sources because they use biomass fuels, namely solid waste in the form of (mesocarp) fiber and palm kernel shells. Judging from the environmental aspects of the use of biomass fuel is carbon neutral, so it does not add CO2 in the atmosphere. Environmental issues are very prevalent today due to a number of environmental damage, to the peak of climate change and global warming. This encourages various industrial activities to increasingly pay attention to these environmental aspects.

When a palm oil mill uses its biomass waste as fuel to produce electricity and steam for the operation of the plant and it produces waste or residue in the form of ash, that is something that is common to almost all palm oil mills today. But when the palm oil company has a bigger vision, what is produced besides electricity and steam is biochar, not ash. Why Biochar? Although the management of the palm oil company that separates the plantation and mill divisions is common, the implementation of biochar is also expected to make a better reciprocal relationship. At present the palm oil fruits or fresh fruit bunches are supplied to the mill for oil extraction, so when biochar is produced by the mill the biochar will be supplied nto the  plantation to increase the productivity of the palm oil fruits. When a palm oil company will optimize its CPO products it also means maximizing the productivity of its palm oil  fruit. Palm  oil fruits productivity can be maximized if the cultivation aspects are also maximum. Biochar can be used to maximize fertilization and even reduce the use of fertilizers in oil palm plantations which amount to tens of billions of rupiah, for more details, please read here.

Are there palm oil mills that dare to take up the challenge? God knows Nature. But oil palm companies that have a big vision and understand the importance of increasing the productivity of oil palm fruit in line with environmental aspects, should be challenged with this. Oil palm companies that have big visions will also see this as an effective (pro-planet) environmental solution. This is because besides having a positive effect on the productivity of oil palm, also with environmental aspects. The application of biochar is carbon negative, so that CO2 in the atmosphere will be absorbed into the pores of the biochar, thereby reducing greenhouse gases in the form of CO2 in the atmosphere. When tens to hundreds or even thousands of tons of biochar are applied to oil palm plantations, so much CO2 in the atmosphere is absorbed into the soil. Biochar can also survive tens or even hundreds of years so that the carbon content in the soil increases or is not damaged along with the productivity of the palm oil plantation.

In addition to the production of biochar with continuous pyrolysis also produced biooil which can also be used as fuel or processed into various other biomaterials. With characteristics close to crude oil, it also means that all materials that can be produced from crude oil can be produced with biooil. Another application of biooil is for blending with ship oil (marine fuel oil). Other liquid products in the form of biomass vinegar, its use is also very supportive in palm oil plantations, namely as bio-insecticides and bio-pesticides. Rats that attack many palm fruit can also be overcome with the vinegar biomass, for more details, please read here.