ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF BIODIESEL DERIVED FROM NON-EDIBLE CALOPHYLLUM INOPHYLLUM AS ALTERNATIVE GREEN FUEL FOR POWER GENERATION

• Main Author: SHARMINI A/P VIJAYAN
• Format: text::Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2023

Energy use and economic development of a country is positively correlated since the industrial revolution. Continuous growth for energy demand to achieve greater development of a nation especially in developing countries continuously increase fossil fuel consumption. The burning of fossil fuel has contributed significantly to increase of carbon dioxide emission urging researchers to find sustainable fuel in power generation industry. One of the most promising alternative fuel is biodiesel, a sustainable source of energy to reduce carbon footprint due to its renewable, non-toxic and environmentally friendly nature based on various studies. This research aims to evaluate the tecno-economic feasibility of calophyllum innophyllum which is also know as Tamanu in Southeast Asia in comparison with palm biodiesel in power generation sector in replacing diesel/distillate used in power generation in Malaysia. Furthermore, this study attempts to identify the impact of biodiesel implementation towards the energy scenario, environmental and economy. A techno-economic assessment for biodiesel production is studied based on design process from feedstock acquisition until biodiesel consumption. Several factors such as payback period, sensitivity analysis, subsidy and taxation scenarios are analysed. Furthermore, the potential impact of biodiesel emissions to the environment is also explored. The results demonstrated that biodiesel application in power generation is feasible although constant low price of fossil fuel is still a barricade for the successful implementation of biodiesel on a wide scale. The largest economic factor that determines biodiesel production cost is feedstock price which constitutes 63.4%. Overall, palm biodiesel has lower production cost, around $0.715/L compared to calophyllum innophyllum with production cost of $0.887/L. Payback period of calophyllum inophyllum biodiesel is 4.35 years with return on investment of 8.2% while palm biodiesel has payback period of 5.39 years with return on investment of 7.5%. Based environmental assessment, calophyllum innophyllum is preferred to be utilized as biofuel in power generation as it contains the most carbon and energy saving feedstock which is 77 753 kton carbon dioxide (CO2), produces high yield oil approximately 4.21% higher than palm oil, while being the most promising non-edible oil compared to the other seed oil. Besides, 77 752 kton of carbon can be saved in the course of 15 years and 77 636 kton can be saved by utilising palm biodiesel in power generation.In conclusion, this study serves as a guideline to provide utility providers to assess the potential of implementing biodiesel in power generation system for a greener Malaysia.