RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 25 (3) December 2013, p. 343-347

DETERMINATION OF LIFE CYCLE INVENTORY AND GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FOR A SELECTED OIL PALM NURSERY IN MALAYSIA: A CASE STUDY

HALIMAH, M*; TAN, Y A*; NIK SASHA, K K*; ZURIATI, Z**; RAWAIDA, A I‡ and CHOO, Y M

ABSTRACT

A case study on a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) starting from the delivery of germinated seeds to the production of oil palm seedling in an oil palm nursery was carried out. The oil palm nursery, located in Selangor and licensed by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) was selected for this study. One oil palm seedling was the defined functional unit. The environmental impact from activities in the nursery were determined from the input and output into and from the processing steps in the nursery. The LCA study was conducted in accordance with the procedural framework ISO 14040 – 14044 series of the International Organisation of Standardisation (ISO). The purpose of the study was to obtain a life cycle inventory (LCI) of input and output associated with the production of one oil palm seedling and to provide a comprehensive picture of the environmental impact associated with production of one oil palm seedling in the nursery, by applying the LCA methodology. Inventory data collection consists of the input of raw materials and energy such as polybags, fertilisers, pesticides, diesel, pipes and petrol for transportation and irrigation. Real time measurement of gas and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the pump for irrigation in the nursery was also carried out. The results show that the LCA methodology is suitable for assessing the environmental impact associated with oil palm seedling production.

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* Malaysian Palm Oil Board,
6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
E-mail: halimah@mpob.gov.my

** Malaysia-Japanese International Institute of Technology
(MJIIT), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Semarak, 54100
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

‡ School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology,
Faculty of Science and Technology,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor,
Malaysia.