Konversi POME untuk Pengurangan Emisi dan

Penyediaan Energi/
Palm Oil Sustainability: Environmental Preservation
Activities from POME to Biogas (electricity?) or Energy
Aflakhur Ridlo

Ringkasan Eksekutif

Sebagai salah satu negara produsen minyak kelapa sawit terbesar di dunia, Indonesia telah melakukan
kegiatan-kegiatan yang dapat menjaga lingkungan. Kegiatan yang sangat signifikan preserve lingkunga
adalah mengkonversi POME menjadi energi lsitrik.

Agenda Kebijakan/Rekomendasi

Pendahuluan

Palm oil industry is well known as a significant agricultural industry in terms of economic benefit for
several tropical countries.

Palm oil mills are one of the most important agro-industries in Indonesia as Indonesia is one of the
largest palm oil producers in the world. While processing palm oil, the mills discharge highly polluting
waste-water, known as Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), which is generally discarded in open disposal
ponds. POME is an oily wastewater generated by palm oil processing mills and consists of various
suspended components. On average, for each ton of FFB (fresh fruit bunches) processed, a standard
palm oil mill generates about 1 ton of liquid waste with biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) 27 kg,
chemical oxygen demand (COD) 62 kg, suspended solids (SS) 35 kg and oil and grease 6 kg. Since the
POME is non-toxic by nature it is a good source of nutrients for microorganisms therefore, production of
methane is highly potential.

2. Potential of biogas production from POME The concern on the depletion of fossil fuel has led to an
increase in research activities on the development of renewable energy such as biogas production from
waste for sustainable power generation. POME being a waste with high organic carbon content has
became a promising source for biogas production and to potentially boost up the renewable energy
sector. Hence, Indonesia as one of the leading CPO producers in the world is well positioned for the
biogas development with vast amount of POME generated during the milling process of CPO.

( Waste to Energy
Biogas Production Utilizing Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)

in Indonesia

Sundar Bajgain

Senior Advisor, SNV)

The body (the main text)

POME

What is POME?

I.3. POME Treatment In Indonesia, almost all palm oil mills use open ponding systems to treat POME due
to their low costs and operational simplicity. In this effluent management process, POME flows through a
series of ponds and several treatment steps. The ponds may differ slightly from mill to mill, but generally
the systems consist of four types of ponds: a fat pit, cooling pond, anaerobic pond, and aerobic pond.
The fat pit collects remaining oil and grease in POME. Oil is the main product of the mill, so mill
operators typically recover oil from the fat pit and combine it with the primary CPO product. The cooling
pond decreases the temperature of POME, creating optimal conditions for the decomposition of organic
material in the anaerobic and aerobic ponds. After treatment in these four ponds, the effluent is safe to
discharge to waterways or use as a fertilizer.Even though the ponding system is economical, it is land and
time intensive, and it releases a large amount of methane gas into the atmosphere primarily from the
organic decomposition that occurs in the anaerobic pond. The release of methane from the POME
treatment system accounts for up to 70% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in CPO production.

II. What is Biogas?

Biogas is formed when microorganisms, especially bacteria, degrade organic material in the absence of
oxygen. Biogas consists of 50% to 75% methane (CH4), 25–45% carbon dioxide (CO2) and small amounts
of other gases. Table 1.2 details the composition of biogas.
Figure… Typical usage of oil palm fresh fruit bunch (FFB)

Source: Lee et al. 2015

Biogas Application and Investment from North to South Caterpillar Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore and China

Ekspansi industri kelapa sawit yang pesat telah menimbulkan kekhawatiran tentang keberlanjutan.
Dikarenakan produsen kelapa sawit memperluas skala perkebunan mereka, mereka sering mengubah
lahan dengan nilai konservasi tinggi. Pendekatan yang bertanggung jawab terhadap pembangunan
ekonomi harus memperhitungkan dampak lingkungan, sosial, dan ekonomi, yang dianggap sebagai tiga
pilar keberlanjutan. Idealnya, solusi berkelanjutan melindungi lingkungan sekaligus memperkuat
masyarakat dan mendorong kemakmuran jangka panjang. Diagram di bawah menunjukkan tiga pilar dan
bagaimana tumpang tindihnya

POME to Energy

CDM (Mechanism)

Residu Produksi Minyak Kelapa Sawit

Implikasi Kebijakan

Kesimpulan

Palm oil is the most commonly used vegetable oil, found in food products, detergents, cosmetics, and
biofuels. Palm oil production has grown significantly over the past several decades; the industry is rapidly
expanding today. Global production of palm oil has doubled over the last decade. In 2000, palm oil was
the most produced and traded vegetable oil (FAO, 2002), accounting for 40% of all vegetable oils traded
internationally. By 2006, the percentage had risen to 65%. Worldwide demand for palm oil is expected to
double again by 2020. Palm oil producers are developing new plantations and expanding existing ones in
Indonesia, Malaysia, and other Asian countries, as well as in Africa and Latin America. Table 5.1 below
shows the expansion of the palm oil industry in Indonesia.

The power plants are fired by biogas produced from palm oil mill effluent (POME), the waste water
discharged from the sterilization process, crude oil clarification process and cracked mixture separation
process. POME produces huge amounts of methane gas from its anaerobic process.

The rapid expansion of the palm oil industry has raised concerns about sustainability. As palm oil
producers expand the scale of their plantations, they often convert land with high conservation value. A
responsible approach to economic development must account for environmental, social, and economic
impacts, considered the three pillars of sustainability. Ideally, sustainable solutions protect the
environment while strengthening communities and fostering long-term prosperity. The diagram below
shows the three pillars and how they overlap.

On the other hand, POME-to-energy projects’ potential for emission reductions and energy provision is
drawing attention from key stakeholders, including the Government of Indonesia and international
donor agencies. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) has launched a bio-energy
program under the Special Allocation Fund (Dana Alokasi Khusus – DAK) that awards grants to local
governments to develop POME-to-energy projects. Three projects on Sumatera Island are developed
under this program. Several donor-funded programs, including CIRCLE, Indonesia Clean Energy
Development (ICED), Energy and Environmental Partnership with Indonesia (EEP-Indonesia), and Least
Cost for Renewable Energy (L-CORE) provide technical assistance or grant funding for feasibility studies
of POME-to-energy projects. Other programs, such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC),
administer grants or soft loans for green projects that could have positive social and environment
impacts in Indonesia, such as POME-to-energy projects.
VII. Carbon Financing Renewable energy projects in developing countries like Indonesia can generate
funds by selling certified carbon credits. Access to the international carbon market was initially designed
under the Kyoto Protocol flexible mechanism that linked the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for
“Non-Annex” (developing) countries to cap-and-trade mechanisms in “Annex I” (industrialized) countries
such as the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), or the Australian and New Zealand
mechanisms.

Figure 4.4 Relationship between non-Annex and Annex I countries under the CDM scheme

Biogas plant, on the other hand, takes advantage of this natural decomposition process to generate
electricity. Organic liquid wastes generated during palm oil production represent a major untapped
source of energy. So converting POME emissions to biogas for combustion can produce energy, as well as
signbificantly reduce the climate change impacts pf palm oil production.

Table 1 shows the typical power potential estimate for each mill’s capacity.

Table 1. Projected potential power from POME

POM Capacity POME Produced Potential Power

(FFB ton/hour) m3/hour m3/day (MWe)

30 21 400 1.1
45 31,5 600 1.6

60 42 800 2.1
90 63 `1200 3.2

Indonesia’s total
potential

34,280 23,996 479,920 1,280

 Assumptions: each ton of FFB produces 0.7 m3 of effluent, mill operates 20 hours per day,

COD concentrations is 55,000 mg/l

POME-to-Energy Projects in Indonesia

Palm oil is one of Indonesia’s leading agricultural commodities and has grown from 300,000 hectares of
plantations producing 720,000 tons of crude palm oil in 1980 to 8.9 million hectares producing 23
million tons of CPO in 2011 (as shown in figure 1).

Figure 1. Development of the palm oil industry in Indonesia.

*
Projected

Source: Directorate General Plantation, Ministry of Agriculture, 2011

Indonesia is now the largest producer of palm oil in the world with approximately 608 palm oil mills
(POMs) in 2011. The large and rapidly growing palm oil industry demands better agricultural, industrial
and sustainability practice. Capturing and converting biogas to energy offers one way
 Figure 5.1 The three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic.
Source : The World Conservation Union, 2006.

A responsible approach to economic development must account for environmental, social, and
economic impacts, considered the three pillars of sustainability. Ideally, sustainable solutions protect the
environment while strengthening communities and fostering long-term prosperity. The diagram below
shows the three pillars and how they overlaps.

Figure 5.1 The three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic.
Source: The World Conservation. 2006

PART 5. PALM OIL SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS

Palm oil is the most commonly used vegetable oil, found in food products, detergents, cosmetics, and
biofuels. Palm oil production has grown significantly over the past several decades, the industry is rapidly
expanding today.

Global production of palm oil has doubled over the last decades. In 2000, palm oil was the most
produced and traded vegetable oil (FAO, 2002), accounting for 40% of all vegetable oils traded
internationally. By 2006, the percentage had risen to 65%. Worldwide demand for palm oil is expected
to double again by 2020. Palm oil producers are developing new plantations and expanding existing ones
in Indonesia, Malaysia, and other Asian countries, as well as in Africa and Latin America. Table 5.1 below
shows the expansion of the palm oil industry in Indonesia.

Table 5.1 Development of Indonesia’s palm oil industry since 1980.

1980 2000 2010 2020 (Target)

Palm oil plantation 294,560 4.16 million 8.38 million 9.14 million
area (ha)
Annual CPO 721,172 7 million 21.9 million 34.3 million
production (ton)
 Source: Ditjen Perkebunan, 2011

The rapid expansion of the palm oil industry has raised concerns about sustainability. As palm oil
producers expand the scale of their plantations, they often convert land with high conservation value.
http://japan-product.com/kubota-pome-treatment/
 Biogas Power Plants for a Sustainable Future
 August 5, 2015
 Sustainable Operations / Updates

Asian Agri recently announced it has built five biogas power plants across Sumatra – two units in North
Sumatra, two in Riau and one in Jambi. This marks Asian Agri’s leap towards sustainability through the
use of science and technology. (read more here)

Each biogas power plant can generate up to two megawatts (MW) of power. This serves not only Asian
Agri’s mill processing and operations, but also many households in its surrounding communities.

Asian Agri biogas power plant in Buatan, Riau.

Asian Agri’s Biogas Power Plants

The biogas power plants use the by-products (palm oil mill effluent or POME) from the processing of
crude palm oil.
The plants are equipped with the state-of-the-art Japanese digester tank technology Kubota Anaerobic
Membrane Bioreactor. This accelerates and maximises the process of methane gas formation, which is
essential to power generation.

Environmentally-friendly
The system is environmentally-friendly and different from the conventional practice of treating effluent
in an open system, which usually results in methane, a greenhouse gas, being released into the
atmosphere.

Asian Agri’s biogas power plants capture and channel the methane to a gas engine for power
generation. This achieves a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Since it contains organic solids, the by-product POME can also be used as f ertiliser for crops. There is
reduced wastage, as the utility of POME is maximised.

Asian Agri’s drive towards sustainability is also exemplified by its diligence in monitoring greenhouse
gas emissions in its operations. These include analysing emissions from boiler chimneys and
generators, as part of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System procedures.

Greenhouse gas calculations are also conducted annually, and independently audited for ISCC
(International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) certification. The calculation allows Asian Agri to
monitor net greenhouse gas emissions from its plantations and mills, as a means to identifying
measures to improve and sustain emission reduction.

(from left) Asian Agri Biogas Power Plants in Asahan, North Sumatra; Buatan, Riau; and Taman Raja,
Jambi.

Forward-looking leadership and technologies

Asian Agri has been continually and widely recognised for its role in fostering strong mutually
beneficial long-term relationships with plasma and independent palm oil smallholders. Its forward-
looking business leadership allowed it to be one of the pioneers of the Indonesian government initiated
plasma programme, not only building the region’s palm oil industry but also building infrastructure,
skills, standards and communities.

Its five biogas power plants represent a combination of its business urgency to achieve higher
productivity and competitive advantage, its social responsibility to raise the living standards of its
communities, and its environmentally-conscious stance on reducing emissions. These efforts are
boosted by its emphasis in R&D (research and development) and forward-looking technologies.

It also aims to build a total of 20 biogas power plants by 2020.

About Asian Agri

Asian Agri is an Indonesian-based, world-class palm oil company that manages the archipelago’s
abundant natural resources. It was established in 1979.

Asian Agri was one of the pioneers in the Indonesian government’s trans-migration scheme in Riau and
Jambi. The scheme involved the migration of Indonesians from densely populated areas of Indonesia,
such as Java, to less populous areas of the country with the objective of reducing poverty. Under the
scheme, migrants were given land. In partnership with companies like Asian Agri which provided
training in palm oil cultivation, seedlings, financing and community services, these migrants became
successful smallholders, supplying their palm oil produce to Asian Agri at fair trade prices in line with
government policy.

Asian Agri is part of a group of companies managed by RGE, which is founded by Sukanto Tanoto, also
its chairman.

http://www.inside-rge.com/Asian-Agri-Biogas-Power-Plant

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Pada tahun 2017 Kementerian Riset Teknologi dan Pendidikan Tinggi Republik Indonesia telah
merencanakan studi dan konstruksi biogas untuk energi listrik dari POME melalui proyek flagship yang
dikoordinir oleh Badan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi. Proyek ini akan mulai dilaksanakan pada
tahun 2018 hingga 2020. Output yang diharapkan tersedianya pembangkit listrik tenaga POME sebesar…
KWh???

Referensi

Handbook POME-to-Biogas Project Development in Indonesia. 2 nd edition. USAID and Winrock

International. Editors: Bernard Castermans Hari Yuwono Rob Hardison Vidia Paramita

Source: John C.Y. Lee*, Roger Yu and Peter Lau. 2015.

Biogas Application and Investment from North to South Caterpillar Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore and China