Sustainability analysis of Palm oil vs. Jatropha

Ikechukwu Ibude, Reaz Hasan, Haitem Fargani, Matthew Ozoemena, Wai Ming Cheung

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Biofuels have attracted special interest in the past decade driven by concerns over security of energy and global climate change but at the same time created controversy over various social and ethical matters. Compared with bio-diesels derived from food stocks such as corn or maize, Oil Palm and Jatropha curcas show greater promise and are apparently a better compromise between food and energy security. As such, various governments and large companies have taken initiatives in promoting this type of bio-fuel. In this paper, a Life Cycle Assessment is carried out on the above two bio-fuels using published data which shows that cultivation phase contributes very significantly to the Green House Gas emissions. Detailed analysis further reveals that considerable ethical and social issues are embedded within the cultivation phase and hence a broader approach should be taken in carrying out sustainability assessment.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 12th International Conference on Manufacturing Research
Place of PublicationUK
PublisherSouthampton Solent University
Pages265-270
Number of pages6
ISBN (Print)978-0-9926958-4-2
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 9 Sept 2014

Keywords

  • biofuels
  • lifecycle assessment
  • sustainability assessment

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Sustainability analysis of Palm oil vs. Jatropha'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this