Affiliations 

  • 1 Universiti Putra Malaysia
  • 2 AgroParis Tech
ASM Science Journal, 2017;10(101):1-45.
MyJurnal

Abstract

The global production of aviation fuel, particularly Kerosene Jet A-1, has a market presence of 302.8
billionlitres per year, of which Malaysia consumes up to 3 billion litres per year. The pressure from
increasing fuel demand and commitment to reducing CO2 emissions has led to the use of biofuels as
possible alternatives. Malaysia possesses a relative abundance of lignocellulosic biomass residues and
thus, has much potential in biofuel development. In this work, Geospatial Information System analysis
was used to obtain the geo-location biomass supply cost and was then simulated with non-linear cost
estimation modeling for biorefinery production. The spatial analysis suggested that paddy and oil palm
trunk could offer significant feedstock volumes at reasonable costs while biomass to fuel conversion
pathways comparison showed that an “alcohol to jet” route was more feasible among all the alternatives.
The simulation results indicated that the production cost of a bioethanol refinery had high variability
due to the geographical heterogeneity of the lignocellulosic biomass resources. At the optimal location
of paddy residues, utilising rice stalks was substantially cost-efficient compared to other biomass. The
lowest range of relative production cost was achieved at RM359.11 – RM726.41/million tonnes per
annum at an input capacity of 1.28 – 2.63 million tonnes. Conversely, using oil palm trunks in the same
location gave a much more expensive relative production cost of RM472.23 – RM986.63/million tonnes
yearly with only 0.40 – 1.03 million tonnes of input capacity. This model was able to suggest location
strategies and cost estimations for biorefineries in Peninsular Malaysia. It is hence, useful as a decision
and policy making tool for the implementation of biorefineries for aviation uses.