Evaluation of biogas potential from empty fruit oil palm bunches

Indonesia experiences an increasing demand for energy, triggering the development of renewable energy, particularly from biomass resources. Empty fruit oil palm bunches (EFOB) residue is one of the potential lignocellulosic biomass highly abundant for further application in bioenergy generation such as biogas. This study was aimed to investigate and evaluate the potential of EFOB for biogas production using anaerobic digestion (AD) route. The biogas production in AD of EFOB was investigated in a batch experiment operated at an inoculum to substrate ratio (R_I/S) of 6:1 for 30 days under the temperature of 37 °C. The results showed that the specific methane potential (SMP) of EFOB (without any pre-treatment) was 0.110 m³/kgVS_added. Using the anaerobic digestion scenario modeling, it was indicated that EFOB is a potential feedstock for biogas production using AD technology, either for electricity or biomethane production. The model also indicated that biogas and methane generation from AD of EFOB can contribute to enhancing the GHG emissions savings from replacing the use of fossil fuels or other non-renewable energy sources. Yet, the problem of high lignin content in EFOB has hindered the optimal biogas production. Therefore, the next stage of this study was to integrate biological pre-treatment to improve the efficacy of AD process.