The energy balances, GHG emissions and economics of biochar
production from EFB are analyzed and compared with the reference
system, i.e. the direct application of EFB to the trees in the palm oil
plantation. The energy content as well as the GHG emission factors
are shown in Table 2.
EFB is a source of organic matter and plant nutrients, including
2% Potassium (K), 0.54% Nitrogen (N), 0.19% Magnesium (Mg) and
0.16% Phosphorous (P) (Abubakar et al., 2010). The amount of mineral
fertilizer can possibly be reduced by applying EFB and biochar
from EFB to the soil. However, the fertilizer substitution potential
of biochar from palm oil EFB is still a matter of research. Therefore,
we do not include the effect of fertilizer savings in this gate-to-gate
analysis.