Biodiesel is an alternative fuel that is renewable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. Several different methods of biodiesel production have been studied and proposed by many researchers. However, the environmental impact and energy aspect of the methods need to be evaluated. In this article, a noncatalytic biodiesel production with the superheated methanol vapor (SMV) method was compared with the conventional alkali-catalyzed production method in terms of its environmental performance using a life cycle assessment (LCA) tool. This study used original data from several regions in Indonesia. Given that the plant utilized fossil fuel as an energy source, the assessment shows that the SMV method produces higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and acidification, and consumes more energy than the catalytic method. Utilization of biomass waste as a substitute of fossil fuel can reduce the environmental impact and total energy consumption for both methods. Implementation of a methane capture system in a palm oil mill also had a big influence on the GHG savings of biodiesel production. Implementation of methane capture system in a palm oil mill along with the use of biomass waste as an energy source in the biodiesel plant significantly affected the GHG reduction in the SMV method. Therefore, the SMV method can be made feasible from an environmental and energy point of view by the utilization of biomass waste along its production line.
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