Unilevet Uses Biomethane from Palm Waste to Power Palm Oil Refinery

Consumer goods giant Unilever is using biomethane from palm oil mill effluent (POME) to provide power at its palm oil refinery in Indonesia, reports the Oils & Fats International on September 04.  The company said that in its bid to make its palm oil supply chain more transparent and traceable, it was working directly with producers and mills to bring much of its palm oil refining in-house, bypassing traditional intermediaries.
As part of that drive, the company had expanded Unilever Oleochemical Indonesia (UOI), its palm oil processing facility in Sei Mangkei, North Sumatra.  However, the facility became Unilever’s largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting site following the expansion.  
To meet its target of reducing the company’s global Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 100% by 2030 (compared to 2015), Unilever said it had taken steps to shift towards thermal renewable energy and had started replacing the natural gas used at UOI with POME-based biomethane, sourced from two nearby mills. The company said it expected to source over 800,000 MMBtu/annum of biomethane at UOI, to meet almost a quarter of its energy needs by 2030.