Oleochemicals refer to chemicals from natural oils and fats of both plant and animal origins. However, they also include those derivatives derived from the subsequent modification of carboxylic acid group of fatty acids by chemical or biological means, and other compounds obtained from further reactions of these derivatives. Prior to 1980, about 90% of the raw materials for oleochemical industr...

Over recent decades oil palm plantations have rapidly expanded across Southeast Asia (SEA). According to the 10 United Nations, oil palm production in SEA increased by a factor of 3 from 1995 to 2010. We investigate the impacts of current (2010) and future (2020) oil palm expansion in SEA on surface-atmosphere exchange and the resulting air quality in the region. For this purpose, we use satell...

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) aims to avoid forest conversion to alternative land-uses through financial incentives. Oil-palm has high opportunity costs, which according to current literature questions the financial competitiveness of REDD+ in tropical lowlands. To understand this more, we undertook regional fine-scale and coarse-scale analyses (through ca...

For two consecutive years in Abbi, Delta State of Niger-Delta of Nigeria one, two and three beehives were integrated in oil palm plantation to determine optimum productivity of the oil-palm honey bee farming system. The fresh fruit bunch (economic yield) of the oil palm was statistically similar at 0, 1, 2 and 3 bee hive(s) per hectare. The honey yield were statistically similar for each bee hi...

Our society faces the pressing challenge of increasing agricultural production while minimizing negative consequences on ecosystems and the global climate. Indonesia, which has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation while doubling production of several major agricultural commodities, exemplifies this challenge. Here we focus on palm oil, the world's most abundant ve...

The product ion of crude palm oil and palm kernel is a complex problem due to the inf luence of processing variables and environmental factors. These processing variables inf luence the amount of crude palm oil and palm kernel losses during processing. Instead of mathematical model, fuzzy logic approach provides a simpler and easier mechanism to describe the relat ionships between the processin...

Wildlife campaigners are hoping to do a deal with the burgeoning oil palm industry in Borneo in the hope of creating a forest framework to save the threatened orang-utan. Palm oil companies and the Sabah government in Borneo have agreed to a project to create wildlife corridors that will link forest areas and create a network of safe havens for the ape. Palm oil companies and the Sabah governme...

From the Malaysian harvester's perspective, the determination of the ripeness of the oil palm (FFB) is a critical factor to maximize palm oil production. A preliminary study of a novel oil palm fruit sensor to detect the maturity of oil palm fruit bunches is presented. To optimize the functionality of the sensor, the frequency characteristics of air coils of various diameters are investigated ...

This paper aims to study decomposition behavior in pyrolytic environment of four lignocellulosic biomass (oil palm shell, oil palm frond, rice husk and paddy straw), and two commercial components of biomass (pure cellulose and lignin), performed in a thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA). The unit which consists of a microbalance and a furnace flowed with 100 cc (STP) min Nitrogen, N2 as inert. Heati...

Oil palm monoculture comprises one of the most financially attractive land-use options in tropical forests, but cropland suitability overlaps the distribution of many highly threatened vertebrate species. We investigated how forest mammals respond to a landscape mosaic, including mature oil palm plantations and primary forest patches in Eastern Amazonia. Using both line-transect censuses (LTC) ...