Abstract
Energy has been needed more than ever, especially in the 21st century, for daily activities. The generation of energy from fossil sources fuels the industry's evolution but induces irreversible damage to the environment. Focus has been shifting towards bioenergy for a greener and sustainable approach in energy production, especially on biomass waste due to its abundant source that is not limited to geographical and climate changes. Empty fruit bunch (EFB) and waste tire (WT) have been an alarming waste due to industrialization. Unsystematic management of this waste has caused irreversible environmental damage and loss of valuable resources. Pyrolysis has been discovered as an effective process to effectively and safely manage, dispose and valorize waste into higher-value products. Pyrolysis is an energy-intensive process that is speculative to be not sustainable in the long run. This work will study the bioenergy generation potential of EFB and WT through microwave pyrolysis. The result shows that the bioenergy retrieved from WT and EFB is at 93.7 % and 90.99 %, portraying a minor amount of energy lost. Considering the energy consumption during the microwave pyrolysis process, a net energy profit (20.66 %) can be gained from WT, EFB records a loss of 81.17 %. This is attributed to the content of feedstock where EFB contains higher moisture and oxygenated composition, leading to the generation of products with lower heating value. The outcome does not reduce the efficiency of EFB valorization through microwave pyrolysis as the bio-oil contains valuable chemicals like phenols that can be retrieved as a biochemical source. Overall, the bioenergy generation is better when WT is used as feedstock. Bioenergy analysis should be conducted on the co-pyrolysis process to evaluate the feasibility of co-managing the waste, besides improving feedstock flexibility for this technology.
