THE POTENTIAL OF PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT (POME) AS A RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCE

The expanding of oil palm industry has given a significant benefit to the economic growth and country development. However, it has also contributed to environmental problems due to the production of huge quantities of waste and byproducts. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a liquid discharge from the palm oil milling process. POME without proper treatment could be harmful to environment because it emitted greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Therefore, due to its high organic carbon content, POME has currently been applied to generate biogas. This study aims to measure the physicochemical characteristics of untreated POME and the potential of POME as renewable energy. The physicochemical characteristics of raw POME such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia (NH3N), dry matter (DM) content and heavy metals were also measured and compared with the regulatory discharge limits. Converting POME to biogas can produce energy which save a huge source of renewable energy as well as reduce the environmental impacts of palm oil production.