Open AccessKhaya senegalensis and Leucaena leucocephala; Malaysian dedicated energy crop potential species
Author(s) -
Adli Azimi Abdul Rahman,
Ras Izzati Ismail,
Norawanis Abdul Razak,
Ibni Hajar Rukunudin,
Nik Noriman Zulkepli
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. materials science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1757-899X
pISSN - 1757-8981
DOI - 10.1088/1757-899x/932/1/012117
Subject(s) - leucaena leucocephala , khaya , leucaena , crop , agroforestry , energy crop , biology , agronomy , botany , bioenergy , renewable energy , ecology
Dedicated energy crop (DEC) serves as a highly promising feedstock for heat and power apart from wastes. Established DEC plant species which include poplar, willow and eucalyptus possess special criteria such as fast growing, high biomass production per unit land area and can be planned in production. Locally available plants such as Leucaena leucocephala and Khaya senegalensis are identified among potential species which can be developed as our own DEC. Therefore, this research was conducted to assess the potential of Khaya senegalensis and Leucaena leucocephala as energy crop. Proximate analysis was executed to establish some important quality of the biomass sample which were moisture content, volatile matters, ash content, and carbon content. Biomass sample was then pelletized and subjected to density and durability testing to evaluate the pellet quality produced. Interestingly, it was found that Khaya senegalensis and Leucaena leucocephala biomass have strong potential to be industrialised as our own dedicated energy crops. The calorific value of both biomass are as good as other established energy crops thereby enlisting these two plant species as Malaysian energy crop.