The Identification of Hotspots in the Bioenergy Production Chain

An integrated life-cycle greenhouse gas protocol accounting on oil palm trunk and empty fruit bunch biofuel production

Improper discard of oil palm trunk and empty fruit bunch renders massive greenhouse gases. Turning these palm wastes into solid biofuels could aid in carbon reduction. The embodied environmental impacts of the solid biofuel densification process are neglected in carbon emission quantification studies applying Greenhouse Gas Protocol while the significance of classifying the system's direct and indirect carbon emissions were overlooked in those utilising life cycle assessment. Despite the prospect of both methodologies to complement their limitations for carbon emissions quantification, no study integrates both methodologies to investigate direct and indirect emissions systematically from a life cycle perspective. An integrated framework of life cycle assessment and Greenhouse Gas Protocol is developed to quantify the direct and indirect carbon emissions of oil palm trunk and empty fruit bunch densification from cradle-to-gate for three pellet plants in Indonesia and Malaysia. The emissions are categorised into three emission scopes: Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, integrated with avoided emissions which are quantified via life cycle assessment. The pellet plants generate 534.7-732.3 kg CO₂-eq/tonne_pellet per hour, in which Scope 1 (i.e., direct emissions) is the major emission scope due to high emissions from wastewater production and drying fuel combustion. Washing equipment (169.2-439.0 kg CO₂-eq/tonne_pellet per hour) and burners (87.1-214.5 kg CO₂-eq/tonne_pellet per hour) are the hotspots found in the pellet plants. Producing empty fruit bunch pellets could reduce 62.0-74.1 % of emissions than landfilling the empty fruit bunch. Empty fruit bunch pellet and oil palm trunk pellet are recommended to co-fire with coal to phase down coal usage in achieving COP26 pledge. This study provides data-driven insights for quantifying carbon emissions through the integrated framework and could be a reference in future life cycle carbon footprint studies of the biomass densification process.

Gamification as an Improvement Tool for HR Management in the Energy Industry—A Case Study of the Ukrainian Market

Today, the energy sector requires special attention, and the widespread introduction of digital technologies, including gamification, allows key problems related to the energy policies of the European Union to be solved. The literature analysis presented here discusses the use of gamification among home energy production customers. However, there is a lack of analysis on the use of this tool in the management of energy sector companies. When considering the advantages of gamification elements in the training process, there was mention of this tool potentially being able to be used in HR management to realize the EU’s energy goals. The relevance of the topic has been explored in international studies that have shown that gamification increases employee productivity and motivation. In the article, the directions of gamification in the practices of Ukrainian organizations are investigated. The main principles of effective gamification implementation in HR management, at energy enterprises in particular, are highlighted. A survey on gamification perception by Ukrainians from educational and related areas has been organized and analyzed. The survey results are supplemented by the results of the digitalization state analysis conducted for energy companies, which represent an important foundation for the implementation of gamification into practice. The prototype of a simulation model in which a solar panel must be connected to a controller is worked out as an example of the element usage incurred by gamification in the learning and training process, both in enterprise and in university activity. The present research underlines the importance of an interdisciplinary approach in gamification utilization, as it allows the skill-gaining processes in managerial and technical fields to be combined. The main advantages of gamification in HR management in enterprises are described by impact categories, such as staff appraisal, motivation, and corporate culture and internal communications. The use of gamification in companies in the energy sector is expected to contribute to the support of energy policy, as well as to the efficient integration of Ukrainian energy companies into the EU energy market.