What is POME

POME - Palm Oil Mill Effluent

POME Residue

Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) floats at the top of the POME ponds is a waste water/sludge arising at a palm oil mill during the palm oil production process.

POME Treatment

This waste water is released to a system of ponds (POME ponds) to remove solids, oil and grease into aerobic ponds before discharging the water into waterways.

POME Oil Recovery

The small oil portion contained in the waste water (POME oil) settles on top of the POME pond and can be extracted (skimmed off) and used as feedstock for biofuel production.

Oil Extraction

The small oil portion contained in the waste water (POME oil) settles on top of the POME pond and can be extracted (skimmed off) and used as feedstock for biofuel production.

POME Oil

A Low Carbon Fuel & A Sustainable Renewable Energy Resource: EU Commission directives encourages the development of bioenergy sources and have defined those feedstock that are eligible for special rebates in Europe. The development of POME oil is in keeping with the sustainability principles of ISCC, and is qualified as waste under ISCC. According to Art. 3 (1) of EU Waste Framework Directive (WFD), waste is defined as:

Any substances or object which the manufacturer discards or intends or is required to be discarded.

Raw materials or substances that is not intentionally produced, modified or contaminated.

POME Oil Extraction

“INDO ENERGY AIMS TO HELP ASIA MEET ITS FUTURE ENERGY NEEDS RESPONSIBLY BY HELPING TO DEVELOP MORE RENEWABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY PARTICULARLY USING AGRICULTURAL WASTE OILS AND BIOMASS”

Palm oil mill effulent (POME) is a by-product produced during palm oil production

The Palm Furits

The oil palm fruit is almost spherical in shape. It consists of a hard seed (kernel) enclosed in a shell (endocarp) which is surrounded by fleshy husk (mesocarp).Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a tropical tree crop which is mainly grown for its ind ustrial pro duction of vegetative oil. It is a typical estate crop, grown and harvested over large uniform areas (3,000 to 5,000ha) around a central oil mill to allow rapid industrial handling after harvesting. Palm trees can also be observed in village gardens where they provide oil for local consumption, but in that case both yield and oil quality are much lower. Oil palm is a typical crop of the rainy tropical lowlands.

Furits Branches

Trees reach a height of up to 30 feet and produce fruit bunches from three years of age. In each a year, a tree produces between 8 to 12 bunches of fruit. The time from flowering to harvesting of ripe fruits is 5-6 months. The fruit bunch is tightly wedged in the leaf axil of the palm. A bunch of a mature palm contains 1,000 to 4,000 fruits, depending on the tree’s age and vigor. A bunch weights at maturity 15-25kg, but can occasionally reach over 50kg.

Productive Life

The oil palm is a perennial crop which starts yielding palm fruits for oil about three years after planting and it has a continual productive lifespan of 25-30 years.Oil palm is a typical tree crop of the tropical rainforest. It can however hardly survive or reg enerate in dense secondary forest because of the lack of sunshine. This is also the reason why stand-alone trees in villages are gen erally much taller than in palm groves. For optimal growth and production the tree requires stable climatic conditions, in particular with respect to light and moisture supply. Any deviation from these conditions enhances a yield decrease. Oil palm thrives best in lowlands below 300-400m altitude. Under a favorable microclimate it can also occur at much higher altitudes, as is the case on Mount Cameroon, where palms are observed up to 1,300m elevation, or in the Fouta Djalon area in Guinea. In East Africa palm trees can be found at altitudes up to 1,000 m.

Edible Oil

Palm oil is an edible plant oil that is naturally reddish as it contains high amounts of beta-carotene. Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms, primarily the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis, and to a lesser extent from the American oil palm Elaeis oleifera and the maripa palm Attalea maripa.

Oil Extraction

Palm oil is extracted from the mesocarp and from the kernel after being separated from the mesocarp.The total yield of about 4.5t (4t palm oil and 0.5t palm kernel oil) per hectare, it is the most productive oil crop in the world, being 10 times more productive then soyabean, which produces only about 0.45t of oil per hectare. This means that to produce the same volume of oil, oil palm will only need one-tenth of the area required by soyabean. This is an important consideration when comes to land expansion for oilseeds cultivation, production efficiency and consistent supply of edible oils to feed the increasing world population.

The Advantages

Amongst the worlds most popular vegetable oils, Palm Oil is by far the most versatile. Palm Oil use is increasing globally. From about 50 million tonnes in 2011, consumption is predicted to grow to at least 77 million tonnes in 2050.

Highest Yielding

Highest output for the same amount of land compared to other vegetable oils makes Palm Oil the most widely produced.

Cost efficient

One of the cheapest vegetable oils available.

Socially Responsible

Greatly assists local communities and provides income to workers

Our Solution

In a world where we are so dependent on fossil fuels, climate change is leading to the extinction of species and increasing poverty. How do we combat our reliance on petroleum for transportation, plastics and fertilisers?

How do we slow rising global temperatures that threaten to bring catastrophic weather systems, crop failures, disease outbreaks and water shortages? How do we change our modern agricultural practices stripping the Earth of its thin layer of topsoil through water and wind erosion leading to species extinction? How do we create value for developing countries and alleviate poverty?

The Idea

INDO Energy is in business to prove that through the careful and sustainable management of resources, it can tackle some of the greatest challenges facing the world today.

Sustainable Development suggests that meeting the needs of the future depends on how well we balance social, economic and environmental objectives today. By exploiting economies of scale, INDO energy believes it can successfully create a fully sustainable advanced biofuel business through the processing of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), a by-product of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Milling.