Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304
DOI 10.1007/s11356-016-8270-0
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Greenhouse gas emissions during plantation stage of palm
oil-based biofuel production addressing different land conversion
scenarios in Malaysia
Faradiella Mohd Kusin 1,2 & Nurul Izzati Mat Akhir 1 & Ferdaus Mohamat-Yusuff 1,2 &
Muhamad Awang 3
Received: 4 March 2016 / Accepted: 13 December 2016 / Published online: 21 December 2016
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Abstract The environmental impacts with regard to agro-based
biofuel production have been associated with the impact of
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, field GHG emis-
sions during plantation stage of palm oil-based biofuel produc-
tion associated with land use changes for oil palm plantation
development have been evaluated. Three different sites of differ-
ent land use changes prior to oil palm plantation were chosen;
converted land-use (large and small-scales) and logged-over for-
est. Field sampling for determination of soil N-mineralisation and
soil organic carbon (SOC) was undertaken at the sites according
to the age of palm, i.e. <5 years (immature), 5–20 and >21 years
(mature oil palms). The field data were incorporated into the
estimation of nitrous oxide (N2O) and the resulting CO2-eq emis-
sions as well as for estimation of carbon stock changes.
Irrespective of the land conversion scenarios, the nitrous oxide
emissions were found in the range of 6.47–7.78 kg N2O-N/ha
resulting in 498–590 kg CO2-eq/ha. On the other hand, the con-
version of tropical forest into oil palm plantation has resulted in
relatively higher GHG emissions (i.e. four times higher and car-
bon stock reduction by >50%) compared to converted land use
(converted rubber plantation) for oil palm development. The
conversion from previously rubber plantation into oil palm
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
* Faradiella Mohd Kusin
faradiella@upm.edu.my
1
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Environmental
Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia UPM, 43400 Serdang, Malaysia
2
Environmental Forensics Research Centre, Faculty of Environmental
Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia UPM, 43400 Serdang, Malaysia
3
SEGi University, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor,
Malaysia
plantation would increase the carbon savings (20% in increase)
thus sustaining the environmental benefits from the palm oil-
based biofuel production.
Keywords Oil palm . Carbon stocks . Greenhouse gases .
Nitrous oxide . Soil organic carbon, biofuel
Introduction
The environmental aspect and impact associated with the process
of biofuel production to support the sustainability of agro-based
energy industries have become the interest of many relevant
sectors. Biofuel production from palm oil has been promoted
and initiated in Malaysia since a few years back so as to sustain
energy production using alternative source of biofuel and to re-
duce the dependency on fossil fuel. Environmental impacts in
terms of energy balance and greenhouse gas (GHG) balance
would be of great concern when addressing this issue for sus-
tainability in palm oil-based biofuel production (Siangjaeo et al.
2011; Hansen et al. 2014). However, the increased demand for
palm oil-based biofuel has promoted the changes in land use.
Land use changes may affect the carbon content in soil (often
regarded as the carbon stocks), which is released into the atmo-
sphere thereby contributing to the GHG emissions (Siangjaeo
et al. 2011; Castanheira et al. 2014). Whilst it has been found
that some land use conversions for oil palm plantation develop-
ment have resulted in carbon savings (e.g. Brinkmann
Consultancy 2009), some studies have also highlighted the neg-
ative effect of transforming the forest and peatlands into oil palm
plantations, i.e. the associated carbon debt (e.g. Fargione et al.
2008; Danielsen et al. 2008). Because it has been known, that
globally the oil palm area expansion is to a great extent influ-
enced by the carbon stock changes due to changes in land use,
site- and country-specific investigation would help in
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determining potential for future oil palm plantation development
especially with regard to alternative source for biofuel.
Palm oil production chain includes several important ele-
ments, i.e. system boundaries in typical life cycle inventory,
which have been discussed in many life cycle assessments for
oil palm-related studies (e.g. Henson 2004; Schmidt 2007;
Siangjaeo et al. 2011; Castanheira et al. 2014). Generally, it is
known that land use changes (often related to carbon stock
changes), oil palm plantation stage and palm oil extraction
phases significantly contribute to the emissions of GHGs over
the life cycle of palm oil production. The GHG emissions from
palm oil production have generally been categorised as the
emissions arising from the operations during oil palm growing
and fresh fruit bunch (FFB) processing and the emissions aris-
ing from carbon stock changes (i.e. during the development of
new plantation and during the operations of plantations
(Brinkmann Consultancy 2009; Klaarenbeeksingel 2009).
The focus of this study is on the emissions during the plan-
tation stage of palm oil production with associated land con-
version scenarios for oil palm plantation development.
Castanheira et al. (2014) stated that contribution of N-
fertilisers is among the main input. In oil palm plantation,
the inputs of nitrogen come from synthetic fertilisers and crop
residues (IPCC 2000). The direct N emissions include contri-
bution from other elements such as from decomposition of
organic matter residues returned to soils, N-mineralisation
(Schmidt 2010; Yuan et al. 2016). Additionally, the oil palms
may also need supplementary inputs of nitrogen from appli-
cation of EFB and treated POME apart from addition of phos-
phate and potassium inputs (Castanheira et al. 2014). These
elements contribute significantly to the release primarily of
N 2 O alongside CO 2 and CH 4 (Kim and Dale 2008;
Inselsbacher et al. 2011). Therefore, in this study the soil N-
mineralisation from decomposition of soil organic matter were
determined from field data. Field experiment data would pro-
vide more reliable evaluation so as for the verification of spe-
cific emissions from the reported data. Quantification of N-
mineralised in soil organic matter has not been widely inves-
tigated for oil palm plantation especially in Malaysian cases
(Hansen et al. 2014). In fact, this fraction of N (i.e. the soluble
N) has significant contribution to the overall N-related emis-
sions (Schmidt 2010). Additionally, the soil organic carbon
(SOC) content was also determined to relate the amount of
carbon stocks and land use changes in oil palm plantations of
different land conversion scenarios.
It is generally known that among the factors that contribute
to the increase of nitrous oxide include fertilised soil in agro-
industrialisation (Hewitta et al. 2009; Vandermeer et al. 2009;
Akhir et al. 2014). Application of inorganic N-fertilisers can
contribute to the effect of GHGs through increasing emissions
of N2O, CO2 and CH4 from soil (Treseder 2008; Inselsbacher
et al. 2011; Akhir et al. 2015; Kusin et al. 2016). Siangjaeo
et al. (2011) also found that application of nitrogen fertiliser is
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304
the main source of N2O emission, which is among the major
GHGs during plantation stage. N2O can be emitted as a result
of nitrification and denitrification processes in natural ecosys-
tems (Giltrap et al. 2014). Therefore, increase in N-fertiliser in
soil may directly enhance N2O emission because N2O is pro-
duced naturally in soils through the process of nitrification and
denitrification (IPCC 2006). It has been found that soil micro-
bial processes also have influence on the production and con-
sumption of N2O from soils. The processes are to a certain
extent controlled by the soil oxygen content, temperature,
mineral N content in organic matter and pH (Mosquera et al.
2007; Yuan et al. 2016). Furthermore, N-fertiliser is typically
applied to enhance rapid growth of oil palm through the root
respiration and generally this will lead to increasing CO2
emission in the atmosphere.
Materials and methods
Study sites
The study was conducted at three different locations of oil palm
plantation incorporating the changes in land use prior to the
plantation development. Sampling of soil was conducted at
Kempas Estate (large-scale converted land use), UPM Oil Palm
Plantation (small-scale converted land use) and Chepor Estate
(logged-over forest) (Fig. 1). Kempas Estate, which is located
in Melaka is a converted land previously planted with other crops
such as rubber and cocoa. The estate is a highly degraded land
that has total area of 1700 ha and is owned exclusively by Sime
Darby Sdn Bhd. The UPM Oil Palm Plantation is also a convert-
ed land (previously rubber plantation) and a degraded area of
40 ha (19 ha < 5 years; 14 ha between 5 and 20 years;
7 ha > 21 years). The plantation belongs to UPM Holdings
Sdn Bhd and is managed by Taman Pertanian Universiti (TPU)
for research purposes. Chepor Estate is a logged-over forest of
about 982 ha (125 ha < 5 years; 157 ha between 5 and 20 years;
700 ha > 21 years). Within the Chepor Estate, the sampling was
performed specifically at Felcra Chepor which is the oldest oil
palm plantation (>21 years), at Pulau Cheri plantation (5–
20 years) and Felcra Raban and Stang private plantation
(<5 years). The soil sampling was undertaken based on the oil
palm age, i.e. immature (<5 years) and mature (5–20 years and
>21 years, categorically). Chase and Henson (2010) stated that
typical life cycle of oil palm is around 25–30 years before
replanting of new palms.
Data of fertilising scheme
The amount of applied N-fertiliser as utilised in the scheduled
fertilisation scheme was used to estimate the resulting amount
of N2O and CO2-eq emissions from the plantation. Complete
data of fertilising scheme was only obtainable for Kempas
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304
(a)
1
3
(b)
1
3
Fig. 1 Locations of the oil palm plantations studied (a) Kempas Estate, Melaka (b) UPM Oil Palm Plantation, Selangor and (c) Chepor Estate, Perak of
(1) >20 years, (2) between 5 and 20 years and (3) < 5 years
Estate from year 1986 to 2012 and was used to evaluate the
variation of annual N2O and CO2-eq emissions over the years
(Kusin et al. 2015). These data were compared with the data
available for Malaysian scenario (Schmidt 2007) to estimate
the average amount of N-fertiliser applied in Malaysian oil
palm plantation used in this study.
Soil sampling
For assessing the amount of N-mineralisation in soil and the
resulting N2O and CO2-eq emissions during the agricultural
stage of oil palm at different ages, data from a particular period
was used (field soil sampling between April 2013–April 2014)
comparing immature and mature oil palms. The soil sampling
was conducted for the three estates according to the age of the
oil palms as noted earlier. Soil samples were analysed for
nitrogen content and soil organic carbon (and organic matter).
The soil sampling was undertaken in the field using schematic
triangular method adapted from Tailliez (1971) and with ref-
erence to Sierra et al. (2007) and Portela et al. (2009). Each
sampling plot consists of a triangle with three neighbouring oil
palm trees where the soil samples were collected at four
5295
Perak
Selangor
Melaka
(c)
different points at four different depths (i.e. 10, 30, 50 and
100 cm) within the triangle. One sample from each plot was
collected using a stainless steel cutting ring for analysis of
bulk density of the prescribed depths. Three samples were
collected using a 7-cm-diameter Edelman auger for analysis
of organic carbon and the nitrogen and phosphorus contents.
For each site, 48 sub-samples were collected and in total 144
samples have been collected. About 20 kg of total soil were
collected from each sampling occasion and they were stored in
zipped plastic bags and were labelled accordingly. Samples
were brought back to the laboratory and were kept cool until
analysis. The samples were stored at 4 °C to prevent moisture
loss and composition changes as the biological activity slows
at low temperature.
All the sub-samples collected were composited according
to the prescribed depths in the laboratory prior to soil analysis.
The soil samples were air dried in the laboratory at room
temperature in a dust and fume-free place. Soil aggregates
were then pulverised using mortar and pestle to reduce the
size of soil particles. The soil samples were then screened
through a 0.25-mm sieve. After screening, soil is thoroughly
mixed and put in a plastic pot till analysis. Soil samples were
5296
extracted using 0.01 M CaCl2 (Qian and Shoenau 1995;
Houba et al. 2000). Ten grams of air-dried soil sample were
shaken for 2 hours at 20 °C in 100 mL of CaCl2 solution.
Then, the suspension was centrifuged in the supernatant liquid
and were analysed for nutrients using Auto-Analyser instru-
ment. The analysis of soil organic carbon was performed
using a calibrated TOC Instrument, LECO CR-412. The soil
organic matter was extracted from the value of organic carbon
assuming 58% of organic carbon in organic matter
(Schumacker 2002).
Estimation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
Carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane
(CH4) are significant greenhouse gases emitted during agri-
cultural stage of oil palm plantation. The emissions are deter-
mined from relevant substances, i.e. the N, P and C over the
life cycle of oil palm (Schmidt 2010). The emissions are typ-
ically expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents per unit mass
of fertiliser product (e.g. g CO2-eq/kg fertiliser) or element
(e.g. g CO2-eq/kg N) (Wood and Cowie 2004). In this study,
the emissions are expressed in unit kg CO2-eq/ha for ease of
comparison.
Nitrous oxide emissions
The models from IPCC (2006) were used in this study to
estimate the amount of the GHGs released. The direct N2O
emission was calculated according to the IPCC model consid-
ering peat soil which is relevant in Malaysia and Indonesia
(Schmidt 2007). In fact, most Malaysian oil palm plantation
soil is composed of peat, and nearly 50% (or higher) of new
plantations are developed on peat soils (Henson 2004;
Wetlands International 2007; Adon et al. 2012; Hergoualc’h
and Verchot 2013). Notwithstanding this, it is known that this
would contribute to significant global warming if cultivation
on peat soils is not carefully controlled (Schmidt 2010). The
equation used for the estimation of N2O emission is as follows
(IPCC 2006):
Table 1 Parameters used in N2O
estimation Parameter Value
FSN 100 (immature); 110–115 (mature)
FON – kg N ha
FCR 266 (immature); 147 (mature)
FSOM 158–174
FOS 1 (peat soil)
EF1 0.001
EF2 1.2 (oil palm)
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304
N2 O−N ¼ ½ð FSN þ FON þ FCR þ FSOM Þ x EF1  ð1Þ
þ ð FOS x EF2 Þ
Where FSN is the annual amount of synthetic fertiliser N
applied to soils (kg N ha−1); FON:is the annual amount of
organic N additions applied to soils (kg N ha−1), FCR is the
annual amount of N in crop residues (above-ground and below-
ground) returned to soils (kg N ha−1), FSOM is the annual
amount of N in mineral soils that is mineralised, in association
with loss of soil C from soil organic matter as a result of chang-
es to land use or management (kg N ha−1), FOS is the annual
area of managed/drained organic soils (ha), EF1 is the emission
factor for N2O emissions from N inputs (kg N2O-N/kg N input)
and EF2 is the emission factor for N2O emissions from drained/
managed organic soils (kg N2O-N/ha-yr). Details of the param-
eter values used in this study are provided in Table 1.
CO2−equivalent emissions
CO2−equivalent (CO2-eq) is estimated through conversion of
other gases to equivalent amount of carbon dioxide based on
the Global Warming Potential (GWP). Standard ratios are
used to convert the various gases into equivalent amounts of
CO2 that describes its total potential warming impact relative
to CO2 over a set period. The CO2-eq was calculated through
N2O emission conversion using the Global Warming Potential
of the gas as follows:
 .   . 
CO2eq ¼ ð FSN x FE1 Þ x 44 28 x GWP N2O 1000
ð2Þ
Where FSN is the annual amount of synthetic N-fertiliser
applied to soils (kg N yr.−1), FE1is the emission factor for N2O
emissions from N inputs (kg N2O–N kg N input−1), (FSN*FE1)
is the annual direct N2O–N emissions from N inputs to managed
soils (kg N2O–N yr.−1), 44/28 is the conversion of N2O–N emis-
sions to N2O emissions and GWP is the Global Warming
Potential of N2O (t CO2−eq). N2O is a GHG with a GWP 298-
fold higher than that of CO2 (IPCC 2006).
Units Reference
kg N ha−1 Schmidt (2007); This study
−1
No manure applied
kg N ha−1 Schmidt (2007)
kg N ha−1 This study
kg N ha−1 Schmidt (2007)
– IPCC (2006)
– IPCC (2014)
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304
Carbon stock changes calculation
The amount of carbon stocks were calculated according to the
IPCC guidelines as given below:
CS ¼ SOC þ C veg
ð3Þ
¼ ðSOC x F LU x F MG x F I Þ þ ðC BM þ C DOM Þ
Where CS is the carbon stocks, SOC is the soil organic
carbon (t C ha−1), Cveg is the above and belowground vegeta-
tion carbon stock (t C ha−1), CBM is the carbon stock in living
biomass (above and belowground biomass) (t C ha−1), CDOM
is the carbon stock in dead organic matter (t C ha−1), FLU is the
factor that reflects the difference in SOC associated with land
use, FMG is the factor associated with management practice
and FI is the factor associated with different levels of carbon
input to soil. Details of the parameters used are provided in
Table 2. For the calculation of carbon stock changes and the
resulting CO2-eq emissions, the following equations from
IPCC were used (Castanheira 2014):
CO2−eq ¼ Δ CS 44 = 12 1 = 20 1 = P
ð4Þ
¼ ðCSR–CSAÞ 44=12 1=20 1=P
Where CO2-eq is the annualised CO2-eq emission from car-
bon stock change (t CO2-eq t−1 PO), ΔCS is the changes in
carbon stocks (t C ha−1), CSR is the carbon stock of the ref-
erence (previous) land use (t C ha−1), CSA is the carbon stock
of the actual land use (oil palm plantation) (t C ha−1) and P is
the palm oil productivity (t PO ha −1).
Uncertainties estimation
It is known that uncertainties of direct N2O emissions from
managed soils are caused by uncertainties related to the emis-
sion factors, natural variability, partitioning fractions, activity
Table 2 Parameters used in
carbon stocks calculation N-related parameters
SOC
FLU
FMG
FI
Cveg
a
Transformed land use
b
Logged-over forest
5297
data, lack of coverage of measurements, spatial aggregation
and lack of information on specific on-farm practises (IPCC
2006). Therefore, uncertainties estimation was performed to
obverse the variation of N2O and CO2-eq emissions when
adopting maximum and minimum values for parameters and
emission factors (Castanheira et al. 2014). The calculation of
field N2O and CO2-eq emissions was based on the IPCC
methodology as mentioned earlier for each land conversion
scenario and was compared for default, minimum and maxi-
mum parameter values and emission factors from other studies
and IPCC.
Results and discussion
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during agricultural
stage of oil palm plantation
N2O emission related to N-fertiliser application
The variation of N2O emission related to N-fertiliser applica-
tion from an oil palm plantation has been presented in Kusin
et al. (2015) for the case study of Kempas Estate. The amount
of N-fertiliser applied (annual average) at the oil palm planta-
tion and the calculated N2O and CO2-eq emissions have been
presented. The amount of the applied N-fertiliser was fairly
consistent over the years, and only a little variation in N2O
emission was observed. The data was also found to be nearly
the values reported for Malaysian oil palm plantation, i.e.
Schmidt (2007). Therefore, the data from Kempas Estate have
been incorporated along with the reported values for
Malaysian scenario for determination of the average N-
fertiliser application used in this study.
N2O emission for oil palms of different ages
For further analysis of the data, the N2O emissions during the
agricultural stage of oil palm plantation were analysed against
the age of the oil palms for a particular period, i.e. measured in
Value Units Remarks
a
45–66 t C/ha Soil organic carbon analysis
b
33–68
1.0 – European Commisson (2010)
1.22 – European Commisson (2010)
1.11 – European Commisson (2010)
35 t C/ha Brinkmann Consultancy (2009);
Morel (2009); Jiwan and Saharjo (2009)
5298 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304

2013–2014. The oil palms were classified as immature (less
than 5 years) and mature (>5 years) after planting. The N2O
emission was calculated taking into account the contribution
of N-fertiliser applied as mentioned earlier and field deter-
mined data for mineralised-N from organic matter
decomposition.
The amounts of N-mineralised in soil from the three sites
(Kempas Estate, UPM Oil Palm Plantation and Chepor Estate)
have been determined experimentally. Other parameters that
are not determined experimentally were extracted from previ-
ous reported values for Malaysian oil palm plantation
(Schmidt 2007). Generally, the N addition to soils is the
amount of N in soil that is mineralised in association with loss
of soil C from soil organic matter (IPCC 2006). Schmidt
(2010) found that organic matter residues vary at different
stages of oil palm planting. Taking into account the land use
changes of the plantations, Kempas Estate is classified as con-
verted land use (large-scale), UPM Oil Palm Plantation
(converted land use, small-scale) and Chepor Estate (logged-
over forest).
N2O and CO2-eq emissions
The resulting N2O and CO2-equivalent (CO2-eq) emissions
are discussed here. Table 3 shows the resulting amount of
N2O and CO2-eq emissions at the three estates. For Kempas
Estate (large-scale converted land use), about 160.44–
169.27 kg N/ha of N-mineralised in soil were estimated.
This results in N2O emission of between 6.47 and 7.78 kg
N2O-N/ha which corresponds to 498.03–584.56 kg CO2-eq/
ha. At UPM Oil Palm Plantation (small-scale converted land
use), N-mineralised were found in the range of 165.80–
167.09 kg N/ha which corresponds to 6.49–7.85 kg N2O-
N/ha and between 499.35 and 589.68 kg CO 2 -eq/ha.
Whilst at Chepor Estate (logged-over forest converted
into oil palm plantation), the N-mineralised in soil were
found between 158.14 and 173.64 kg N/ha which corre-
sponds to 6.58–7.75 kg N2O-N/ha and 506.89–582.40 kg
CO2-eq/ha. Accordingly, about 10.13–12.19 g CO2-eq
emission have been emitted per MJ oil palm produced at
Kempas Estate, whilst UPM Oil Palm Plantation released
about 10.16–10.30–32.52 g CO2-eq/MJ palm, and about
10.31–12.14 g CO 2 -eq/MJ palm were emitted from
Chepor Estate.
N2O emission in oil palm plantation areas is often associ-
ated with the use of N-fertiliser, although contribution from
organic matter decomposition cannot be ruled out (Henson
2005; Van Noordwijk et al. 2010; Schmidt 2010). N-
fertiliser application may increase N2O emissions by 5–6
times at 200 kg N/ha and by 10–14 times at 270 kg N/ha
(Zhang et al. 2014). On the other hand, the contribution of
N-fertiliser production to the plantation emission vary be-
tween 12% from poultry manure, 36% from synthetic fertiliser
(ammonium nitrate and calcium ammonium nitrate), phos-
phorus and potassium fertiliser production are responsible
for less than 10% of the plantation GHG emissions, similarly
to fossil fuels (Castanheira et al. 2014). Other studies have
also found that direct N2O emissions also increase at high N
input rates due to N-fertiliser application (Kim et al. 2013;
Rashti et al. 2015).
The resulting N2O and CO2-eq emissions are illustrated in
Fig. 2 on the same scale for comparison. There was no

Table 3 Amount of N-
mineralised in soil, resulting N2O Age of palm (year) <5 yr 5–20 (mature) >21 (mature)
and CO2-eq emissions for differ-
ent types of land use change Kempas Estate (Converted land use (CLU)-large scale)
N-mineralised in soil (kg N/ha) 160.44 169.27 164.43
a
N2O emission (kg N2O-N/ha) 7.78 6.59 6.47
CO2-eq.a (kg CO2-eq/ha) 584.56 522.44 498.03
CO2-eq.b (g CO2-eq/MJ oil palm) 12.18 10.32 10.13
UPM Oil Palm Plantation (Converted land use (CLU)-small scale)
N-mineralised in soil (kg N/ha) 165.89 167.09 165.80
N2O emissiona (kg N2O-N/ha) 7.85 6.56 6.49
a
CO2-eq. (kg CO2-eq/ha) 589.68 520.28 499.35
CO2-eq.b (g CO2-eq/MJ oil palm) 12.29 10.28 10.16
Chepor Estate (Logged-over forest)
N-mineralised in soil (kg N/ha) 158.14 172.49 173.64
N2O emissiona (kg N2O-N/ha) 7.75 6.63 6.58
CO2-eq.a (kg CO2-eq/ha) 582.40 525.63 506.89
CO2-eq.b (g CO2-eq/MJ oil palm) 12.14 10.38 10.31
a
Calculated using IPCC (2006) equations
b
Calculated using GNOC (2013)
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304 5299

values and emission factors (Fig. 3). The N2O emissions vary
between 0.96 and 1.27 kg N2O-N/ha when adopting minimum
parameter values, between 17.09 and 23.78 N2O-N/ha when
maximum values are used, and between 4.93 and 5.96 N2O-
N/ha using default values. The N2O emissions of different
land conversion scenarios range between 6.47 and 7.78
N2O-N/ha. As a result, the CO2-eq emissions vary between
47.60 and 53.44 kg CO2-eq/ha when using minimum values,
and between 848.32 and 1027.02 kg CO2-eq/ha when maxi-
mum values are used. Differences between CO2-eq emissions
using default, minimum and maximum parameter values are
significant (p < 0.05), suggesting that careful consideration
must be given when choosing the country- and case-specific
coefficients for the estimation of such GHG.

Relationship between N-mineralised in soil and age

of plantation to N2O emission

The correlation coefficients, r between age of plantation and N-

mineralised in soil, and the N2O emission are shown in Table 4.
The age of oil palm seems to have inverse correlation with the
amount of N2O emission. There are significant correlations of

Fig. 2 N2O emission and CO2-eq emission for (a) large scale CLU, (b)
small scale CLU and (c) logged-over forest

apparent difference of N2O emissions per ha plantation between

different types of land conversion. However, the amount of N2O
emissions were slightly higher for immature oil palms aged
<5 years compared to mature palms >5 years for all types of land
use conversion. This can be attributed to several factors such as
the requirements for nitrogen at the early stage of oil palm growth
(Sawan et al. 2001). Generally, the N content during early stage
of oil palm growth is influenced by several elements such as the
amount resulting from N-fixation, return of nitrogen in crop res-
idues and decomposition of biomass (Schmidt 2007). Likewise,
the resulting CO2-eq emissions follow the same trend as for the
N2O emission, i.e. emission is slightly higher during early stage
of oil palm development.
With regard the uncertainties’ estimation, it can be ob- Fig. 3 Uncertainties estimation for N2O and CO2-eq emissions for dif-
served that there is variation of field N2O and CO2-eq emis- ferent types of oil palm plantations compared with default, minimum and
sions when adopting maximum and minimum parameter maximum parameter values and emission factors
5300 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304

Table 4 Correlation coefficients between age of plantation and of the carbon stocks was performed for two estates, i.e. UPM
mineralised-N in soil to N2O emission for Kempas Estate, UPM Oil
Oil Palm Plantation (converted land use from previously rub-
Palm Plantation and Chepor Estate
ber plantation) and Chepor Estate (logged-over forest) for
Kempas Estate Correlation coefficient, r comparison. Field analysis of soil organic carbon was under-
N2O emission taken for respective sites as mentioned earlier. These data were
Age of plantation −0.772**
incorporated into the estimation of the carbon stocks at the
N-mineralised in soil 0.905**
plantation areas and to estimate the carbon stock changes with
respect to reference (previous) land use (Germer and
UPM Oil Palm Plantation
Sauerborn 2008; Castanheira et al. 2014). The data for carbon
N2O emission
content in above and belowground living biomass were
Age of plantation −0.873**
adopted from Brinkmann Consultancy (2009) for average
N-mineralised in soil 0.463*
Malaysian oil palm value.
Chepor Estate
The carbon stock changes for the two land use change
N2O emission
scenarios are given in Table 5. It is noted that the carbon stocks
Age of plantation −0.316*
in converted land use (CLU) are between 87.85 and 110.14 t
N-mineralised in soil 0.400*
C/ha, whilst in logged-over forest (LOF) the carbon stocks
**Significant at p < 0.01, *Significant at p < 0.05 ranges between 96.09 and 114.10 t C/ha. The estimation of
the carbon stock changes indicates −27.14 to −4.85 t C/ha in
CLU and 110.90 to 128.90 t C/ha in LOF. This implies that the
N2O emission and the age of oil palm at all sites; Kempas Estate conversion of the tropical forest into oil palm plantation has
(r = −0.772, p < 0.01), UPM Oil Palm Plantation (r = −0.873, resulted in reduced carbon stocks within the area. In other
p < 0.01) and Chepor Estate (r = −0.316, p < 0.05). Therefore, words, the transformation into oil palm plantation from trop-
mature oil palm development seems to release lower amount of ical forest losses its carbon content (indicated by the carbon
N2O compared to immature palms. The relatively higher N2O release) often referred to as carbon debts of the plantation. On
emission during the immature stage may be attributed to several the other hand, the CLU, i.e. from previously rubber planta-
factors as explained earlier. Additionally, there are positive sig- tion has shown some increase in the carbon stocks. As a result,
nificant correlations between N-mineralised in soil and the N2O −0.71 to −3.98 t CO2-eq/ha have been estimated from CLU
emission at all sites; Kempas Estate (r = −0.905, p < 0.01), UPM whilst about 16.27 to 18.91 t CO2-eq/ha have been emitted
Oil Palm Plantation (r = −0.463, p < 0.05) and Chepor Estate from the LOF. These correspond to −2.38 to −13.32 g CO2-eq/
(r = −0.400, p < 0.05), indicating that high N2O emission is also MJ palm oil for CLU and 54.42 to 63.25 g CO2-eq/MJ palm
attributed to contribution from N in soil particularly from the
decomposition of organic matter returned to soils.
Table 5 Carbon stock changes due to land use change scenarios

Carbon stocks in oil palm plantation Age of palm (year) <5 yr 5–20 (mature) >21 (mature)

Converted land use (CLU)-small scale)

Carbon stocks and land use changes
Carbon stock 100.91 87.85 110.14
(t C/ha)
Greenhouse gas emissions from land use change are regularly Carbon stock changes* −17.92 −4.85 −27.14
debated, particularly in relation to establishment of new planta- (t C/ha)
tions on agricultural land. The emissions are in particular related CO2-eq −2.63 −0.71 −3.98
(t CO2-eq/ha)
to changes in aboveground and belowground biomass as well as CO2-eq.b −8.79 −2.38 −13.32
soil organic matter (Brinkmann Consultancy 2009). Specifically, (g CO2-eq/MJ palm oil)
establishment and operation of a new plantation lead to the re- Logged-over forest (LOF)
moval of originally present aboveground and belowground car- Carbon stock 114.10 96.09 97.11
bon stocks, e.g. forest, shrub land and cropland etc. On the other (t C/ha)
Carbon stock changes* 110.90 128.90 127.89
hand, a plantation stores carbon through the growth of plants. (t C/ha)
Carbon stock changes due to land use change scenarios of CO2-eq 16.27 18.91 18.76
the studied sites are discussed here. The carbon stock changes (t CO2-eq/ha)
were calculated taking into account the carbon content in soil CO2-eq.b 54.42 63.25 62.75
(g CO2-eq/MJ palm oil)
(soil organic carbon) and the carbon content in above and
belowground living biomass in reference to previous land *Carbon stock of reference (previous) land use; rubber (83 t C/ha), trop-
use of current oil palm plantation as in Eq. 3. The analysis ical rainforest (225 t C/ha) (Brinkmann Consultancy 2009)
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304
oil for LOF. The results are as illustrated in Fig. 4. Therefore,
the conversion of oil palm plantation from tropical forest has
contributed to greater amount of CO2 emissions; however,
transformation from formerly rubber plantation contributed
to CO2 savings, which is of great benefits to the environment.
It is worth noting again that generally the CO2-eq emissions
from the LOF were relatively higher than the CLU. Therefore,
this probably explains the significance of the different land use
change scenarios on the CO2-eq emission during the agricul-
tural stage of oil palm plantation.
Based on the carbon stock changes, CLU (from previously
rubber plantation into oil palm plantation) potentially acts as
carbons sinks; moreover, it also assigns a positive enhancement
in GHG balance. Even though common expansion of Malaysian
oil palms resulted from the conversion of LOF, but these scenar-
ios contributed to the unbalance GHG situation. Therefore, prop-
er management on the land use changes have to be implemented
as to increase the yield of palm oil production and also to reduce
the expansion of oil palm plantation in LOF.
Comparison of field data and resulting N2O and CO2-eq
emissions for oil palm plantation with other reported
values
The results obtained from this study were compared to those
of the reported values for Malaysian oil palm plantation and
elsewhere (Table 6). The N-mineralised from decomposition
Fig. 4 Emissions from carbon
stock changes for converted land
use (CLU) and logged-over forest
(LOF) (a) t CO2-eq per unit area
and (b) kg CO2-eq per MJ palm
oil
5301
of organic matter in soil found in this study (158–173 kg N/ha)
was close to the reported value for Malaysian oil palm plan-
tation, i.e. 159 kg (Schmidt 2007). The SOC were found lower
(49–73 t C/ha) than the values reported in Thailand, 71–116 t
C/ha (Siangjaeo et al. 2011) and Colombia, 69 t C/ha
(Castanheira 2014). No data were found for Malaysian sce-
nario for SOC.
Generally, the N2O emissions found in this study are within
the range reported from other studies for oil palm plantation
(e.g. Melling et al. 2007; Germer and Sauerborn 2008;
Castanheira et al. 2014) and lower than reported by Schmidt
(2007). The resulting CO2-eq emissions are much lower than
the values reported for oil palm plantation elsewhere (e.g.
Germer and Sauerborn 2008; Fargione et al. 2008; Wicke
et al. 2008; Agus et al. 2010). The carbon stock changes for
converted land use from previously rubber plantation (−3.98
to −0.71 t CO2-eq/ha) were found within the range of values
reported elsewhere suggesting the increase of carbon stocks
from such land conversion into oil palm plantation. However,
this is in contrast to Hansen et al. (2014) that found positive
carbon stock changes from rubber to oil palm land conversion
for Malaysian scenario. The study suggested that there are
multiple emissions that also need to be considered despite
changes in land use for such case, for instance the emissions
that are released during the production of rubber elsewhere.
On the other hand, conversion of forest into oil palm planta-
tion has resulted in GHG emissions (16.27–18.91 t CO2-eq/
 5302

Table 6 Comparison of field data and resulting parameter values for N-related emissions and emissions related to carbon stock changes for oil palm plantation with other reported values
d
N-related emissions
a a a a
This study Schmidt Brinkmann Castanheira et al. Melling et al. *aMurayama and *Agus et al. Germer and Melling *Fargione et al. *Wicke et al. *Koh et al.
(2007) Consultancy (2014) (2007) Bakar (1996) (2010) Sauerborn et al. (2005) (2008) (2008) (2011)
(2009) (2008)
N-fertiliser 108–135 100–106 140
(kg N/ha)
N-mineralised 158–174 159 30
(kgN/ha)
b
N2O emission 6.47–7.78 19–24.5 4.5–14.5 1.2 4.1
(kg N2O-N/ha) c6.58–7.75
b
CO2-eq 498–590 1500–2000 54,300 27,000–40,000 33,000 566 55,000 42,700 19,200
(kg CO2-eq/ha) c507–582
Emissions related to carbon stock changes
a a a a
This This study Schmidt Brinkmann Hansen et al. Siangjaeo et al. Castanheira et al. *Wicke et al. Hassan et al. Silalertruksa and Harsono et al. Wei et al.
(2007) Consultancy (2014) (2011) (2014) (2008) (2011) Gheewala (2012) (2014)
(2009) (2012)
b
Soil organic 49–70 71–116 69
c
carbon 56–73
(t C/ha)
b
Carbon stocks 88–110 171 96–118 129
c
(t C/ha) 96–114
b b b b c
Carbon stock −27–(−5) −31–(−16) 110 −12–(−19) −23.3–14.9
c c c
changes 110–129 52–245 415
(t C/ha)
b
(t CO2-eq/ha) −3.98–(−0.71) −7.66
c
18.91–16.27 1.70–25
b b b b
(g CO2-eq/MJ) b−13–(−2) 33 −51 −85 1 53–150
c c c c c
54–63 126 391 3300 248

*Adapted from Page et al. (2011)

a
Malaysian scenario
b
Transformed land use (including rubber plantation, grassland, cassava and other cropland conversion into oil palm plantation)
c
Logged-over forest
d
N-related emissions during agricultural stage of palm oil production
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:5293–5304
ha), the values of within the range reported for Malaysian oil
palm. The amount of CO2-eq emission/MJ palm oil were
found at the rate below the EU-RED criteria of 55 g CO2-
eq/MJ (European Parliament 2009) for rubber to oil palm land
conversion, but slightly higher from tropical forest conver-
sion. Generally, the emissions of CO2-eq found in this study
from tropical forest conversion were four times higher than the
converted land use from rubber to oil palm plantation.
Conclusions
The results from this study have highlighted the contribution
of GHG emissions from oil palm plantation of different cate-
gory of age and with associated land use changes. The find-
ings could be of useful contribution to site-specific cases of
GHG emissions with regard to oil palm plantation develop-
ment for biofuel production. Note that however, the focus of
this study was solely on the plantation (agricultural) stage of
the palm development over its life cycle. Field experiments
were conducted wherever possible to help strengthen the find-
ings on GHG emissions and the carbon stock changes at re-
spective sites. It was found that the N2O emissions were with-
in the range reported from other studies for oil palm plantation
whilst CO2-eq emissions were generally lower than other re-
ported studies. Additionally, it was found that the conversion
of tropical forest into palm plantation has resulted in relatively
higher GHG emissions (four times higher) compared to con-
verted land use for oil palm development. In contrast, the
conversion from previously rubber into oil palm plantation
has increased the plantation carbon stocks by about 20%.
The conversion of tropical forest into oil palm plantation has
contributed to relatively significant GHG emissions, i.e. car-
bon stock reduction by more than 50%. Additionally, the N
and P-related emissions were found greater for the logged-
over forest compared to the converted land use. Therefore,
in support of sustainable biofuel production from such a de-
veloping country, future development may need to incorporate
the type of land use changes prior to plantation development.
Acknowledgments Funded from the Long-term Research Grant
Scheme (LRGS) project number LRGS/6375401, Ministry of Higher
Education (MOHE), Malaysia is greatly acknowledged The authors also
wish to thank the Universiti Putra Malaysia for the support through
Graduate Research Fellowship scheme.
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