Abstract
Palm trunk fiber and empty fruit bunch (EFB) fiber are the two most abundant wastes generated from the palm oil industry. These waste materials have been causing environmental concerns, especially in Southeast Asia, where 85% of the world’s palm oil is produced. This paper evaluates the possibility of using these wastes as biomass feedstock in the production of bioethanol. The materials were first pretreated with cutter milling, and then ball milling for 240 min. Enzymatic saccharification was carried out using an enzyme mixture containing cellulase, β-glucosidase, and hemicellulase. Next, approximately 57.2% cellulose from palm tree fiber and 42.4% cellulose from EFB fiber were hydrolyzed. The ethanol fermentation experiment showed high ethanol productivity from fermentable sugars in the enzymatic hydrolysates in both types of fibers. The ethanol yields from palm trunk fiber and EFB fiber were 0.18L/kg and 0.08L/kg, respectively.
