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Palm oil wastewater methane emissions and bioenergy potential

Nature Climate Change volume 4, pages 151–152 (2014)Cite this article

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To the Editor —

Palm oil production is driving economic growth, rural development and poverty alleviation in many equatorial economies, yet often with loss of tropical forests1. Here we show that the climate threats do not end following forest clearing: methane (CH4) emissions from palm oil wastewater effluent, known as POME2, represent a significant and rising source of atmospheric warming.

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Figure 1: Methane emissions from palm oil wastewater are an untapped bioenergy resource.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSTAAR and Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 80309, Colorado, USA

    Philip. G. Taylor, Teresa M. Bilinski, Samantha R. Weintraub & Alan R. Townsend

  2. INSTAAR and Department of Civil Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, 80309, Colorado, USA

    Hana R. F. Fancher

  3. Department of Ecosystem & Conservation Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, 59812, Montana, USA

    Cory C. Cleveland

  4. INSTAAR and Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado, Boulder, 80309, Colorado, USA

    Diana R. Nemergut

  5. TSS / CGD, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, 80305, Colorado, USA

    William R. Wieder

Authors
  1. Philip. G. Taylor
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  2. Teresa M. Bilinski
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  3. Hana R. F. Fancher
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  4. Cory C. Cleveland
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  5. Diana R. Nemergut
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  6. Samantha R. Weintraub
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  7. William R. Wieder
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  8. Alan R. Townsend
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip. G. Taylor.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Palm oil wastewater methane emissions and bioenergy potential. (PDF 811 kb)

Supplementary Information

Numerical calculations and comparisons of methane emissions from a typical wastewater facility. (XLSX 80 kb)

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Taylor, P., Bilinski, T., Fancher, H. et al. Palm oil wastewater methane emissions and bioenergy potential. Nature Clim Change 4, 151–152 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2154

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