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Successful PhD defence by Fumi Harahap

From left to right: Fumi Harahap and professor Semida Silveira
Published May 28, 2020

On April 24th, 2020, Fumi Harahap from the division of Energy Systems KTH-dES, successfully defended her PhD thesis “Exploring synergies between the palm oil industry and bioenergy production in Indonesia” under the supervision of Semida Silveira and Dilip Khatiwada.

Fumi’s thesis  aims at exploring how resource efficiency can be enhanced in the palm oil industry, in terms of land allocation and biomass utilisation. Three main methods are employed: policy coherence analysis, techno-economic analysis, and a spatio-temporal optimisation model (BeWhere Indonesia). The thesis demonstrates that the transition towards a more sustainable palm oil industry requires a shift from current traditional practices.

Her research produced the following publications:

  • Land allocation to meet sectoral goals in Indonesia – an analysis of policy coherence. DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.11.033
  • Opportunities to Optimize the Palm Oil Supply Chain in Sumatra, Indonesia. DOI: 10.3390/en12030420
  • Cost Competitiveness of Palm Oil Biodiesel Production in Indonesia. DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.115
  • Meeting the bioenergy targets from palm oil based biorefineries: An optimal configuration in Indonesia. [Forthcoming publication].

After the defence, the committee praised Fumi’s work and she was awarded the PhD degree.