Go Biomass, Go Bioeconomy!

"Verily in the creation of the heaven and the earth, and the alternation of night and day there are signs for the intelligent (ulil albab). Those who remember Allah while standing or sitting or lying down and they are thinking about the creation of the heaven and the earth - (then say) 'Our God, you have not created this in vain, Glory to You, so guard us from the torment of hell ". (Qur'an Surah 3: 190-191)

Energy is at the foundation of various economic activities. To heat, cool, illuminate, communication and various computer systems, transportation, mechanical work always requires energy. Currently most of the energy comes from fossil fuels that are bad for the environment in the form of rising carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration which causes climate change and global warming problems. In addition, the fossil fuel in value is also unsustainable because of its limited resources, so the key words of energy development for the present and future is sustainability. In the Qur'an Surah An Naba '(78): 13, Allah SWT makes the sun a light or source of energy for the universe, then makes rain from the cloud (QS 78: 14) and And with that rain water God cultivates grains and plants (QS 78: 15) as well as shady gardens (QS 78: 16).

Mauna Loa Observatory: 1959 recorded CO2 concentration of 316 ppm, and in 2013 has reached 400 ppm or increased 27% in the period of half a century. It also means 50% higher before the industrial revolution era

Sunlight as a source of energy for the universe so that the temperature of the earth can be maintained and various life processes can run. Including fossil energy is also derived from various plants that photosynthetic in the past. Extracting solar energy as energy has become a human concern nowadays. In what way should humans extract the sun's energy? It is by using trees through its photosynthetic process for biomass production. In fossil energy, geological processes have made it concentrated and become a rich deposit, while in renewable energy the presence of sunlight becomes very vital. Even from the existence of various trees then the springs will appear and then into rivers. The question is where on earth the location can get abundant sunflow and continuously throughout the year? Tropical areas like Indonesia is the location so that the photosynthetic process can run with the optimal nature and for more details can be read here. Then why is the Muslim-majority Indonesia with a vast land area with abundant sunfloods not also have a meaningful role in the era of bioeconomy with renewable energy, especially biomass as its main commodity? Does not Allah SWT also command us to prosper the earth (Qur'an Surah 11:61)? Let's reflect together.

In the midst of energy efficiency, the projected global energy consumption continues to increase, with an increase of 1.5% annually from 2012 to 2035. Renewable energy, especially biomass, is significantly increased, ie, twice the growth of nuclear energy and more than three times the growth of hydro energy. While the growth of fossil energy consumption is only about 1/6 of this. This shows the era of bioeconomy increasingly open. The woody biomass of the trees has been a source of energy for society since ancient times and in the era of bioeconomy turned history over. The United States currently uses 1% of wood biomass for electricity production and 2% in the industrial sector. Even recently America through its energy department (The US Department of Energy) proclaimed a dry biomass production of at least 1 billion tonnes by 2040 and the mission has also encouraged its neighbor Canada to develop a similar program. While Finland and Sweden have even reached almost 1/5 of the energy sector using wood biomass that is for the production of electricity and heat sources. In contrast to Italy, known as the largest wooden biomass user for the household sector on space heating, for more detail can be read here. While in Asia, Japan and Korea are the two countries that pioneered massive wood biomass. Korea with RPS (Renewable Portfolio standard) proclaimed since 2012 has targeted the use of 20% wood biomass by 2020. Japan after the Fukushima nuclear plant tragedy in 2011 has also encouraged the use of wood biomass for its energy source. In general large countries have included biomass as its energy policy or commonly known as bioeconomy. How about Indonesia? Despite having a strategic position on the equator and wide available land but the vision of biomass energy in Indonesia has not been encouraging, because it only occupies 3% portion in its energy mix. Wood pellets are a very popular form of wood biomass energy today because they are efficient and easy to use and store. Wood pellet production process technology can be read here.

Basically there is a lot of energy that can be generated from biomass and all the energy from fossils can also be generated from biomass because of the similarity of the constituent chemical elements. Why are biomass constituent chemical elements the same as fossils? Back again because of the origin of the fossil from biomass and as described in the verses of Allah SWT in the series QS 78 above. Only in practice not all the biomass is currently processed into energy such as fossil diverse including various chemicals, this is because in general is still constrained technical and economical. In terms of shape of energy include solid, liquid and gas types, such as wood chips, wood pellets, wood briquette, torrified wood, charcoal in solid form, and bioethanol and biodiesel in liquid form and biogas and syngas on gas form. And more important that the use of trees as a source of biomass for energy in accordance with the Qur'an and for more details please read here. By remembering Allah SWT by standing or sitting or lying down and they are thinking about the creation of the heaven and the earth (QS 3: 190-191) is certainly not just a winner in the bioeconomy era but further increasing iman and taqwa to Him that gives the world and akhirat (hereafter). For those interested in discussing and facilitating this opportunity so that it is implemented please write email: eko.sbs@gmail.com