Electricity Production from Trees

Soil microbial activity which decomposes various organic materials so that they become nutrients for the trees and photosynthesis can actually be converted into electricity. The process that occurs is the change from chemical energy to electrical energy. This is similar to the battery process which is a source of chemical energy into electrical energy. Then how exactly is the device that can change the activity of microbes and synthetic photos to become electricity? A Dutch company, Plant-E has proven the concept and applied it to real life. A number of gadgets and street lighting are reported to have used electricity that was converted from activities in the trees.

There is a converter in the form of a positive electrode (cathode; catching electrons or reduction) and negative (anode; releasing electrons or oxidation) that converts the chemical energy into electricity. The photosynthesis process that occurs in plants that produce organic material according to the research turns out not to be fully used by these plants, even those that are released or discharged to the soil are quite a lot through the roots. In this phase there is the release of electrons as waste. In electrochemical cells a spontaneous redox reaction produces electricity, that's the principle, so it can be used as a power source.

Electric current is the flow of electrons and each electron is charged 1.6E-19 coulomb. The greater the difference in cell potential between the two electrodes, the greater the electrical current produced. Certain metals are used as electrodes, the more noble the metal group is, the harder it will be to oxidize. So that a more noble metal group is used as a cathode or electron catcher. Microorganisms as an anode that releases electrons or oxidation occurs while the cathode is made from certain metals as electron capture or reduction reactions. The study also showed that plant growth was not disturbed by the installation of electrodes for electricity production.

To optimize the electricity production process, it can be done by optimizing the chemical energy source. Microbial activity in the soil can be optimized by making optimum conditions for microbial growth, including organic farming and biochar use. Chemical fertilizers will kill soil microbes, because they make the soil acidic. Besides chemical fertilizers also damage the structure or physical chemistry of the soil. The soil becomes hard and various nutrients or organic matter become easily released. Hard soil will also minimize soil microbial activity. Biochar with its functions, among others, as a microbial house and holding nutrients to plants will optimize the conversion process of organic matter, so that it will also optimize the electricity production process. An energy plantation with leguminoceae trees that can bind nitrogen from the atmosphere at its roots because of the symbiosis with acetobacter microbes should also increase the electricity production.

The second factor to be optimized is the photosynthesis. Factors such as the availability of adequate nutrition, water and sunlight make photosynthesis run optimally. The availability of adequate nutrition is also strongly related to microbial activity and the availability of organic material as a source of food. Indonesia with tropical climate conditions, the sun shines throughout the year with an average of 12 hours / day and high rainfall makes it very potential for the growth of trees or especially photosynthesis itself. Another advantage in Indonesia is that the unit cannot operate when the ground is snow-covered and we don't find it in Indonesia. In the snowy winter plants stop growing or dormant phase so photosynthesis does not occur. A number of trees have C4 photosynthesis, which is photosynthesis which plants are more adaptive in dry and hot regions. Photosynthesis C4 makes sugar production increase and minimum photorespiration or known photosynthesis is effective. So the third factor that can be optimized is by choosing the types of trees that have C4 type photosynthesis, such as bamboo trees.

As for the electricity capacity produced is quite small, for each m2 it produces around 28 kwh / year or 0.1 kWh / day. If household use spends 10 kwh / day, it means a 100-hectare plantation is needed. If a community group of 100 houses with each of 10 kWh / day means the need for land reaches 10,000 hectares. Some rural areas with minimal electricity needs and large enough plantations can be suitable for this technology. Large plantations with dense tree populations such as tea plantations, sugar cane, energy plantations and so on are predicted to be more effective in their implementation. The application of sensors in the world of agriculture and IoT (Internet of thing) can use electricity from this source. Besides that the activity of climbing a mountain can be more fun when the path that is traversed is lit by lights whose electricity comes from the trees in the forest. Plant e so far uses electricity generated for charging cellphones and other gadgets and street lighting. In the end of the source of energy from the trees further proves the word of Allah SWT namely QS Yaasiin (36): 80 & QS Waqi'ah: 71-72. For more details on the development of the Qur'an-based energy can be read here.

Satay and Processed Lamb Meat anytime!

Eating satay and processed lamb meat products is delicious, so how delicious if you can eat it often. Some of our people can enjoy these dishes only during Eid al-Adha. Of course this must continue to be improved because the average meat consumption of the Indonesian population is still low. Even though protein is one of the essential nutrients we really need. And for that lamb meat is the best meat despite many myths that oppose it. In Al Qur'an Surah 6: 143-144, eight pairs of animals (4 pairs) are two (a pair) of sheep, a pair of goats, a pair of camels and a pair of cows. Of the series of livestock mentioned in the verses above, sheep are first mentioned, then goats, camels and cattle.

The rules in the Qur'an, the first one has virtue over afterwards. Now, this is where sheep have superiority compared to other livestock mentioned in the verses, although all these animals are halal meat eaten. Other indications of the virtue of sheep can also be found in the Qurban event, namely when Prophet Ibrahim was ordered by Allah SWT to slaughter his son Ismail, then by Allah SWT saved Ismail and replaced him with a large sheep. Then we commemorate this event every year and become the Shari'a of Qurban on the Eid al-Adha feast every year in 10 Dzulhijah. Besides that, all Prophets are sheep shepherd, is another indication that lamb is the best meat and the sheep that are grazed are the best treasures. 

The next question that can arise is is there another guide more specific about diet, especially protein? The Qur'an also indicates the source of protein from large livestock occupies the largest portion of poultry and fish. The source of animal protein that is from large livestock is revealed in at least 7 verses or 64%, from fish revealed in 3 verses or 27% and from poultry revealed in 1 verse or 9%. So that the fulfillment of protein needs is the priority of large livestock, especially those that are grazed, because in addition to producing cheap protein, it also fertilizes the land for various human needs.

So that satay and processed lamb meat can be eaten anytime and anywhere, food innovation is needed. We are certainly familiar with various canned foods so that they can last longer such as gudeg, rendang and so on. Of course this is also very possible for lamb. It is also to further promote the best meat, so that when it is called meat, the community will later associate it to lamb instead of beef or chicken as happened today. If the conditions are like that, then the sheep farming industry will grow rapidly. Sheep farming can be integrated with various large plantations and for more details can be read here.

Large Plantations and Large Farms

Fertilizer problems or soil fertility have always been the main topic or discussion for a large plantation business. This is very reasonable because maintaining productivity of crops can only be done by maintaining soil fertility or providing adequate fertilizer. For this reason, the budget for the supply of fertilizer is always a large portion of the plantation business. Then the condition leads to the question of how to make efficiency or save the fertilizer budget? Of course many techniques can be used for this purpose, but basically the selection or use of fertilizer that is appropriate and the effectiveness or absorption of fertilizer for plants is a key success factor in maintaining soil fertility. Let's try to answer the main question above.

When chemical fertilizers are increasingly abandoned because of their effects which damage the environment, there is no other choice but to use organic fertilizer. In large plantations such as oil palm plantations, basically there are also many biomass wastes from palm oil mills that can be used as fertilizer, such as fronds and palm oil trunks. But when these ingredients are also processed to become a particular product, and also the composting process of fibrous wood species takes a long time, the best choice is with organic manure. The question is where do you get livestock manure compost for the oil palm plantation? Actually there are more sources of organic fertilizer or compost that can be produced from palm oil mill effluent, namely from liquid waste. If the palm oil mill has an anaerobic digester, the biogas residue from the sludge can be used as organic fertilizer. At present there are not many palm oil mills that process liquid waste with the biogas unit, with the reason that the unit is considered expensive.

The history and experience of our predecessors before the use of chemical fertilizers can be used as a reference for this. At that time they were able to meet the fertilizer needs of their agricultural businesses, namely by sheep, goats, cattle and buffalo farming. The livestock manure is used for agricultural fertilizer and agricultural waste is used for animal feed. The basic pattern can also be developed for large plantations with several adjustment techniques to improve efficiency. Technical applications in the field that can be done, namely large plantations must cooperate with large farms or even ideally have a large farm to meet the needs of fertilizer for its plantations. For example, an oil palm plantation that has 2000 hectares of plantation area, 100-200 (10-20%) hectares are used for sheep farming. The sheep breeding, not by just being caged, but grazing in the fields of pasture.

Why is sheep farming done in the pasture fields? This is because by grazing the cost of feed can be suppressed very large or the business becomes very economical. The biggest cost component of livestock business is feed. If the availability and supply of feed can be overcome then the other components become easier. The pasture is in the form of grass and shade trees. Making grass always available is the essence of the business, even it can be said that the pasture is grass farming itself. Rotational grazing is the best grazing technique at the moment. When the grass is fertilized with sheep dung during the grazing, the dirt produced when in the cage can be used for fertilizer on large plantations such as the oil palm. The biogas unit can be used to optimize the utilization of dirt from the cage.

Basically, sheep farming can also stand alone and also be profitable. Therefore, sheep farming can be done separately. In the case when an energy plantation is used for the production of wood pellets, it is still constrained by various things such as the presence and supply of electricity, so the farm business can still be run properly. The production of large-scale wood pellets in various regions in Indonesia is currently still constrained due to the electricity supply. This will certainly hamper the growth of the wood pellet industry so there needs to be another way to overcome this, which insha Allah will be discussed later.

With this concept, not only increases plantation and meat production, but also a complete closed cycle business that is environmentally friendly and sustainable. Honey bee farming can also be added for optimization because obviously the bees besides helping the pollination process will also produce honey, a superior product of high economic value. Various food problems, insha Allah, can be overcome with this concept. This is because from the production side it can be made very efficient with the 2 biggest cost components being reduced significantly by fertilizer and animal feed with the integration of large plantations and large farms.

Although it has used compost from livestock manure, there are still more techniques that can be applied to improve fertilizer efficiency by using biochar. With biochar, the fertilizer will be retained in the biochar pores so that slow release makes it effective for fertilization. In addition, biochar will also hold the fertilizer from leaching due to high rainfall, so that the use of fertilizer can also be saved significantly. Biochar will also be the home of microbes to decompose organic matter into nutrients needed for plants. So, in short, with biochar, the productivity of plantations is high, but the use of fertilizer is minimal because it is efficient, especially when fertilizer is produced from the farm itself. This biochar can be produced by processing the plantation biomass wastes by pyrolysis. For more details about pyrolysis can be read here.

Activated Carbon For Gold and Silver Industries

Initially wood charcoal with a surface area around 200 m2 /gram was used to extract gold and silver from the solution. As the development of the activated carbon having a surface area of  1,000 m2 / gram is used for that, of course, also with the increasing efficiency of the extraction. It encourages the production of activated carbon throughout the world. Coconut shell is the favorite material for active charcoal production today, and palm kernel shell is likely to be the next priority.

Activated carbon has a large surface area because of the large number of pores from its surface. The pores are intentionally made to improve the efficiency of adsorption. The more pores are formed the more activated carbon surface area. Based on the size of these pores are divided into macropore, mesopore and micropore. Macropore is the largest pore size located on the outer side or surface of activated carbon and as the entrance material will be adsorbed then through mesopore medium to last to the micropore. Micropore is the last terminal of material that is adsorbed. Micropore pore size ranges from 10 angstrom, mesopore 100-1000 angstrom and macropore larger 1000 angstrom (1 angstrom = 1e-10 meter). The raw material or activated carbon material, the choice of activation process used and the operating conditions that will determine the surface area of activated carbon consisting of macropore, mesopore and micropore. Hardness and density of materials are also often important considerations given the use of activated carbon itself, for example a number of extractions are carried out by stirring and there are also column operations.

The specific use of activated carbon for the application of certain materials or industries usually also requires certain specifications. Activated carbon used in fluid fluids will be optimal when specially designed under these conditions, as well as those used in gas fluids. The size of the target material and its extraction methods will determine the technical specifications of the activated carbon. Likewise in gold and silver, which extraction with stirring and column operations. So the raw material of coconut shell is generally still the main choice because it has a high level of hardness and density so that abrasion resistance. And so too the palm kernel shells can also be used given the high level of its hardness. So the activated carbon used must meet the criteria of quite hard, active enough and appropriate particle size. In the gold extraction activated carbon gold produced by the activation of physics (steam activation) is used. Rotary kiln is an activation equipment with raw materials such as coconut shell, while fluidized bed appliance and multi hearth kiln are commonly used for activated carbon from coal.

Activated carbon basically can be made from various materials that contain carbon (carbonaceous material) such as coal, coconut shell, palm kernel shell, wood, bamboo, heavy oil and even bone. Each material, type of activation and operating conditions of the process determines the quality or characteristics of activated carbon. Activated carbon from coconut shell has many micropore, while activated carbon from wood is dominated mesopore and macropore (micropore only has small portion) because wooden structure also more open. For activated carbon from coal micropore distribution, mesopore and macropore are almost evenly distributed. Based on the above characteristics, activated carbon coconut shell is widely used to adsorb small molecules of gas and liquid. Its uses such as gas masks, solvent recovery and gold recovery. While activated carbon from wood for the application of large molecules such as adsorbing organic dyes in the industry. While activated carbon from coal for the adsorption of organic molecules with varying sizes and their use is generally for drinking (potable) water treatment and wastewater treatment.

After gold or silver is adsorbed into the pores of activated carbon, the next step is to pick or remove (delution) from activated carbon. There are 2 technologies commonly used for this stage namely AARL elution process and Zadra elution process. The difference between electrowinning is an integral part of the Zadra circuit but a separate part of the AARL circuit. Zadra dominates in North America while AARL dominates in Southern Hemisphere, where the technology was originally developed. Which is the best? Operators factor and device performance more decisive. The 10 largest gold producers today include China, Australia, the United States, Russia, South Africa, Peru, Canada, Ghana, Indonesia and Uzbekistan.