Finding The Best Treasure From Energy Plantation Implementation Part 6

"It is He Who has brought down the rain from the sky for you, some of it has become a drink and some of it has grown up, the plants which are in your place of grazing your cattle. "(Qur'an 16:10)

"Eat and graze your animals. Verily in this, there are signs of the power of Allah for those who understand. "(Qur'an, 20:54)

"Muslims are syirkah (sharia business cooperation) to three things, in terms of pasture (land), water and fire (energy)". (HR. Sunan Abu Daud).

When Muslims practice the instructions above, the problem of food, energy and water will be overcome. Why is the problem of food, energy and water so chaotic now? It can even threaten a country's sovereignty. The answer is because muslims don't practice the instructions above. In the current era when the world is competing to lower the earth's temperature, the energy sector can be a strategic entry point. Energy from trees or wood which is also in line with the current Qur'anic guidance has become a world program because it is a carbon neutral fuel that does not increase CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Europe, for example with the proclaimed bioeconomy program, energy from biomass reaches 70%. Japan and Korea with renewable energy programs also need tens of millions of tons of biomass fuel. The United States through its Energy Department has announced the production of dry biomass of at least 1 billion tons in 2040 without damaging the environment. Canada with its climate plan has also targeted to eliminate or free coal and gas power plants in 2030. When Muslims practice these instructions, they will get a reward for their faith in Allah SWT and His Messenger, not just benefits worldly like environmental benefits and economic benefits.

Wood pellets are biomass processing products that are very popular today. Multipurpose energy plantations can be used for the production of woody biomass as raw material for the production of wood pellets. The export wood pellet market is mainly Japan and Korea, but both have their own characteristics. Designing a multipurpose energy plantation for production also requires its own techniques, for more details can be read here. With Syirkah (sharia business cooperation) it is very likely that this potential can be realized. Then what if the Muslims do not want to be syirkah (sharia business cooperation)? First, obviously it will be very difficult to capture these opportunities. Second, the problem of food, energy and water will be controlled by non-Muslims, and Muslims will only be spectators and consumers, similar to today's conditions. Third, when the important matters of food, water and energy are not in the hands of the Muslims, the people are not self-sufficient and easily broken down and so on. Migration from fossil economics to bioeconomy is the right momentum for the economic awakening of the muslims people. The domestic wood pellet market also needs to be created and developed continuously. It is not impossible when the production of biomass fuels, especially wood pellets is massive, the role of renewable energy from biomass becomes dominant. Especially at this time Indonesia has also become the nett importer of petroleum. Petroleum produced domestically is not enough to meet the consumption of its population.

Sheep farming and honey bees integrated with energy plantations will provide optimal added value. The undeveloped and organized sheep producers in Indonesia makes the contribution in the economic sector still minimal. For example, in a country with a majority of non-Muslims such as the United States, there is a sheep association namely the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI), which has about 83,000 sheep producers. In addition to a number of pastures both in the area of ??fruit trees or food crops, such as coconut plantations, mango plantations, guava and so on are ideal locations for sheep farming, the grasslands are in forest areas whose main products are wood such as mahogany, sengon and so on are also very good. In reference to Alberta, Canada's local Ministry of Environmental Protection has used tens of thousands of sheep to control hairy grasses that block the growth of weed grass in the area. Sheep include livestock that are resistant to a number of plants that are considered toxic, like furry plants which are a kind of weed and poisonous to cattle. So because of its ability in Texas and Southwest sheep is also used to control a number of species of weeds that attack grass habitat.

Maintaining a minimum of 3 inch (7.5 cm) grass is an important factor in pasture

Grazing techniques in Indonesia may have its own characteristics, this is because Indonesia has a tropical climate, while most big sheep producers are currently in subtropical climates. But it is precisely in this tropical region that sheep farming should have an ideal place for grazing, because it refers to the above Qur'anic instructions (Qur'an 16:10). Rotation grazing is the best way to get the best quality and quantity of meat. Milk, wool and leather are also other products produced from sheep farms which are also very much needed by Indonesia at this time. The speed of grass to recover in the rainy season is much faster than the dry season. But because excessive rain can cause the sheep to get sick and die, the pasture duration during the rainy season can be accelerated, but with shorter rotations and more sheep in the cage. Whereas in the dry season the way of grazing is the opposite. A good irrigation will keep the green-green grass in the dry season. In the current era to get water for irrigation a number of ways can be taken. In addition to flowing water from mountain water sources or blocking the flow of rivers, other methods such as making wells and water are raised and used on these plantations and farms. A number of technologies can be used to generate electricity for pump energy that raises water from the well, for example solar energy with solar PV, wind energy, biomass energy with gasification, stirling engine and ORC (organic rankine cycle).

Sheep grazing with cattle has also been shown to give positive results. This is because the two types of livestock have different grazing habits, for example sheep like broadleaf grass, while cows like narrow leafy grass. Sheep and cattle grazing can be done simultaneously or at different times. Pastures is also better, because all grasses are eaten by sheep and cattle, evenly. If the grassland is not grazed evenly, the quality of the grass will also decrease. Certain types of grass become favorites for sheep so that this type will be eaten more, even run out. Grass with such conditions becomes difficult to grow well again. Pastoral care as well as agricultural fields must be maintained to continue to produce these livestock feeds. Another important indication that this joint grazing gives more positive results, it's from a number of studies carried out in various locations in the world that with sheep grazing with cattle (mixed grazing), sheep weight gain is around 10% than just sheep grazing and an increase in cow weight around 25% compared only cow grazing.

Honey bee farming is another additional effort to improve the optimization of land use and help pollinate a variety of plants. There are many types of honey bees, the consideration of choosing the type of honey bee is also based on the cultivation technique and the honey production. Local honey bees are generally more easily cultivated such as the genus Trigona (stingless bee). Wood pellets, sheep, (plus cows) and honey are products that integrate energy plantations with farms of sheep and honey bees. This is the current opportunity, especially for Muslims to boost and accelerate their economic growth by means of the syirkah like the Prophet's hadith above. When the bioeconomy in Europe is targeted to drive the economic sector by € 2 trillion (34,000 trillion or 17 times the Indonesian state budget) and the absorption of 20 million workers, then Indonesia with biggest country in South Ast Asia, the bioeconomy in the tropics are based on integration these energy plantations and farms should also be very large. The Netherlands, which has an area about the size of East Java, targets 2.6-3 billion Euros (around 50 trillion rupiah) from its bioeconomy sector. Of course more important than all of this is our faith and devotion to Allah SWT so that the blessings from heaven and earth will be bestowed:

"If the inhabitants of these countries have faith and piety, surely We will bestow upon them blessings from heaven and earth, but they deny (Our verses), We will punish them for their actions." (Surat al-A ' raf: 96)