Bioenergy is The Best Energy Source

The best energy source is an energy source that are environmentally friendly, sustainable, non-intermittent, available in almost all locations on earth, easy to use, can meet energy needs for both small and large capacities and support other essential needs of life. This can only be met by bioenergy or energy sources that come from living things, especially plants. Most of the land on earth inhabited by humans is overgrown with plants such as trees as a source of this bioenergy. This certainly does not mean that energy sources must come from bioenergy because if only using bioenergy it is likely that energy shortages will occur, so they must complement each other with other energy sources. Bioenergy itself is only a carbon neutral fuel if managed properly, i.e. the amount used for energy sources is at least the same as the growth of the bioenergy plant. In order to reduce the concentration of CO2 or greenhouse gases or decarbonize the use of bioenergy, especially solid fuels such as wood pellets, wood chips and PKS (palm kernel shell) is very important.

White pellets or Pellets 1.0

A number of countries have gradually and systematically reduced the use of coal to zero for power generations. Countries that still prioritize coal will be isolated from the world arena and could face more pressure to stop this activity. Countries that already have a reduction program to replace coal for power generation, namely Germany announced not to use coal in 2038, the UK even targets to no longer use coal for electricity production starting October 2024. Europe with the Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II) renewable energy is targeted to reach 32% by 2030, biomass fuels are predicted to account for around 75% of the share of renewable energy and the target is that coal is not used in total by 2050. North America, namely the United States and Canada as members of the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, and the United States) are also committed to reducing coal consumption, even Canada in 2018 announced regulations to no longer use coal for electricity generation by 2030.

Palm Kernel Shell

The characteristics of each energy source are different from one another. More specifically, renewable energy sources to reduce CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere or decarbonization programs and the position of bioenergy can be explained as follows. The paradigm used to analyze mainly on decarbonization or reduction of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere and electricity production as a supporter or second priority. When this paradigm or mindset is used, in a power plant the thing to be analyzed is the reduction in CO2 that occurs as main priority and then the characteristics of the energy source. To complement or fulfill a number of other energy sources such as wind, solar, water and nuclear are used. Among these energy sources, nuclear is not a renewable energy but its use does not produce CO2 emissions or carbon neutral.

Black Pellets or Pellets 2.0

Wind and solar power plants are intermittent (sometimes the wind does not blow or it is cloudy) making it difficult to rely on a stable electricity supply. Indonesia's condition which is in the tropics makes the sun shine all year round, but also as an archipelagic country it makes a lot of cloudiness and high rainfall so that solar power plants are constrained, for more details read here. Meanwhile, hydroelectric power plants that use dams or river flows also have unstable water discharge conditions, during the dry season it will decrease. In addition, environmental damage factors such as deforestation and so on will affect the water discharge. Forests can be a source of bioenergy so that apart from being a conservation forest, it is also a production forest whose management should improve environmental conditions, including water absorption.

Nuclear is one of the most efficient energy sources but has a high risk factor. CO2 emissions are not produced by this nuclear power plant because the energy produced comes from fission and fusion reactions in the reactor. Until now, Indonesia does not have a nuclear power plant, although studies have been carried out for a long time. The idea of ​​a nuclear power plant has actually been around since 1956 in the form of statements in seminars held in several locations in Bandung and Yogyakarta. Determination of the location along with feasibility studies and a number of supporting studies have been carried out until the late 1990s but have not yet been implemented. Meanwhile in Japan after the Fukushima reactor accident in 2011, nuclear power plants were limited. The current nuclear power plant in Japan, in addition to having a smaller capacity, also has a small generating capacity located far from each other to reduce or avoid this risk. In addition, the construction of a nuclear power plant also takes a long time, which is about 10 years. In its application, nuclear as a generator is functioned to support the base load, which can work well when the output power is constant and cannot be used for peak loads.

Electricity from geothermal is a carbon-neutral energy source as well as wind, nuclear, solar and hydro power plants. The development of electricity from geothermal has great potential for the current decarbonization program. Indonesia in particular can be a user of geothermal electricity because it has great potential, even the largest in the world. Indonesia has a series of 6,000 km of volcanoes that are a source of geothermal energy. According to data from the Geology Agency, KESDM, the potential of geothermal resources in Indonesia reaches 28.5 Giga Watt (GW) spread over 265 geothermal fields and is the largest in the world, while only about 5% has been utilized. Unlike hydroelectric power plants that are affected by annual climates such as a decrease in water flow due to drought, geothermal electricity does not experience it. However, geothermal well fields also require water catchment areas around them such as well-managed forests to maintain the stability of electricity production. The production of electricity from geothermal is base-load, i.e. it produces a constant supply as in nuclear. Currently, the main obstacle to the development of geothermal electricity in Indonesia is the need for large investments with high financial risks, especially on the exploration and development side of geothermal fields. In addition to the selling price of electricity to PLN (as the sole buyer) which must be competitive, carbon credit from carbon offsets from geothermal electricity production should also be the main attraction of this geothermal electricity development.

Natural gas although it is a fossil energy so it is carbon positive but is often used because of its cleaner emission factor and lower CO2 emissions than coal. In general, the combustion of gas fuel will be much more efficient than solid fuel. Natural gas emissions are about 50% of coal emissions. Construction for natural gas-fired power plants is relatively fast and cheaper than coal-fired power plants. Power plants with natural gas are often positioned as a compromise between coal and renewable energy, but natural gas is still a fossil fuel, namely as a carbon positive fuel that increases CO2 in the atmosphere thereby increasing the earth's temperature, so natural gas should not be used as fuel or as a fuel. energy sources as a solution to this climate problem.

To overcome intermittent in wind and solar power plants, it is necessary to back up a stable energy source that can be done by bioenergy, especially with solid fuels (wood chips, wood pellets and palm kernel shells). Other problems such as buffering against variability and peak load are other issues that must be addressed. In addition, battery constraints are also a big problem for wind and solar power plants, and to produce as much power as a conventional power plant or coal power plant, a giant battery is needed. The need for giant batteries is still very expensive, and it is estimated that it will take decades of research to realize it. In addition to production forests that can produce bioenergy sources by utilizing their wood wastes, energy plantations will specifically produce wood whose main purpose is as a source of bioenergy. Plants for the energy plantation are fast growing species and short rotation coppice from legume group such as gliricidia and calliandra. In addition to the wood for bioenergy production such as wood chips and wood pellets, the leaves from the tree are also very good for animal feed, especially ruminants, for more details read here. Strong and deep roots also make better water absorption and prevent erosion. In addition, root nodules in legumes due to their symbiosis with azetobacter also fertilize the soil. So, apart from the energy sector and the food sector, environmental issues such as water conservation and erosion prevention can also be carried out simultaneously. In the Qur'an, bioenergy is mentioned in the letter Yaasiin (36): 80 and the letter Waqi'ah (56): 71-72 that energy comes from green trees. From here it gives direction on the development of the energy including the priorities to be taken.

40-megawatt (MW) gas turbine Mitsubishi fueled with 100% ammonia (NH₃)

In an effort to continue to eliminate CO2 (decarbonization) from the atmosphere to a concentration of 350 ppm (currently (7/8/2021) 415 ppm or an increase of about 2 ppm from last year), environmentally friendly energy sources such as hydrogen (H2) and ammonia ( NH3) (blue or green ammonia) continues to be developed. The two energy sources can then be transported long distances like energy commodities commonly. But what is no less important is that the production of energy sources must also minimize and even eliminate (zero carbon) fossil fuels. Hydrogen production through electrolysis of water, the hydrogen produced can be directly stored or reacted with nitrogen to become ammonia (NH3) using a metal catalyst under high temperature and pressure (Haber-Bosch process). The production process with high temperature and pressure is certainly not easy and simple, not to mention providing a source of energy for the production process. Bioenergy is the best energy source.