2nd Generation Biofuel with Biodiesel Production from Calophyllum Inophyllum and the Like

Biodiesel production from CPO is a 1st generation biofuel where the raw material competes with food products, which of course is not good. Biodiesel production from oils that do not compete with food products will be much better. The image of producers and even their country will also be improved if the program can be carried out on a massive scale. There are a number of trees that produce oil for biodiesel production. The selectivity of plant types related to productivity, climatic conditions and so on is certainly a serious consideration if production is on an industrial scale. Nyamplung oil (calophyllum inophyllum oil) is one of the best solutions because apart from high oil productivity, the productive period is long, and the logs after the productive period are also economical or have high selling value.

The productivity of calophyllum inophyllum oil competes with palm oil, whose productivity is around 6 tons/hectare/year, but caring for calophyllum inophyllum trees is easier and cheaper. Meanwhile, jathropha has lower productivity so it is less attractive and profitable to develop. Calophyllum inophyllum trees that grow well in the lowlands or on the coast will be very suitable for Indonesia as an archipelagic country. Indonesia has a coastline of 99,093 km or the second longest in the world after Canada. And it would be even better if the calophyllum inophyllum plantations on the coast also coincided with coconut planting. Indonesia is famous for its land of coconut islands, which generally grow well in coastal areas. Coconut trees also have many benefits from almost all their parts. If this happens, optimization of renewable energy production, namely biofuel in the form of biodiesel from calophyllum inophyllum oil and food products, especially those based on coconuts.

The transportation sector itself contributes 14% of CO2 emissions globally or 27% in Indonesia. Biodiesel produced by transesterfication reaction (C6-C22 chain) has very similar properties to diesel oil so it can be used 100% in diesel engines without the need for modification or mixing/blending with certain portions. Biodiesel contains 10% oxygen and zero sulfur, which makes engine combustion more complete and efficient. Liquid fuel also has its own advantages over gas fuel, including easy use and storage, and most existing vehicles use liquid fuel, so they can be used straight away. The development of biofuel as a carbon neutral fuel needs to be prioritized as part of decarbonization, especially for 2nd Generation Biofuel because it does not conflict or compete with food.

For 2nd generation biofuel from biomass or lignocelullosic biomass (such as wood waste), biodiesel production is still high cost. There are two process routes for biodiesel production from lignocelullosic biomass, namely gasification for syngas production followed by the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process and fast pyrolysis for biooil production followed by hydrotreating and catalytic cracking processes. This is what makes biodiesel production in this way not possible even though it is technically possible. The raw materials for lignocellulosic biomass are much cheaper because they are generally categorized as biomass waste. However, the complexity of the production process makes production costs expensive, so it is not yet an option.

Meanwhile, for 3rd generation biofuel, namely from microalgae, even though the potential is huge, the productivity can even be more than 16 times the productivity of palm oil or calophyllum inophyllum oil (6 tons/hectare/year for palm oil and calophyllum inophyllum, while oil from microalgae reaches 100 tons/hectare/year ) but it seems that it still takes time to enter the commercialization stage. Problems related to cultivation, harvesting and oil extraction also still require extensive research. By producing biodiesel from calophyllum inophyllum oil, biodiesel production from CPO can be gradually reduced. The larger the calophyllum inophyllum plantation, the greater the biodiesel product produced, so that palm oil or CPO can be specialized as edible oil or specifically a food product. Likewise, it is hoped that oil from coconut will increase along with the growth and development of biodiesel production from calophyllum inophyllum oil.

Future Palm Oil Mill: Producer of CPO, Biochar and Hydrogen at the Same Time

Efficiency factors, optimizing potential and improving climate should be implemented simultaneously in the palm oil industry. This can be done by replacing the combustion furnace in the boiler with pyrolysis so that the boiler fuel is mainly biooil, a pyrolysis by-product, with the main product being biochar and building a biogas unit for hydrogen production as the final product. Biochar will be used as a soil amendment together with fertilizer so that it becomes slow release fertilizer, so that fertilizer use efficiency (NUE: nutrient use efficiency) increases. The use of biochar as carbon sequestration, namely by using it together with fertilizer, will also provide additional income from carbon credits. Acid soil or dry soil will have better fertility with the application of biochar.

Furthermore, liquid waste or POME (palm oil mill effluent) is used as raw material for biogas. With the main component of biogas being methane (CH4), with steam reforming the methane will react with steam at a temperature of 700-1100 C with a nickel catalyst to become hydrogen/H2 and carbon monoxide/CO. To maximize hydrogen H2 production, the resulting carbon monoxide / CO is then subjected to a shift reaction, resulting in hydrogen / H2 and carbon dioxide / CO2 products. The reaction runs at a temperature of 400-500 C or at a lower temperature, namely 200-400 C. At higher temperatures the shift reaction usually uses an iron oxide or chromium catalyst, while at lower temperatures the catalysts usually used are copper, zinc oxide and alumina. , which helps reduce CO concentrations to below 1%.

Indonesia and the Seduction of Coconut Island

Indonesia is famous for its seductive land of coconut islands. This is because the extent of coconut plantations in Indonesia reaches around 3.7 million hectares, most of which are smallholder plantations. The extent of these coconut plantations places Indonesia as the owner of the largest coconut plantations in the world, and the Philippines is in second place. Coconut trees mainly grow along the coast, and indeed Indonesia also has the longest coastline in the world. Even though Indonesia's coconut plantation area is number 1 in the world, its productivity is still lower compared to the Philippines, so the Philippines is also the number 1 coconut producer in the world. The coconut industry in the Philippines is also more advanced than Indonesia. Indonesia, on the other hand, prioritizes palm oil over coconut. The area of Indonesia's palm oil plantations is currently around 15 million hectares or more than 4 times the area of its coconut plantations.

Especially for VCO (Virgin Coconut Oil) products for the export market, apart from requiring better specifications or quality, they are also generally required to be accompanied by organic certification. Organic certification is something that is not easy, especially for small businesses. Information from APCC (Asia Pacific Coconut Community) states that the Philippines is currently the largest producer of VCO, even though the area of coconut plantations is still below Indonesia, with export volume continuing to increase. It was recorded that the Philippines' VCO exports in 2006 were 461 tons, then nine years later, namely in 2015, it increased to 36,313 tons. The coconut industry in the Philippines is also more developed than in Indonesia, this can be seen from the large number of export commodities made from coconut products. The Philippines exports 30 kinds of coconut products while Indonesia only exports 14 kinds of products.

Coconut is like a sleeping tiger. As a tropical country with the longest coastline in the world, the "sleeping tiger" needs to be awakened. This huge potential must be awakened, not weakened, so that coconut-based industrialization must be boosted especially as the productivity of Indonesian coconut plantations continues to decline, plus the demographic bonus so that the potential of natural resources must be optimized, and the vision of a golden Indonesia 2045. Don't let the demographic bonus become a demographic disaster because it is not properly managed and directed. Optimizing natural resources with a sustainable environmental perspective is a future economic solution that must be a common concern.

Size Reduction: Shredder or Chipper ?

There are many biomass processings that require size reduction. With this size reduction, the biomass raw material has a smaller and more uniform size and shape, making the follow-up process easier. After reducing the size, the surface area or contact area becomes larger so that the drying process will be more efficient, especially in continuous drying. The small and uniform size also makes handling easier. Size reduction is usually used in the initial / pretreatment process before the main / core process of processing a biomass.

Biomass, especially from plants, also has various shapes and sizes. This greatly influences the size reduction equipment used. Fibrous biomass such as coconut fiber or empty oil palm fruit bunches will be more effectively and efficiently reduced in size with a shredder rather than a chipper. This is because the fiber dominant and tenacious structure is easier to tear or shred and crush than to cut into pieces like using a knife.

Meanwhile, woody biomass has hard, brittle characteristics and an elongated shape, so the use of a chipper is more effective and efficient compared to a shredder. The character of the wood is easier to cut with equipment such as a knife for size reduction. The output or product from the shredder and chipper is also different in terms of size and shape. The wood produced from the chipper machine is usually called wood chips and looks like chopped wood, while the output from the shredder is in the form of shreds.

Biomass processing products into energy, namely by compaction (densification) into pellets or briquettes, as well as thermochemical routes such as pyrolysis, gasification and combustion are widely used today. If the size and shape of the biomass from the size reduction equipment is suitable, it can be used immediately. However, if the shape and size are not suitable then it is necessary to continue with the next size reduction stage, namely using a hammer mill so that a biomass product is obtained that can be the size of sawdust. In the production of pellets and briquettes, the biomass particle size needs to be made as small as the sawdust, so that compaction (densification) is optimal. Meanwhile, in the thermochemical process, the size of the biomass becomes small particles such as sawdust, usually for equipment that carries out fluidization, for example fluidized bed combustion.

Green Economy in the Cement Industry Part 7: Use of Biomass Fuel Apart from Clinker Substitution in Cement Plants

Cement plants are unique or different compared to processing plants or other industries, namely that the majority of carbon emissions (CO2) are produced not from fuel use but from clinker production. CO2 emissions from clinker production reach 60%, while from fuel use it is only 40%. This indicates that decarbonization efforts in cement plants must prioritize these two things. 

The use of cement additives or SCM (supplementary cementious material) as a substitute for clinker has played a major role in decarbonization in cement plants. The greater the use of SCM or the smaller the clinker to cement ratio, the smaller the carbon emissions in cement production. The use of SCM is generally used in cement production in plants, but there is use of SCM in concrete production, even in a larger portion than in cement production, which is common in the United States.

Cement plants in general are major users of coal with large volumes so they must be gradually reduced as part of decarbonization efforts. Regarding carbon emissions from the use of this fuel, many cement plants use alternative energy such as used tires or RDF from municipal solid waste (MSW). Ideally, the use of renewable fuels will reduce carbon emissions significantly. This is why a number of cement plants have started using biomass fuel such as agricultural waste or wood waste from wood working industries. The greater the portion of renewable fuel used, such as agricultural waste biomass and such wood industry, the lower the carbon emissions produced.

The use of technology to increase fuel efficiency also reduces carbon emissions, such as the use of preheaters and precalciners, because there is savings in fuel use in clinker production. But there are also certain specific conditions, for example the production of type II/V or type V cement (high sulfate resistance) will require more fuel because cement requires clinker with a low C3A (tricalcium aluminate) content, the process of which requires more heat energy.

The analogy to a coal-fired power plant in decarbonization efforts is more or less the same as a cement plant. Coal power plants are industries that produce large carbon emissions, like cement plants. At coal-fired power plants, decarbonization efforts begin by cofiring coal with biomass. The biomass ratio in the cofiring continues to be increased over time. The greater the cofiring ratio or biomass portion, the lower the carbon emissions. At a certain level, the coal power plants will be 100% replaced with biomass (fulfiring).

If efforts to become zero carbon emissions (net zero emissions) in coal power plants can be done by converting the fuel into 100% biomass, then in cement plants it cannot be done simply by replacing the fuel with biomass because the main source of carbon emissions in cement plants is in the clinker production. That is why in cement plants the use of SCM to substitute clinker, the ratio or portion must also be increased. Maximizing biomass fuel use and using SCM also cannot reduce carbon emissions to zero (net zero emissions), because of the calcination process. This is why to achieve net zero emissions in cement plants it is necessary to add CCS (carbon capture and storage) unit.

Ideally, when a coal-fired power plant converts 100% of its fuel to biomass, the carbon emissions are zero (net zero emissions) and if CCS equipment is added, it becomes carbon negative emissions. Meanwhile, in cement plants, the use of optimum SCM and 100% biomass fuel still cannot achieve zero carbon emissions, so CCS equipment needs to be added to capture CO2 from the calcination process to achieve zero carbon and if want to achieve carbon negative emission conditions, CCS is also needed to be used to capture CO2 from burning or using biomass fuel.