The Urgency of a Justice Energy Transition

A Muslim from the United States (US) who is also an environmental activist, Ibrahim Abdul Matin (2012), in his book Green Deen: What Islam Teaches about Protecting the Planet calls renewable energy as energy from heaven. According to him, energy from heaven is energy that comes from above, namely that energy is not extracted (dug up) from within the earth, and can be renewed (renewable). "Extraction causes imbalance (causes climate change), while energy from above is like from heaven."

And so in the carbon perspective when carbon as an energy source comes from (extraction) in the earth, namely fossil energy (petroleum, coal, natural gas) then it contributes to increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, or the term carbon positive, while if it comes from plants (biomass) which because it comes from the process of photosynthesis then it does not increase the concentration of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, or the term carbon neutral. Energy sources that come from the sun, wind and water are also included in the carbon neutral energy sources. Meanwhile, if the carbon source from plants (biomass) from photosynthesis, then it can be stored (carbon sequestration) for hundreds or even thousands of years then it will reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, or the term carbon negative.

Even more specifically related to coal mining, the fatwa of Muhammadiyah, one of the largest Islamic mass organizations in Indonesia, stated that the four main problems of coal mining in Indonesia are (a). environmental damage; (b). regulations that are not based on justice and welfare; (c) neglect of the rights of communities around the mine, and (d) mining business as a political tool. If the fatwa is used as a basis for policy and motivation in a just energy transition, environmental damage can be minimized.

Currently, to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, decarbonization efforts are being carried out, namely reducing or replacing the use of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. The production of biomass fuels such as wood chips, wood pellets, wood briquettes and so on is in the context of decarbonization. Likewise, the production of biochar, then the carbon can be stored for a very long time (carbon sequestration) is starting to be widely carried out today. Even the application of biochar is also used to improve the condition of damaged or less fertile soils so that agricultural or plant productivity will increase. In this context, biochar can even be used to overcome the food shortage crisis, for more details read here.

Renewable energy sources come from plants (bio-energy) which is also in line with QS. Yaasin (36): 80. To produce these energy sources such as tree trunks, fruits, seeds or other parts of the plant, plants carry out photosynthesis. In addition to water and carbon dioxide (CO2), this photosynthesis process requires sunlight. The sun is very important as a source of energy for living things, especially for plants. The sun is a very abundant source of energy, free and will not run out except when the apocalypse arrives. The word sun is mentioned 25 times in the Qur'an and is one of the names of the chapters that Allah immortalized in the Qur'an. This shows that Allah wants to give a sign that there is something that needs to be explored by humans through asy-shams or the sun. Plants through the process of photosynthesis will store energy from the sun in the form of its biomass and this is likened to a battery. This green battery of plants can be used as a very large source of energy, for more details read here.

Regarding the action to mitigate climate change, the role of Islamic scholars can be very important. Even a survey conducted by Purpose and the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) said that the role of Islamic scholars in this action has the highest influence or level of trust compared to other groups (including environmental activists, government and scientists). And even the results of the National Climate survey also show that legislative members are in last place in terms of public trust. Efforts to prosper or manage the earth according to Allah's command, namely Q.S. Hud: 61 and this is indeed also the duty of humans as Allah's caliphs on earth or on this planet (Q.S. Al-Baqarah: 30) so that the management of the earth must be based on Islamic teachings or values. While the concept of western secularization has resulted in its perspective, namely that humans have dominance over the earth, not as its managers, which is the Islamic view. Muslims must be guardians or managers of the earth, for the sake of their environment and most importantly for the sake of Allah SWT's command.

Although Islam teaches its followers to maintain or manage the earth or caliphate on this planet. And that they will be held accountable by Allah for their actions, but the fact is that the world's inaction continues despite the declaration of Muslim countries in 2015 to play an active role in combating climate change. This certainly has a negative impact on the global climate problem. Concern and real action on this climate should be increased along with efforts to increase faith and piety and mastery of science and technology, especially coupled with a number of natural disasters due to climate change. Gradual energy transition or migration is one solution. Muslim countries should have an advantage in the climate race. They have a framework and belief system that mandates the protection of the earth and its natural resources.

Encouraging the Machinery Industry to Support the Bioenergy Industry

When realizing that Indonesia is a biomass “heaven” so that it has the potential to become a world leader in bioenergy, then a number of efforts should be made to support this. Production equipment or machines are one of the components that support this. For example, large-capacity wood pellet production usually relies on European machines that have proven to be reliable so that the wood pellet business goals can be achieved. Cost to benefits ratio analysis is used in selecting these European machines. However, because buying European machines with complete production lines is expensive, the use of combination machines is an alternative. The complexity and heart of a production process usually lies only in the main equipment and this is still imported, while supporting equipment should be able to use local production equipment.

When production equipment can work according to its capacity and function, the production target (quantity and quality) can be achieved. Choosing a number of supporting equipments that is appropriate and able to operate according to the needs of the main equipment is not easy. Getting a local machine manufacturer partner to get a match between the characteristics of the main machine and the supporting machine does take time and process. But to be able to play a role and reduce risk in the decarbonization era, it can be started by supporting some equipment at a small capacity or limited to certain equipments only. Engineering and design factors are the main important factors before fabricating the supporting equipments.

Of course, if a number of supporting factors are met, such as mastery of science and technology, experience, good company organization and so on, then 100% production of production equipment or complete lines can be done. Of course, it takes time and effort that is not simple, such as maintaining the performance of the quality of the machine product so as to provide satisfaction to users with the hope that business performance will also increase and research is ongoing. And by gradually becoming part of actively participating in various bioenergy projects, mastery of technology through technology transfer is also possible. Being part of the solution and playing a role in it is an important thing to do, including in the machinery industry that supports the bioenergy industry.
 

Energy Plantations Energy Sources for All Time

 "Allah who makes fire for you from green wood, then you kindle (fire) from it." (QS. Yaasin (36): 80)

The sun was created by Allah SWT as the main source of energy for humans and living things on earth. It takes about 8 minutes for sunlight to reach the earth and is converted by plants into a food source so that it can be consumed by animals and humans. Humans also get food from animal sources. The more sunlight, the more can be converted by plants through the process of photosynthesis. Without the sun, plants die, animals die, humans die so that there will be no life on earth. Fossil fuels are essentially a source of energy from plants and animals in the past. Mining and use of fossil fuels will release a number of greenhouse gases (GHG) which increase the earth's temperature which at a certain level is dangerous for the earth's population itself. Efforts to overcome this are by using non-fossil energy and renewable energy so as not to contribute to increasing the concentration of GHG in the atmosphere which increases the earth's temperature.

From plants or trees can be directly used as a source of energy or fuel, namely firewood. Derivatives or energy products from plants are also very diverse and can meet all human needs, both energy in the form of solid fuels, liquid fuels and gas fuels. The production of firewood, wood chips, wood briquettes, sawdust, torrified biomass to charcoal are a number of solid fuel products. While the production of biooil, bioethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel / green diesel, and bioavtur / bio jet fuel are a number of liquid fuels. And biogas and bio-syngas are gas fuels that can be produced from the original material in the form of plants.

A number of conversion techniques based on physics, chemistry and biology are needed for the conversion. The use of appropriate plant species is also needed to facilitate the conversion, for example for the production of solid fuels, biomass sources such as wood are needed, while if the target is liquid fuel, then the type of oil-producing plants that need to be pursued. Conversion from solid fuels to liquid or gas fuels can also be done but in general the longer and more complicated the process, the more expensive the production costs will be. But still, energy plantations are the basis for all of that.

Popular and fairly easy biomass processing is to make wood chips with size reduction then wood pellets and wood briquettes through biomass densification. Furthermore, to convert sugary biomass into ethanol with fermentation and azeotropic distillation, convert lignin biomass (lignocellulosic biomass) into ethanol with enzymatic hydrolysis reactions followed by fermentation and azeotropic distillation. Converting woody biomass into fuel with a thermal process can be burned directly or if you want to make charcoal, concentrate the fixed carbon, namely by pyrolysis or carbonization, and if you want to maximize liquid products / bio-oil / pyro-oil, namely by fast pyrolysis and if you want to maximize gas products, namely by gasification. And so that the characteristics of the biomass are like hydrophobic coal, the torrefaction or mild-pyrolysis process can be carried out. Torrefaction and densification are usually carried out together to optimize the biomass fuel product.

With gas to liquid (GTL) namely the gasification process and followed by the Fisher - Tropsch process, bio-ethanol, biodiesel and bioavtur / bio jet fuel can be produced. While from groups of plants that produce oil such as palm oil, biodiesel can be made especially with the transesterification or estran (esterification plus transesterification) process. Even used oil or used cooking oil / used cooking oil and miko (minyak kotor) / dirty oil or PAO (palm acid oil) can also be used for biodiesel / green diesel or further processed into bio-jet fuel / bio-avtur with the HVO / HEFA - SPK (Hydro-processed Esters and Fatty Acids-Synthesized Paraffinic Kerosene) process.

So basically, biomass from trees can be processed into various forms of energy or fuel needed by humans. In addition to being used directly as a heat source, this energy can also be converted into mechanical energy or electrical energy, for example biofuel-fueled vehicles to biomass power plants. So the source of energy throughout the ages stored in plants is this biomass as stated by Allah SWT in the verse above and there is no doubt whatsoever about it. Indonesia as a tropical country is a "heaven" for the production of biomass because of the rays of sunlight throughout the year and adequate rainfall and extensive land. The storage of energy in plants from sunlight is also likened to a battery that can be used anytime and anywhere for more details read here.

Another important thing to note for the creation of energy plantations or biomass plantations is the status of the land used. The land must not be from deforestation or land conversion (land use change) that damages the environment. Industrial plantation forests (HTI) that are in accordance with their designation can be used as energy plantations. In addition, biomass for producing energy can also be cultivated on critical land, or referred to as 'unproductive' land. The Indonesia Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) estimates that critical land in Indonesia in 2016 was 24.3 million hectares (Times Indonesia, 2017). This is a very large area, and overall Indonesia's territory is large enough to provide biomass for renewable energy production.

Why Has Large Capacity Wood Pellet Production from the Calliandra Energy Plantation Not Been Realized?

 

As a tropical country that has the largest land area in Southeast Asia, the potential for fuel or renewable energy from biomass, especially wood pellets, is very potential and promising. To maintain the stability of large capacity production volumes and their continuity, wood pellet production must use raw materials from energy plantations or biomass plantations. Energy plantations from short rotation coppice & fast growing species from legume groups such as red calliandra (Calliandra calothyrsus) have been a concern for quite a long time, but why has this large capacity wood pellet production not yet been realized or has no industry realized it? Below could be two main factors causing this:

1. Quality of calliandra wood pellets

The characteristics of rotational crops and fast growth of the legume group are that they contain quite high levels of potassium and sodium (K+Na) in their wood. Potassium has the property of having a low melting point so it will be problematic for heat exchangers in power plant boilers in general. The high potassium content makes its use unsuitable for power plants in general, namely those that use pulverized combustion (PC). Red calliandra (Calliandra calothyrsus)  in particular is the same, so with a large production capacity, the quality of export-oriented wood pellet products needs to be improved by reducing the content, especially potassium and sodium (K+Na). 

The process of reducing K + Na, which is part of the ash content, is carried out using a leaching / washing process. This unit needs to be added to the wood pellet production process from red calliandra. Apart from making calliandra wood, the raw material for wood pellets, this process becomes wetter, it also produces waste water. This will increase the production costs of red calliandra wood pellets.

Although it is possible that the leaching/washing process was not carried out so that the resulting wood pellets still have a fairly high K + Na content, they still have the potential to be used for certain types of power plants, such as those with fluidized bed and stoker technology. However, this type of power generation technology is not as common as the use of pulverized combustion (PC) technology. So that market acceptance for the production of calliandra wood pellets is large or can be used in all types of power plants, the leaching/washing process should be carried out.

2. Utilization of only certain parts (partial) of the plant, and not comprehensive (whole tree utilization)

When it only use wood for wood pellet production, it means that only part of the plant is used (partial) or there are other parts of the plant that are not used, namely the leaves and flowers. In fact, these two parts of the plant will be able to maximize income or profits which will provide the impetus to accelerate the realization of large capacity wood pellet production from the energy plantation. The additional costs incurred for the leaching/washing process will be compensated by the income/profits from leaf processing and flower utilization.

Calliandra leaves which have a high protein content are processed into animal feed, especially into flour or also pelleted into feed pellets. Meanwhile, the nectar from flowers is used as food for honey bees in beekeeping to produce calliandra honey. By maximizing the potential of all parts of the plant (whole tree utilization) of calliandra, various products (multiple products) are produced so that the driving force to accelerate the realization of large capacity wood pellet production from energy plantations becomes stronger.

One form of gratitude for Allah SWT's blessing in the form of a country with a tropical climate with vast land is to use it in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner. Tropical areas like Indonesia are a "paradise" for biomass production, especially for biomass energy (bioenergy) in the form of wood pellets. Optimizing this potential, especially with large capacity production of wood pellets and additional products, could be a boon and a blessing for prosperity as well as a solution to global climate problems (carbon neutral fuel). And basically business judgment is also needed from the entrepreneur's side so that the entrepreneur has the courage to decide to execute this business opportunity.

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.

Dichotomy of Energy Plantation and Legumes Plantation

There is a dichotomy between friends in livestock and forestry today about these legumes. From animal husbandry, they see leaves as a source of feed protein from plants and from forestry, they see wood as a source of wood that is easy to cultivate with high productivity. In the forestry sector, the wood is usually used as a renewable energy source such as wood chips, wood pellets, wood briquettes or charcoal briquettes. Forestry grows thousands of hectares of these legumes such as gliricidia with a wood orientation while the leaves are considered a by-product or waste from their plantation side. By utilizing the wood and leaves, it means getting out of this dichotomy, creating a new paradigm and being able to overcome food and energy problems or optimize the legume plantation or energy plantation (whole tree utilization) of thousands of hectares.

In addition to functioning as a legume plantation for animal feed, especially ruminants (sheep, goats, cattle, buffalo), as well as biomass fuel as above, the same plantation can also be used as a raw material for synthetic fiber board, for more details, please read here . Meanwhile, as the bioeconomic era is getting closer, the need for bioenergy, especially wood pellets, is increasing, the need for animal feed, especially ruminants which is part of the chain of human food needs is also increasing and indeed the growth of the earth's population is also increasing, and the need for biomaterials such as synthetic boards is also increasing. Therefore, the establishment of energy plantations or legume plantations or biomass plantations is very important, strategic and multi-beneficial. Based on these conditions, it is not impossible that in the near future the plantation will become a national and even global trend.

Briquette For Textile Industry

As the demand to become an environmentally friendly industry enters this era of decarbonization, a number of industries have begun to switch to using renewable energy in their production processes, and the textile industry is no exception. You can read about the urgency of a biomass boiler here. A number of boilers are used in the textile industry with the type of boiler that uses a static (static grate) and dynamic (moving grate) furnace. From the operational point of view, a dynamic furnace (moving grate) is easier and more efficient because the combustion process can be more complete. In addition to general fuel specifications such as calorific value, moisture content, ash content and so on, the size and shape of the fuel is also an important factor in the efficiency of the combustion. Wood pellets with a diameter of generally 6 mm and 8 mm and palm kernel shells with a size of about 1 cm to 5 cm are sometimes not suitable for this type of boiler. For these conditions briquette can be the solution. Briquette sizes are not only bigger but also more diverse, including the briquetting technology used, for more details on briquetting technology, you can read here.

Biomass waste, both wood processing industry and agricultural waste such as rice husks, can be used as raw material for these briquettes. Briquette shapes such as pucks or cylinders or short octagonals can be a solution for certain types of boilers. Currently, there is still a lot of wood waste that has not been utilized and even polluted waters such as rivers that can be used for the production of these briquettes, more details can be read here. Meanwhile, rice as a staple food source for the Indonesian population also produces a lot of waste in the form of rice husks. Indonesia's rice production in 2008 is estimated to reach 59.9 million tons of milled dry grain with a husk composition of 25%, meaning that the husk potential reaches 15 million tons/year. Although the amount is abundant but generally its utilization is still not optimal, this is because rice husk has a low bulk density and relatively small calorific value due to the high ash content. Indeed, with biomass compaction technology such as briquetting, the biomass waste becomes easy to use, economical for long-distance transportation and overcomes environmental pollution problems.

Whereas in Indonesia, almost all of the briquettes produced are screw extrude types which are actually not very suitable for the boiler solution. This is because this type of briquette is not only long in shape and also requires a large amount of energy or electrical power for the production process. Cutting it into small pieces will be an additional job in itself. While the mechanical press type to get small pieces to form pucks is easy to do and also requires less electrical power. As a comparison, screw extrude briquettes to produce 1 tonne of briquettes require about 100 kW of electricity, while on a mechanical press to produce 1 ton of briquettes, electricity is needed only 50 kW or half. In addition, when using abrasive raw materials such as rice husk which has a high silica content for a screw extrude type briquette machine, it will only have a short life, while the mechanical press has a much longer service life.

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.

Wood Chip, Wood Pellet, and Wood Briquette from Energy Plantations for Local Market Part 2

The PLN (Indonesia State Owned Electricity Company) cofiring program, which is mixing biomass fuel with coal in coal power plants, will clearly encourage the use of biomass as an energy source. Cofiring is the easiest and cheapest way for coal power plants to start entering or gradually using environmentally friendly renewable energy. Emissions are also getting better as the use of biomass fuels increases, such as because the sulfur content is very low, there is little ash instead of hazardous waste, and fly ash is very small. The amount of added biomass, for example, starts from 1% which is then gradually increased and even finally it can be 100% biomass or renewable energy. In 2020 the cofiring program has been initiated with a target of 37 coal power plants and by the end of 2020 it is reported that it has been implemented for 20 coal powerplants. While in total there are 114 coal power plants units owned by PLN that have the potential for cofiring, spread across 52 locations with a total capacity of 18,154 megawatts (MW) with a target of completion in 2024. Consisting of 13 coal power plant locations in Sumatra, 16 coal power plant locations in Java, Kalimantan (10 locations), Bali and Nusa Tenggara (4 coal power plant units), Sulawesi (6 locations) and Maluku and Papua (3 coal power plant locations). Meanwhile, the cofiring ratio ranges from 1-5% biomass with an estimated biomass requirement of 9-12 million tons per year. Technically, with the 1-5% cofiring ratio, the PLTU also does not need to modify its equipment, so that it can be used immediately after the biomass fuel meets the required specifications.

When detailed about the type of technology used by coal power plants in Indonesia today, there are three types of coal power plant, namely, 43 types of PC (Pulverized Coal) with a total capacity of 15,620 MW requiring a mixture of 5% biomass or the equivalent of 10,207.20 tons per day, 38 types of CFB ( Circulating Fluidized Bed) a total capacity of 2,435 MW requires 5% biomass or the equivalent of 2,175.60 tons per day. Meanwhile, 23 types of stoker with a capacity of 220 MW use 100% biomass or the equivalent of 5.088 tons per day. In the short term, the type of biomass used is waste based, while in the long term it is from energy plantations. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has also allocated a land area of ​​around 12.7 million hectares for the provision of forest land to jointly support the coal power plants biomass supply program. Ex-mining lands covering an area of ​​about 8 million hectares should also be reclaimed using this energy plantation. Even PLN has also signed a memorandum of understanding or a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PTPN III Holding (Persero) and Perum Perhutani. In this case, PLN is the owner of the PLTU, while Perhutani has the resources of industrial forest areas both in Java and outside Java that can be developed as energy plantations. Likewise with PTPN III which has land for the development of energy plantations, read here for more details.

To fulfill the need for biomass as an energy source, energy plantations must be increasingly encouraged. The production of biomass fuels from energy plantations takes longer than processing forestry and agricultural wastes such as felled wood waste, sawdust, wood waste from the wood processing industry, palm oil empty fruit bunches, coconut husks, rice husks, and so on. . The route or option with energy plantations was chosen because in addition to ensuring the quality and quantity of biomass fuel it also optimizes land use, including being integrated with livestock and can be harvested multiple times (coppice) without having to replant for the next harvest. In fact, because energy plantation plants use legumes such as gliricidia and calliandra, which the roots can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, soil fertility also increases. However, more and more efforts are needed for the energy plantation route because it takes at least 2 years for these crops to be harvested and before that it also needs to prepare the soil and plant the trees.

As previously stated, the choice of production for the type of fuel from energy plantations is influenced by several factors, such as the distance between energy plantations and industrial users, production capacity, industrial needs according to combustion technology and investment cost. If the industrial location or power plant is close to each other, even in the energy plantation area, it is sufficient only to make wood chips from the energy plantation. This is because transportation costs are cheap. Meanwhile, if the location is far enough, the wood should be processed into wood pellets or wood briquette. Wood pellets are indeed much more popular than wood briquettes, although technically wood briquette production is easier and production costs are cheaper. In addition, technically, the density of wood briquette can also be higher than wood pellets. This becomes interesting if a producer is interested in wood briquette production as a product diversification and biomass densification technology.

 

For sustainability, energy plantations will also be better than the use of agricultural and forestry wastes or the timber industry as mentioned above. This is because the plantation is designed and made specifically for the purpose of wood as an energy source. This also makes the volume of wood production more certain than relying on the volume of waste, whose availability depends on the main product. Energy plantations and the following livestock businesses are likely to become an exciting new trend and hopefully the momentum will not be anymore.

Rice Husk Pellets or Rice Husk Briquettes?

 

Rice husk truck, photo taken from here

Indonesia's rice production in 2008 is estimated to reach 59.9 million tons of milled dry unhulled rice with a composition of 25% husk, which means that the potential for husks reaches 15 million tons / year. Although the amount is abundant but generally the utilization is still not optimal, this is because the rice husks have low bulk density and low calorific value due to the high ash content. So that the rice husks can be utilized optimally, one solution is densification. With this compacted rice husks can be easier to use, economical in transportation and facilitate storage. A large pile of rice husks also has a strong tendency to burn. The dry husks easily fly like dust so that high concentrations in the room will be flammable and dangerous. Compaction of rice husks will make rice husks larger, denser and heavier so that they do not fly easily or in other words, reduce the risk of the fire.

The need for biomass fuel has increased recently. This encourages the use of agricultural and wood processing industrial wastes. These wastes were initially not utilized and tended to pollute the environment, but now they are being processed a lot for the production of biomass fuels. A positive effort, of course, because in addition to minimizing environmental problems caused by waste, it is also a profitable business activity. Production of biomass fuel can start from medium capacity to large capacity, from a capacity of several hundred tons or thousands of tons per month to hundreds of thousands of tons per month. Although the potential in Indonesia is large, generally the use of these wastes is not maximized so that commercial biomass fuel production is generally still low. 

 Briquettes and pellets are the products of the biomass densification technology. Basically, briquettes and pellets have their own characteristics, although physically they can be easily recognized by the size of the briquette that are bigger than the pellets. The briquette technology is also more diverse than pellets, so that is the case with the output in the form of the briquette product, for more details, please read here. For rice husks for use as industrial fuel, industrial production of briquette with a mechanical press is most suitable. This is because it is technically easier and economically cheaper. Although the rice husk can also be pelleted, it will cost more. This is because rice husks are very abrasive due to the large ash content with the main constituent component in the form of silica. The ring die and roller press on the pelletiser will wear out quickly due to the abrasive material. Production of rice husk briquettes with a screw extruder is also possible and possible, even a number of countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Thailand have also done so. But with these abrasive materials the production costs are also high. The briquettes produced by the screw extruder are also long so they usually need to be cut into pieces for use so that the use of the screw extruder also becomes less practical. With a mechanical press, the briquette size can be cut into small pieces easily, making it easier to use.