Optimizing Calliandra Energy Plantations for Energy, Food and Feed, Is It Possible?

Calliandra energy plantations as the name implies are indeed prioritized or for the main purpose of producing energy from biomass, either wood pellets or just wood chips. This is because wood is the main product of the energy plantation, while leaves and flower nectar are by-products or are considered waste from the wood pellet or wood chip business. However, if the use of leaves for animal feed and flower nectar for honey production has an economic value that approaches or even exceeds the wood pellet product, then it will be a different story. Calliandra leaves, like indigofera leaves and glicidia / gamal leaves, have a high protein content, while this protein element is the most expensive source of nutrition of all the elements in animal feed products, while calliandra honey is one of the best quality honeys compared to other honey products such as acacia honey, kapok honey, rubber honey and so on.

Synchronization between honey and wood production is very important in the energy plantation to maximize profit. In honey production, the first time the calliandra flowers and the next flower cycle are very important. Don't let it be that just because of ignorance of the flower cycle, many benefits that should have been obtained are lost. In addition, for sustainable and optimal honey production, not only calliandra nectar is needed, but also a number of certain plants as support, both for additional bee feed and for making beehives. When all that is available is calliandra nectar, honey production will be maximized but will not be sustainable because the bee colony will shrink and then disappear. This is the importance of plantation engineering with a number of species or types of certain plants if honey production is also an important product in the calliandra plantation-based business.

Calliandra leaves in abundance will automatically be obtained when the calliandra trees are cut down or harvested. The calliandra leaves need to be separated from the wood and twigs to be used for animal feed. Animal feed products from calliandra leaves can be in the form of fresh leaves or processed leaves in the form of pellets, or hay. This makes it possible to have a leaf pellet factory in addition to the wood pellet factory. With an estimated leaf volume of 1/4 of the wood but the price of leaf pellets is around 3 times the price of wood pellets. So the profit from utilizing leaves into pellets (leaf pellets) is very large, estimated at 1/2 to 3/4 of the wood pellet turnover. This is certainly a serious consideration and cannot be ignored.

A comprehensive understanding of calliandra plantations for energy, food and feed is indeed very important to maximize profits from calliandra plantation-based businesses. This will encourage the calliandra energy plantation to grow further. In addition, the legality aspect and land selection for the location of the calliandra plantation. This is because, especially for wood pellet products in general, it is for export orientation and especially for Japan and Europe, environmental or sustainability certification is very important and even required so that the legality aspect (which is clear and clean) and land selectivity according to its designation including the history of the land are also very important. So optimizing calliandra energy plantations for energy, food and feed is possible if the terms and conditions are met.

Unlike Honeybees, Why Does the Development of Energy Plantations Get Little Attention from the Goat/Sheep and Cattle Livestock Industry?

Along with the global decarbonization trend, energy plantations are increasingly developing in Indonesia. The creation of these energy plantations has the main purpose of producing biomass fuels such as wood chips and wood pellets. Wood chip production because it is easier and the production equipment is easier and cheaper is usually done before wood pellet production and for more details can be read here. In addition to the use of wood as the main product of energy plantations, by-products that can be produced from energy plantations are animal feed from the use of leaves and honey from honey bee farms. And with the utilization of all parts of the tree (whole tree utilization), the energy plantation-based business is not only more profitable, but can also remain sustainable.

The honey production that can be produced from the development of energy plantations will also be very large, namely tons or even hundreds to thousands of tons in proportion to the area of ​​the energy plantation. Moreover, the plants cultivated are red calliandra whose nectar will produce one of the best quality honey. Regarding the development of the energy plantation, even API (Indonesian Beekeeping Association) responded optimistically to the development of the energy plantation, because in the next 5 years it is targeted that honey production will increase by 300% so that the import of tens of thousands of tons of honey from China can be reduced and even be sufficient, more details read here. In addition to honey, several derivative products will also be produced from honey bee farming, namely royal jelly, bee pollen, bee wax and bee venom which also have many benefits. The motto "Gertakanlah" namely the Bee Feed Planting Movement is very much in line with the development of this energy plantation.

But this condition is different from the world of animal husbandry, especially ruminant livestock, namely goats/sheep and cattle. In fact, Indonesia's meat needs are also very large, most of which are still met by imports. Unlike beekeeping which is responsive to the development of the global decarbonization trend, namely more specifically with the energy plantation, the world or livestock industry players have not responded to this, even though the production of feed from this energy plantation will also be very large. Even the main element of animal feed from red calliandra leaves is protein and protein is the most expensive element of animal feed nutrition. In addition, with this livestock, it is also possible for integration to occur as in the diagram above. Integration will provide optimal benefits and production becomes efficient, thus providing even greater benefits.

Calliandra Honey from Caliandra Energy Plantation

Calliandra honey can be said to be one of the best honeys in the world. The quality and taste of calliandra honey are above other honeys such as rubber honey, acacia honey and cottonwood honey. But it turns out that the production of calliandra honey is not as easy as other honeys. A number of things need to be done so that the target of getting the quality and quantity of calliandra honey can be achieved, including engineering or enrichment of energy plantation plants and selection of appropriate honey bee species. This is why before planting calliandra in the energy plantation, it is necessary to discuss it first with a honey bee farming expert, if indeed the energy plantation will also produce honey as a side product or additional product, in addition to the main product in the form of wood pellets from its wood. Making engineering or enrichment of energy plantation plants is much easier before planting activities are carried out than after the energy plantation has been completed or is producing.

Factors that meet the sustainability of a farm or bee colony are important things that must be met by beekeepers or honey producers. These factors include the availability of nectar, pollen, resin and water (abbreviated: neporea). The balance of these factors needs to be created to maintain sustainability and also optimize honey production from the honey bee farm. Of course, the specific needs of each factor are also closely related to the type of bee species being farmed. For example, for the availability of abundant pollen but minimal nectar sources, honey production will also be minimal, or vice versa, abundant nectar sources but minimal pollen sources, then honey production is abundant but the bee colony will shrink or decrease or even become extinct, meaning there is no sustainability. Certain bee species such as the trigona family even require more resin sources than other honey bee species. Pollen is a source of protein for bees so it is vital for the life of the bee colony. Calliandra is a source of nectar, so it is not sufficient to rely on food sources from only one plant species.

By maximizing the potential of the plantation, meaning not only processing the wood, maximum profit will be obtained. With such high quality calliandra honey, it would be a shame if it was not utilized. Calliandra honey production will even provide significant additional profit because it is estimated to produce 1 ton of honey per year from 1 hectare of calliandra plantation. And currently Perhutani (Indonesian state-owned forestry company) has a wider honey production area. Based on API (Indonesian Beekeeping Association) data, Indonesian honey needs reach 15,000 tons-150,000 tons per year. Of that amount, 50% of the needs are supplied from China. With the increasing development of calliandra energy plantations, especially for wood pellet production, which are managed by the government and private sector, it is hoped that it will also increase Indonesian honey production.

The main problem of beekeeping is the availability of food for bees or flower nectar. Calliandra, which is a fast-growing plant and is cultivated massively, will significantly boost honey production, even targeted to increase threefold (300%) in the next 5 years. Moreover, with nine of the world's eleven honey bee species living in Indonesia, this country should be able to meet its own needs. This is so that honey imports can be reduced and Indonesia will be able to export honey. In addition to honey, bee farming will also produce several derivative products, namely royal jelly, bee pollen, bee wax and bee venom.

EFB Pellets as Biomass Fuel Transition from PKS to Wood Pellet Energy Plantations?

The high demand for palm kernel shells or PKS makes their availability or supply increasingly limited. The properties of palm kernel shells or PKS which have many similarities to wood pellets make them the main competitor for biomass fuel in the global market. The high demand for palm kernel shells is not only because the price is usually cheaper than wood pellets, but also the large availability can be achieved because of the large number of palm oil mills, also especially the many new biomass power plant developments that can use 100% palm kernel shells, namely biomass power plants with fluidized bed combustion (CFBC or BFBC) technology, read more details here. 

Under these conditions, efforts to obtain new biomass fuel become important. The palm oil industry itself produces a lot of biomass waste so it has potential as raw material for new biomass fuel. One of the biomass wastes that has not yet been utilized and is large in volume and has the potential to pollute the environment is palm oil empty bunches or EFB (empty fruit bunch). Every ton of crude palm oil or CPO production will produce approximately 1 ton of EFB waste. This means that with an average palm oil mill capacity of 45 tonnes of FFB/hour, around 10 tonnes/hour of crude palm oil (CPO) will be produced and 10 tonnes/hour of EFB waste. So, for example, if a palm oil mill operates 20 hours/day, approximately 200 tons of EFB waste will be produced/day. And with the number of palm oil mills in Indonesia estimated at 1,000 units, the amount of EFB waste will also huge.

PKS and EFB are both biomass waste from palm oil mills. Both can be easily obtained from palm oil mills in abundant quantities. PKS can even be used directly as biomass fuel, whereas EFB requires pre-treatment first. The EFB that comes out of the palm oil mill is very wet and the shape and size still need to be adjusted to make the follow-up process easier. EFB pellet production is a solution for EFB waste. But apart from that, so that this EFB pellet product can be used more widely or like wood pellets in general, there is an additional process to reduce the amount of mineral content in the ash.

Meanwhile, wood pellets from energy plantations could become the next source of biomass fuel, although currently someone has already started doing so. Because the raw material for EFB pellets is palm oil mill waste and is abundant, it requires a smaller investment, so EFB pellets can be used as transitional biomass fuel before biomass fuel in the form of wood pellets from energy plantations. Investing in land and its preparation as well as creating an energy plantation costs a lot of money. But the advantage of wood pellets from this energy plantation is that the availability of raw materials, even in very large volumes, can be more guaranteed. Apart from that, there are also other benefits from using the leaves as animal feed, especially ruminants and the flowers for honey bee farming.

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.