Case Study India: Priority of Biomass Pellet Production Over Biomass Briquette

There are dozens of biomass briquette machine manufacturers in India and almost all of these machine manufacturers use mechanical press technology for the production of these briquettes. With this technology, briquettes will be formed due to mechanical press such as repeated strokes every minute (about 220 strokes per minute). This briquette machine manufacturer industry has also existed for decades in India so that biomass briquette products have also been widely known in India. Technically, there are actually 2 other technologies for the production of biomass briquettes, namely screw press and hydraulic press. Based on the briquette production technology, the briquette product output is also slightly different, for more details, read here.

The Indian government launched a decarbonization program at their coal power plants, recently, namely on October 8, 2021 which ordered the use of 5% to 10% biomass pellets for cofiring at all power plants and took effect in October 2022 or one year is the target time set. For example, in the early stages, the Indian government targeted only 5% for the cofiring ratio in their coal power plants, where the 5% figure when translated into biomass pellet production would reach around 50 million tons of biomass pellets per year. A very large number especially with a very short target time. And with a cofiring ratio of 5%, coal power plants also do not need to modify their equipment even though the biomass pellets used come from agricultural wastes, whose quality is below that of woody biomass.

With the number of power plants reaching about 900 units with an average consumption of 50 thousand tons of biomass pellets per year or a total of almost 50 million tons per year, so that a biomass pellet factory with a capacity of around 5 thousand tons / month seems to be suitable, and even if each factory supplying one power plant, the need for a biomass pellet plant will also be the same as the number of power plants, which is 900 units. A huge amount.

Production of biomass briquettes or biomass pellets?
In India, biomass briquette is indeed more popular than biomass pellets, but for the world level pellets are much more popular than briquette, even in 2021 alone, the need for pellets for global power generation alone is estimated to have reached 23 million tons. In addition, the production or pellet factory in general is also larger than the briquette factory. There are many pellet factories with a capacity of 5 thousand tons or even 10 thousand tons per month, while for briquettes it is very rare for a biomass briquette factory to have a capacity like the pellets above. Pelletisers for pellet production for commercial capacity have a capacity of 3 tons/hour or more, while briquette machines are generally less than 2.5 tons per hour, even for the screw press type the average machine capacity is only 300 kg/hour. Technically, even though they are both products of biomass densification technology with the difference that the size of the briquettes is larger than pellets, the production of briquettes is easier than pellets. 

The driving force from the business side makes biomass pellet production more attractive, especially because of its need as cofiring fuel in coal power plants as part of the decarbonization program. The need for biomass pellets can be a driving force for the production of biomass pellets or in general, namely the economy in various regions. The program should also be able to provide three benefits at once, namely environmental, social and economic. In addition, because briquette products are mainly used for boilers in industry, while pellets are for power generation, both of them also have their own market segments so that there is no market competition.

What about the Briquette Machine Manufacturing Industry?
Dozens of industries producing biomass briquette machines should now see this as an opportunity so that they can respond to it. These industries can adapt by creating a new line of business, namely helping the manufacture of a biomass pellet factory. Technically, the biomass briquette production line with biomass pellets also has many similarities (both use biomass densification technology) with the main difference being the pelletiser and briquetter. A number of equipment that can be made themself will reduce imported machines. Pelletisers are almost certain to be imported, so the selection of pelletisers as the heart of the pellet production process must be of high quality so that the pellet production target can be achieved. In the production of large capacity pellets, a number of equipments come from a number of providers, as is common in wood pellet factories with a more detailed explanation here.

In the long term, the goal is to minimize import spending, and even 100% can be made or fabricated by themself. This effort will usually take longer because the complexity of the pelletiser is higher than that of the briquetter. These briquette machine-producing industries can also cooperate with machine manufacturers in Europe who are more experienced and proven with pellet production as an effort to accelerate the transfer of the technology. Within one year as the target was set, it is very difficult to do this, so the practical effort is to buy a 100% complete line from a proven vendor, or sort out a number of equipment that can be produced yourself as above and gradually substitute the imported equipment. This is because achieving the production target for the decarbonization effort is a priority.

In conclusion, at this time India has to maximize efforts to accelerate the construction of biomass pellet factories to achieve this target. However, 1 year to achieve this target is very difficult. With these conditions in the future, it is possible that power plants in India will import biomass fuels such as wood pellets and PKS (palm kernel shell) to meet their needs. With the planned cofiring ratio, which is the lowest target of 5%, the need for biomass pellets reaches around 50 million tons, if only 2% of the biomass fuel needs are imported, both PKS and / or wood pellets, it will reach 1 million tons, a fixed amount still quite big.

Ruminant Farming and Post-Mining Reclamation

To fertilize post-mining soil, organic matter or compost is important and much needed. Land or post-mining land is damaged with a very low fertility level so it needs to be processed (treatment) first before it can be planted. The choice of plants depends on the purpose of using the post-mining land, whether for agriculture, forestry or others. Planting fast growing trees and short rotation coppice i.e. legume group trees is the best option. In addition to the ability to survive, its deep roots are also able to withstand erosion and the ability to symbiotic with azetobacter so that it binds nitrogen in root nodules so that it fertilizes the soil. And furthermore, the legume tree can be used as a source of animal feed (the leaves), bioenergy (the wood) and honey (the flowers).

The creation of livestock and their supporters such as forage plantations is like an ammunition factory to reclaim the post-mining land. The wider and faster the target time for reclaiming the land, the larger the farm required. Ruminant farms with thousands or even tens of thousands of livestock can be made with this purpose. Although the main objective is to produce compost for post-mining land reclamation, the indirect benefits from the farm are no less large. Even from the farm business can get big financial benefits. The main and common problem faced by mining entrepreneurs is that they are reluctant to do reclamation because it costs a lot and does not provide financial benefits. But when the reclamation activity does not reduce the company's finances even provide large profit, of course it will be a different story. The volume of mining carried out should also be proportional to the repair or post-mining reclamation.

To maximize the reclamation, biochar needs to be used. The use of biochar will make compost in post-mining land not easily lost after being washed by rain, maintain soil moisture because biochar is able to hold water (water holding capacity), raise soil pH so that soil microbial activity is more optimal and more nutrients are absorbed by plants, and biochar also will become a home or colony for soil microbes so that it will further fertilize the soil. Meanwhile, in terms of climate change mitigation, the use of biochar in the soil will also store carbon (carbon sequestration) for a very long time, up to hundreds of years. Carbon credits with a carbon sink mechanism as part of the CCS (carbon capture and storage) application can also be obtained. The carbon trading market is predicted to get bigger as global awareness of climate change and biochar as one of the solutions are also increasingly being applied, discussed and paid attention to by the earth's population.

The extent of post-mining land that reaches millions of hectares, the high demand for domestic meat as well as the export market, and the large amount of biomass waste that can be converted into biochar, post-mining reclamation should be a priority for mining entrepreneurs moreover, the reclamation activity does not reduce the company's profit but instead gives more profits. If this can be done, the environmental damage caused by mining can be minimized. Indeed, humans need various products that come from the mining to make their lives easier, but also not to the point that on the other hand the mining business actually damages the environment which will lead to disasters in the future.

Sheep Goat Livestock or Insect Livestock?

According to the United Nations, the global population is predicted to reach 9 billion people by 2050. The food sector is looking for a solution to the protein deficit due to per capita protein demand and population growth. Insects are a source of protein that is promoted in both feed and food. The nine billion people who are predicted to live on planet Earth in 2050, need an additional 250 million tons of protein per year, an increase of 50% compared to today. And according to the FAO, crickets need 6 times less feed than cattle, four times less than sheep, and twice less than pigs and broilers to produce the same amount of protein. A number of insect breeding companies have sprung up, especially in Europe for the production of protein from these insects, and there has even been an organization specifically formed for this, namely IPIFF (International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed). About a third of the production of these insects is for food and two-thirds for protein sources of feed. Will we Muslims be raising insects instead of sheep for protein sources? As Muslims, we shouldn't have to eat crickets to get protein intake as is widely promoted in the west. The types of insects permitted to be bred by the European Commission for this purpose include only 7 species of insects, namely 3 types of crickets, 2 types of caterpillars and 2 types of flies. We choose halal Thaiban, namely mutton and lamb.

Consumption of goat-lamb meat per capita in Indonesia is still very low, which is less than 1 kg per year and this could be only during Eid al-Adha or Eid al-Qurban. Of course this is very concerning, so its consumption needs to be increased. Even though this lamb meat is the best meat and the Prophet Muhammad liked it. Protein is one of the important elements for human food and more specifically lamb and goat meat as a source of protein has its own advantages, for more details read here. In a hadith the Prophet Muhammad SAW also ordered his people to keep these sheep because of blessings. These goats and sheep are closely related to the Muslim worship practices, namely aqiqah and qurban which are part of Islamic law (shariah) until the Day of Judgment, so that raising sheep and goats also has many virtues.

"Take care (use) by you goats because in them are blessings." [HR Ahmad]

"No prophet was sent except that he shepherded the goats. The friends ask, are you too?". He replied, "Yes, I used to herd the goats of the residents of Mecca for a few qirath wages." [HR. Al Bukhari, no. 2262] 

Abu Hurairah r.a. said: "Once served to the Prophet Shallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam a bowl of porridge and meat. So he took part of the arm (of the meat), and that part was most liked by the Prophet Muhammad Shallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam." (HR. Muslim)

Abu Hurairah radhiyallahu 'anhu narrated, "The Prophet Shallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam was served meat. The leg (of that meat or thigh) was given to Him. The Prophet Shallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam liked it, so he took a bite of the meat." (HR. Bukhari and Muslim)

With the development of energy plantations or legume plantations, sheep and goat farming can be increasingly encouraged. The main problem in the form of feed availability and more specifically the source of feed protein becomes easy to overcome. Thus, large capacity farms are also very likely to be developed, because the demand for goat and sheep meat is also very large. In addition, Indonesia's palm oil plantation area which reaches 15 million hectares is also potential for livestock, especially sheep, for more details read here. From this it can be concluded that in anticipation of the population growth, Muslims should be serious about raising these goats - sheep.

Opportunity to Export Wood Pellet to Germany

At the end of 2022 or this year, all nuclear power plants in Germany will be discontinued, then in 2030 or at the latest in 2038 all coal fired power plants will also be discontinued. Germany in the context of decarbonization has planned to reduce fossil fuels, especially coal in its power plant. The percentage of nuclear power plants in Germany is 3.6% or about 8 GW and this requires immediate efforts to replace the electricity supply. Meanwhile, coal-fired power plants reach about 28% or more than 40 GW, and currently electricity production with coal is very expensive, due to the price of coal itself and carbon tax. Coal prices are around $150 but recently there has been a spike to $435 and a carbon tax of over $100 for every ton CO2 emitted. With these cost components, the price of electricity production for each MWh reaches around $220 (not including labor costs, maintenance, and so on), whereas if it is replaced with wood pellets the production price is only around $90 per MWh or approximately one third. Very cheap. Moreover, with the use of wood pellets, the sulfur scrubbing process (FGD = flue gas desulphurisation) can be reduced or even eliminated.

Biomass fuels such as wood pellets are carbon neutral so they do not increase the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, so that when using wood pellets for power generation and subsequent CO2 gas emissions, which are greenhouse gases, are captured and stored (CCS = Carbon Capture and Storage) so that they do not escape into the atmosphere, then this becomes carbon negative or reduces the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. The amount of CO2 gas that can be captured and soraged can also get carbon credit compensation, so that the coal power plants will get additional income. But without even having to use CCS, the use of wood pellets has reduced the cost of electricity production very significantly and is environmentally friendly. Meanwhile, if the power plant uses coal which is carbon positive and then CO2 emissions are captured and stored with CCS technology, this becomes carbon neutral. Of course, carbon negative efforts are better than carbon neutral.

On the other hand, Germany is famous for its technological products, especially industrial machines. A number of machine manufacturers for the production of wood pellets also come from Germany, such as Muench, Salmatec and Kahl. These machines are widely used for the production of wood pellets around the world and are reliable. It is possible that later the machines for the production of wood pellets will be imported from Germany and wood pellet products from Indonesia will be exported to Germany. This is in accordance with the potential advantages of each country. Indonesia with a land area of 1.91 million km2 with a lot of available land and being in the tropics has great potential as the world's main producer of wood pellets.

Currently about 55% of the fuel for power generation in Germany uses natural gas originating from Russia, and currently war is breaking out between Russia and Ukraine. The issue of Germany's alignment may affect the supply of natural gas from Russia to the country due to the war. Conversion from coal power plant to wood pellet power plant is not difficult and does not require a large investment, so this conversion is the most realistic solution. With the number of coal-fired power plants in Germany more than 100 units or about 1/3 of the electricity supply, so the need for wood pellets will also be very large if the power plants switch to wood pellets.

Biomass Pellets in India

India has hundreds of millions of biomass waste, especially from agricultural wastes or about 230 million tons per year. Hundreds of millions of tons of biomass waste is of course an environmental problem, especially because most of the waste is simply burned in fields where the smoke pollutes the environment, but on the other hand it will be a solution, namely for decarbonization programs and climate change. Technically, the biomass waste from agricultural waste will be processed into fuel pellets (biomass pellets) which are used for fuel in power plants by cofiring. In the early stages, the Indian government targeted 5% for the cofiring ratio in their coal power plants, where the 5% figure when translated into biomass pellet production would reach around 50 million tons of biomass pellets per year. This is a very large amount, especially with a short time target, which is only one year since it was ordered on October 8, 2021 and will take effect in October 2022 or this year, so hard efforts are needed to achieve this target. Meanwhile, in 2021, the world's demand for wood pellets for power plants will only be around 23 million tons.

The establishment of factories for the production of biomass pellets must be carried out immediately to achieve the production target. These factories must also be supported by logistical readiness to supply raw materials so that the factory can be completed, so that the production of biomass pellets can be carried out as soon as possible. With an average power generation capacity of 275 MW in India, with a cofiring ratio of 5%, the annual need for biomass pellets is estimated at 50 thousand tons or 170 tons per day. With the number of power plants reaching around 900 units with an average consumption of 50 thousand tons of biomass pellets per year or a total of almost 50 million tons per year, the distribution of biomass pellets is also a challenge. A factory with a capacity of around 5 thousand tons/month is likely to be suitable, and even if each factory supplies one power plant, the need for a biomass pellet factories will also be the same as the number of power plants, which is 900 units. A huge amount.

Biomass pellets or agri-waste pellets, namely pellets from agricultural wastes do have a number of differences with wood pellets. Wood itself is also a part of biomass so it can also be called biomass pellet. Biomass has a wider range, including wood pellets and agri-waste pellets. Agri-waste pellets have higher ash content, and some have higher chlorine, potassium and silica content in the ash. The content of these substances is not friendly to the heat exchanger pipes in the boiler which will cause fouling and corrosiveness, so that in addition to decreasing boiler efficiency, the service life of the boiler is shortened. In addition, the harvest of agricultural products usually coincides at certain times, while the pellet factory must continue to produce every day. This is why it is necessary to store and allocate raw materials in the form of agricultural waste for the routine production of these pellets. And because these agricultural wastes cannot be left alone in the agricultural area, they need additional investment in the form of storage warehouses and to be able to store more agricultural waste they need to be temporarily compacted by baling. These things usually don't happen in wood pellet production, so the agri-waste pellet production approach is different.

And because the ash chemistry of agricultural wastes causes many problems in the operation of power plants, their use is also limited. With a cofiring ratio of 5%, the problem can still be tolerated, but when the ratio is enlarged, the impact will be more pronounced. The exception is the CFB (circulating fluidized bed) type plant which can use 100% of the agricultural waste pellets, but in India the power plants using CFB technology are very small, around 1% (9-10 units). Indonesia and Malaysia also produce biomass fuel that is almost similar to pellets and even in the international market is the pellet competitor, namely palm kernel shells or PKS. The volume of PKS also reaches millions of tons, so it can be exported to India to help meet India's needs for biomass pellets, which so far have been mainly for export to Korea and Japan. PKS is also produced by a number of countries in West Africa. But it seems that the Indian government for now will prioritize the use of their agricultural waste first, so it has not provided financial support for the import of the biomass fuel.

Currently, India must make every effort to accelerate the construction of biomass pellet factories to achieve this target. However, 1 year to achieve this target is very difficult. With these conditions in the future, it is possible that power plants in India will import biomass fuels such as wood pellets and PKS to meet their needs. With the currently planned cofiring ratio of 5%, the need for biomass pellets reaches around 50 million tons, if only 2% of the biomass fuel needs are imported, both PKS and/or wood pellets, it will reach 1 million tons, the amount is still very big.

Chemical Fertilizer Plant, Blue Hydrogen, Blue Ammonia and Ruminant Farms

As a comparison of the sheep population in New Zealand with people population of 3 million, the number of sheep is 5 million, then Australia with people population of 25 million, the total population of cattle is 26 million while Indonesia with people population of 270 million, the total population of sheep is less than 50 million, moreover the cattle population is also confirmed much smaller. This indicates that the ruminant livestock sector is not yet a business or industrial engine for economic growth. Whereas in addition to natural resources that support, the need for meat and fertilizer needs for agriculture is also very large. When the ruminant livestock sector is optimized, apart from being self-sufficient in meat as a source of animal protein, it can even be exported, and it will also promote agriculture because the manure is turned into organic fertilizer. This organic fertilizer has many advantages over chemical fertilizers, including not destroying the physical and chemical properties of the soil, activating soil microbes and providing complete nutrients. When the livestock sector is optimized, it is also very likely that it will replace the use of chemical fertilizers or other languages ​​as well as self-sufficiency in fertilizers so that chemical fertilizer plants close or stop producing. The integration of livestock and agriculture will create food sovereignty, an extraordinary achievement if it can be realized.

To save the chemical fertilizer plants, it can be converted into a plant or energy producer in the form of blue hydrogen or blue ammonia. Natural gas, which is a fossil fuel and is the raw material for chemical fertilizers, is separated from the carbon elements so that hydrogen is obtained. Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas that has been separated from natural gas is then captured and stored (CCS = Carbon Capture and Storage) so that it is not released into the atmosphere. And because the raw material for hydrogen fuel comes from fossil fuels, it is called blue hydrogen, whereas if it comes from renewable materials such as biomass, water and so on, it is called green hydrogen. So it can be said that blue hydrogen is still half fossil because the raw materials are from fossil sources and green hydrogen is already 100% from renewable sources. Hydrogen compounds or hydrogen gas have atomic bonds in the form of two hydrogen elements (H2) as a stable compound in nature, and to increase the energy of hydrogen gas, ammonia (NH3) can be made, namely with three hydrogen bonds. Just like the term blue hydrogen above, when the ammonia comes from fossil fuels it is called blue ammonia and when it comes from renewable materials it is called green ammonia. Japanese companies have even made power plants (generators) that use 100% as fuel, for more details read here.

Efforts to boost the livestock sector by integrating with the agricultural sector is not an easy thing. The factors of market access ability, farming techniques, provision of feed, management and livestock business are a number of things that hinder the realization of the vision of food sovereignty. Especially for innovations so that they can be competitive at the international level. Motivation factors, low willingness, low reading and learning culture, lack of friendship for networking, government alignments with policies for less carrying capacity, and so on also hinder on the other hand. But with abundant natural resources potential and strong will, these obstacles should be overcome, especially ruminant farming, especially sheep and goats, is also highly recommended in Islam so that as a Muslim should be more motivated. There is almost no one when doing any kind of effort, let alone to realize a big idea without a hitch, because that is the sunatullah.

Rice Husk Briquettes Amid the Soaring Condition of Biomass Fuel Demand

 "Briquettes are a compressed biomass fuel (densified biomass fuel) as an alternative to pellets."

The use of biomass energy is increasing day by day so this is a positive thing that needs to be encouraged. The increase in coal prices (domestic industry is priced at $90) and the resulting pollution are especially the driving force for energy use from the biomass. Among biomass energy, wood pellets are the most popular and most widely used form of biomass fuel. The use of wood pellets is not only used by processing industries but also by power plants. A number of small and medium industries such as tofu factories, cracker factories, and so on. Wood chips, as a simpler form, are less attractive than wood pellets, even though they are cheaper. With a low density, the transportation costs are also high, besides that the moisture content of wood chips is sometimes also less controlled.

The form of briquettes is also less popular than wood pellets. Briquettes can also be said as an alternative to pellets. The technology for making briquettes is the same as wood pellets, namely biomass densification, the difference is that the size of the briquettes is larger than wood pellets. Unlike wood pellets, which only use roller press technology for their production, briquettes have several variants of technology for their production, for more details, read here. But in Indonesia there is only one type of briquette, namely the screw press. Indeed, in many ways briquetting is easier than pelletizing. Biomass materials that are difficult to pelletize are usually easy to briquette. Certain types of boilers may also be more suitable for briquettes, compared to wood pellets, read in more detail here. Therefore, the use of briquettes should also be encouraged.

In addition to wood waste, agricultural wastes are also potential biomass for fuel. Rice husk is an abundant agricultural waste because the staple food of Indonesians is rice. It is estimated that the amount of rice husk is 15 million tons/year. However, with the high content of ash and silica, this rice husk is less desirable to make pellets because it is abrasive, thus shortening the service life of machine components. Likewise for making briquettes, but with a variant of the mechanical press technology, the abrasive problem can be minimized. The production of rice husk briquettes with mechanical press technology can be a solution for the utilization of the rice husk waste. In the midst of the increasing use of biomass fuels, rice husk briquettes can be the next alternative.