Biochar to Improve Soil Fertility, Fuel, Industrial Raw Materials or Climate Solutions?

Currently there are still a lot of agricultural wastes (corn stalks, soybean plants, soybean shells and so on) that have not been utilized so that they pollute the environment. Utilizing these wastes so that they become useful products that provide added value is the best solution. What kind of utilization or processing is the best solution for utilizing these wastes? This of course depends on a number of influencing factors such as market readiness, availability and continuity of supply of biomass waste, especially agricultural wastes, technological readiness including technology investment, profits and business continuity, infrastructure and human resources (HR). Production of biochar or charcoal from biomass waste could be the best option. But indeed biochar or charcoal is multifunctional or can be used for a number of uses. Then the question is the use of biochar for what field gives the best results or benefits?

The biochar production is carried out using slow pyrolysis technology. With this technology biochar production can be optimal both in quality and quantity. It is different when using fast pyrolysis technology which produces biooil product or liquid product as the main product, with much less biochar product. Or if you use gasification technology where the main product is gas, so that the proportion of biochar is smaller or it can be considered as a side product, then this will also be less than optimal. These things make choosing the right technology an important thing to be able to give optimal results.

The production of biochar for agriculture has also not become a trend among farmers in Indonesia, so that much of their agricultural waste is not utilized and even pollutes the environment. Another influencing factor is the condition of the agricultural land itself. Dominant and excessive use of chemical fertilizers has damaged agricultural lands so that agricultural productivity continues to decline. And efforts to improve the soil require effort that is not easy and quick so that the fertility of the soil can be restored (recovery) and continues to be maintained for the long term. The combination of using organic materials with certain techniques needs to be done to achieve this. Biochar can also be used to make the use of organic matter more efficient, such as reducing leaching and increasing soil microbial activity. With the increased efficiency of this technique due to the use of biochar, it also minimizes input so that production costs can be further reduced. The integration of agriculture and animal husbandry is a must in order to obtain an adequate supply of organic matter, the quality is maintained and sustainable. Whereas in acid and dry soils, the use of biochar will have a more significant effect.

The use of biochar as an ingredient, especially for bbq and cooking as well as other uses, namely as a reducing agent in steel making. There are not too many uses for BBQ, this is processing or cooking food on a BBQ basis only as a hobby or only for special community segments. And there isn't much biochar for cooking either, or this is more common in Africa, while in Indonesia the option of using firewood or LPG is more common. Likewise, the need for biochar as a reducing agent in steel making is also not much. Meanwhile, the use of biochar for industrial fuels such as boiler fuel and electricity generation is almost non-existent. This is because the production process takes longer (requires a carbonization process), the conversion from biomass to biochar is small (~25%), and the price of biochar is more expensive. Wood pellets and palm kernel shells (PKS) are more of an option for these industrial fuels.

Biochar can also be used as a raw material for various industrial goods for human needs or for the substitution of materials derived from fossils (such as oil and gas) into more environmentally friendly and renewable materials. Materials such as plastic can be replaced with biochar. Particle board, which usually still uses wood waste, can also be replaced with biochar. This trend has not yet occurred, but it is predicted that soon it will become a concern and even a new trend in the industry.

Biochar for climate solutions is likely to become a trend soon. CO2 from the atmosphere is converted into biomass by plants, converted into biochar and stored (sequestration), especially in the soil. The carbon stored in the biochar will not be released into the atmosphere because biochar does not decompose for hundreds or even thousands of years or can be stored permanently. In principle, this is like storing carbon (CO2) with a conservation forest so that it becomes a carbon sink. Trees or plants will absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and be maintained in such a way as to achieve the desired CO2 uptake target then compensated with carbon credits, as well as biochar, how much carbon can be stored (sequestration) then also compensated with these carbon credits. In practice, the use of biochar will be optimal with efforts to enrich the soil on damaged or problematic soils such as post-mining soil, acid soil and diseased soil due to an overdose of chemical fertilizers. Carbon sinks with biochar are easier and cheaper than the carbon capture and storage (CCS) method with CO2 stored beneath in the earth's layers.

To reduce the temperature of the earth by reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases. To reduce 1 ppm of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is equivalent to absorbing about 15 gigatonnes of CO2. Meanwhile, the costs needed to mitigate major climate change disasters are estimated at USD 1.6 trillion to USD 3.8 trillion each year. To reach the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere to 350 ppm, around 70,000 biochar the size of the Giza pyramids is needed, assuming that fossil fuels are discontinued. With a volume of the Giza pyramids of 2.6 million m3 and an average biochar density of 200 kg/m3, biochar the size of the Giza pyramids weighs 520 million kg or 520 thousand tons. Huge job of course. Biochar production must grow 5000 times from its current production capacity. With biochar the size of a unit of the pyramids of Giza we need to build 4 pyramids per day (about 2 million tonnes of biochar per day) for the next 100 years and starting now.

Utilization of Marginal Land and Former Coal Mines for Ruminant Livestock and Charcoal Briquette Production

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The extent of marginal land including critical land and unused land which reaches more than 6 million hectares as well as ex-coal mining land which is estimated to reach 8 million hectares are environmental problems that must be overcome. Turning these lands back into productive land so that apart from preventing a bigger environmental disaster, it also provides other benefits for human life. One solution to this problem is to plant the land with pioneer plants of the leguminoceae group whose roots firmly grip the soil and are in symbiosis with azetobacter so that it fertilizes the soil such as calliandra and gliricidia as well as its leaves as a source of animal feed, flowers for honey production, and the wood for the production of charcoal briquettes. Or in other words, the establishment of the plantation besides having environmental benefits as an effort for conservation and land reclamation along with water conservation, of course, also provides benefits for ruminant livestock or the production of animal feed and the production of charcoal briquettes. Ruminant farms, namely sheep, goats and cattle, are very suitable to be developed using the leaves of the plantation. The combination with charcoal briquettes, namely by using the wood, is an ideal combination or integration. In a number of countries the charcoal briquettes are used as fuel for grilling BBQ from lamb, goat and beef. So in addition to all parts of the tree can be utilized also even the final product of livestock in the form of meat and wood processing so that it becomes charcoal briquettes also meet again. An interesting and unique blend or integration.

The need for red meat, namely lamb, goat and beef in the country itself is still lacking, so it requires an adequate supply. In terms of goat and lamb meat, the need for the Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi) area alone has not been met, so it is supplied alternately from East Java, Central Java and Lampung alternately. In addition, according to Aspaqin (Association of Indonesian Aqiqah Entrepreneurs) there has been an imbalance in the supply of sheep and goats due to the large number of female productive sheep and goats being slaughtered. This condition causes the sustainability of the supply of sheep and goats to be disrupted. According to data from Aspaqin that they collected, 63% of female sheep and goats were slaughtered from a total of 331,693 slaughtered tails. Of course there are still many who are not recorded because there are still many aqiqah entrepreneurs who are not members of the Aspaqin. In addition, there are also many stalls for eating goat dishes, such as satay stalls which still slaughter productive sheep and female goats. Aspaqin continues to strive for education and socialization to improve these conditions, including a proposal to provide punishment for the slaughter of these productive females.

Meanwhile, in the beef cattle sector, Indonesia has the advantage of fattening cattle (feedlot). With the availability of a lot of agricultural wastes and agro-industrial wastes in Indonesia, this business is very competitive, even indonesia is the best. Moreover, this is by creating a plantation that is specifically designed for the feed source by utilizing land that can be said to be unproductive at first. By only taking about 100-120 days, the fattening was successful or completed, although in general, breeder or seed cattle are generally still imported from Australia. Australia, especially northern Australia is the center of the seed cattle. With the vast grazing area there, the cost of producing feeder cattle is very competitive and cannot be done well in Indonesia. Although there are a number of discourses to produce seed cattle in eastern Indonesia and palm oil plantations, the facts are still not or are still very minimal. In addition, according to Gapuspindo (Indonesian Beef Cattle Farmers Association), the domestic demand for beef has not been met or there is still a shortage of around 60% and this shortage is filled by imports of buffalo meat from India. Buffalo meat from India actually has to be sold cheaper than beef, but in fact it is the same as beef. This condition is getting worse, especially in the period leading up to the Eid al-Fitr holiday with lots of illegal meat circulating, such as wild boar meat.

Charcoal briquettes are a product of wood processing from the plantation. The production of charcoal briquettes using wood raw materials must also be managed properly so that it can be sustainable. The important thing to note is that the harvest of wood for the production of charcoal briquettes should not exceed the production of wood from the plantation itself, for example the need for wood for the production of briquettes is 1000 tons / month, the speed of wood production from the plantation is at least the same as the wood harvested every month. Charcoal briquette production techniques are also available in 2 options or routes such as the scheme below. However, route 1, which is briquetting before carbonization, is more in demand because the quality of the briquettes produced is better. In this route, the wood biomass raw material has been downsized so that the particle size is suitable for the production of the briquettes and the dryness level has also been adjusted and then briquetted or pressed in a briquette machine without using additional adhesive. The briquette product is then carbonized so that it becomes the final product in the form of charcoal briquettes or commonly known as sawdust charcoal briquette.

 

Photo is taken from here

In addition to domestic consumption, sheep and goats are also export commodities to a number of countries. Information obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture's Pusdatin (Centre of datas and informations) that Indonesian sheep and goats have been exported, among others, to Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Basically, the choice to do sheep and goat export business is the choice of the breeders or farmers  themself and the specifications for the export market are also different for local needs. If the local market generally uses sheep and goats weighing 25-35 kg per head, the export market generally requires a weight above 35 kg per head. For example, for a large market for sheep and goats, Saudi Arabia, especially during the hajj season, reaches around 2 million heads or a quarter of the country's needs, which means it reaches 8 million heads per year.

And lastly, basically the need for food, especially animal protein and more specifically from ruminants sheep, goats and cattle will continue to increase along with the increase in the population itself. The world population is estimated to reach 10 billion in 2050 or 1.3 times today and Indonesia's population will reach 319 million in 2045 or 1.2 times from today. Another thing that deserves attention is Indonesia's demographic bonus. The demographic bonus with the dominance of the productive young generation should be a separate strength for the Indonesian nation if it is supported and directed properly. This sector is certainly one solution. With the vast land area in Indonesia that can be used for this business, God willing, it will overcome various important problems today such as food security, preventing environmental damage, creating jobs, improving living standards, improving food quality and so on.     

Utilization of Waste Wood of Land Clearing For Sawdust Charcoal Briquette

The area of ​​oil palm oil plantations in Indonesia continues to grow every year. CPO and PKO needs continue to increase throughout the year. This is in line with the increasing edible oil and also world energy, especially renewable energy. The expansion of palm oil plantations is mostly done by land clearing, which of course must be legal or obtain permission from the authorities. The opening of the forest produces a lot of waste wood which should not be wasted but can be profitable.

The prospective palm oil entrepreneurs are also thinking hard to use waste wood into a profitable product. In addition to the large amount of waste wood, there is also the entrepreneur's mindset to maximize profits if it can be obtained in a short time. For example, every 1 hectare produces 50 tons of wood waste, so 10,000 hectares will produce 500,000 tons of wood waste, a very large amount of course.

One of the uses of wood waste so as to provide economic benefits is the production of sawdust charcoal briquette. Sawdust charcoal briquette has a very open market for Turkey, the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, for more details to read here. To produce high quality sawdust charcoal briquette products, the factor of consistency of raw materials must be fulfilled. The wood waste from clearing the forest can be grouped into the types of softwood and hardwood. Furthermore, for the raw material of sawdust charcoal briquette the composition of softwood with hard wood must be maintained in such a way that it can be fixed or consistent.

The quality of sawdust charcoal briquette from forest waste wood should not be lower compared to sawdust charcoal briquette made from wood waste processing or from sawmills. With quality that competes with sawdust charcoal briquette products made from wood waste processing and sawmill waste, the selling price of sawdust charcoal briquette automatically from forest wood waste also competes. Well, the problem is how can the production of sawdust charcoal briquette from forest wood waste be done? Doesn't that need electricity? How to get electricity in the middle of the forest?

The electricity is vital for the production of the sawdust charcoal briquette. Electricity from PLN is impossible for this location, whereas if with diesel oil (diesel fuel) as a driving fuel the generator is expensive, which is around IDR 15,000 for each liter. The solution is to produce electricity with wood waste itself. This means that some wood waste is used for sawdust charcoal briquette production and partly for electricity production. Gasifier or gasification technology can be used for electricity production from processing forest wood waste. Forest wood waste is made chip and used to fuel the gasifier.

Then what about the long-term business for Sawdust Charcoal Briquette? Does it also mean that it is finished after the wood clearing the forest clears is used up? Of course there are a number of things that can be done to keep the sawdust charcoal business going. One of the things that can be done is by making energy plantations from fast-rotating plants as a source of sawdust charcoal briquette. Fast rotating plants that can be planted for example is calliandra, for more detailed explanation, please read here.