Biochar for Biographite as a Key Component of Electric Vehicle Batteries

The use of fossil fuels makes the transportation sector contribute 24% of global CO2. With CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use estimated to reach 36.3 gigatonnes (36.3 billion metric tons) in 2024, the transportation sector contributes 8.71 gigatonnes (8.71 billion tons) of CO2. Efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from the transportation sector are carried out in two ways: the use of renewable energy and the use of electric vehicles. The use of electric vehicles must be accompanied by the provision of renewable energy sources. Do not just use electric vehicles, but the energy source still comes from fossil fuel sources. Biofuel is a renewable energy source for the transportation sector that can be used directly with minimal vehicle modifications or even without any engine modifications at all. The question of whether to prioritize electric vehicles first or the use of biofuels first can be read in more detail here.

Electric vehicles can indeed be a decarbonization solution in the transportation sector, with the aforementioned considerations. And it would certainly be even better if the production of these electric vehicles also used materials from renewable sources, such as graphite for batteries derived from biochar or components such as chassis, body, and other metal components from "green steel" or "low carbon steel." Regarding graphite from biochar or biographite, with an average of 70 kg per car required, with projections according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) that electric car production by 2030 (including buses, vans, and heavy trucks) reaching 145 million units, the need for biographite will reach more than 10 million tons. In fact, according to the Economist, in that year, graphite demand is expected to exceed supply by 2 million metric tons, thus threatening the steel and battery industries. This means graphite production needs to be increased, but of course, that production will be biographite for better environment aspect, not synthetic graphite derived from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, in Indonesia itself, the government is targeting 2 million electric cars and 13 million electric two-wheeled vehicles by 2030. The use of biographite is intended to replace graphite derived from fossil sources which is still commonly used and with China as the main producer (controlling more than 80% of global (synthetic) graphite production).

Furthermore, Indonesia is rich in nickel, with reserves reaching approximately 5.3 billion tons of ore, equivalent to approximately 55 million metric tons of nickel metal (East Asia Forum, 2024), and holds the world's largest reserves. Australia ranks second with approximately 24 million metric tons of nickel metal, while global nickel reserves are estimated at approximately 130 million metric tons. This should place Indonesia in a strategic position in the era of electric vehicle use. In 2023, Indonesia produced approximately 1.8 million metric tons of nickel, accounting for nearly half of total global production (Statista, 2023). Nickel helps increase the energy density and storage capacity of batteries, enabling electric cars to have a longer range. Each electric car battery is estimated to use 30 kg of nickel. With the International Energy Agency (IEA) projecting electric car production by 2030 to reach 145 million units, the need for nickel will reach nearly 4.5 million tons.

In addition to properly managed nickel mining for environmental sustainability, the country's natural resources, particularly nickel, should also be processed into finished products domestically. Exporting semi-finished products or even raw materials, which offer little added value and are less profitable, should be avoided. Furthermore, if all nickel were exported to China, the world's largest graphite producer, it would make China a major global producer of electric car batteries. With biographite production, Indonesia would become less dependent on imports, and downstream nickel processing would make its own electric battery production highly feasible, potentially even becoming a major player in the battery industry. Nickel is also used in the production of stainless steel, a widely used material. 

Biofuel or Electric Vehicle First?

The decarbonization trend continues and has penetrated almost all lines, including the transportation sector. In the transportation sector, there are 2 things that can be done, namely the use of fuel from renewable energy or biofuel and the use of emission-free vehicles such as electric vehicles. In vehicles with 100% renewable energy or biofuel, the emissions produced are carbon neutral (even though the emissions contain CO2) while electric vehicles produce no emissions at all because there is no combustion process in the operation of the electric vehicle.

Currently, the majority of vehicles are vehicles with internal combustion engine technology, so they use fuel for their operations and the most widely used fuel is fossil fuel, especially in liquid form or liquid fuel. To achieve carbon neutral conditions, this fuel must be replaced with 100% biofuel. But currently, even though the use of biofuel has been carried out, the portion is not yet 100%. Indeed, technically there are restrictions on the use of biofuel so that it cannot be 100% like bioethanol, so this is also a concern. However, of course efforts to use 100% biofuel will also be the main target, apart from the emissions factor to achieve carbon neutral conditions, internal combustion engine technology is also the majority so it only needs minor modifications or even no modifications at all.

Another fact is that currently most electric vehicles still use electrical energy sources from fossil fuel power plants, especially coal. Even though these electric vehicles are non-emissions, basically the energy source is fossil energy, only the locations are far apart. Electric cars as a new product are also generally more expensive, even double or more than cars in general. This condition also affects the amount of use of the cars or electric vehicles themselves.

Indonesia as a tropical country has enormous potential as a biofuel producer because various plants or trees can grow well. Even though palm oil is currently the largest vegetable oil producing crop and Indonesia is ranked first in the world with an area of palm oil plantations reaching around 15 million hectares, the oil from palm oil competes with edible oil and the maintenance costs are high. not cheap. Meanwhile, vegetable oil from energy trees such as nyamplung (calophyllum inophyllum), apart from its oil productivity, is not inferior to palm oil, and the oil does not compete with edible oil, read more details here. Apart from that, the nyamplung tree, which grows well in areas near the coast, also provides its own advantages, namely because Indonesia has the second longest coastline in the world after Canada, namely 99,093 km and the nyamplung tree is also a multi-purpose tree. Meanwhile, biofuel from biomass waste can also be done, but because production costs are still expensive, it still requires a number of stages for implementation.

Under these conditions, the development of biofuel, especially from trees such as nyamplung, should be prioritized. Meanwhile, even though electric vehicles are emission free, their electricity source still uses fossil fuels. Efforts to reduce fossil fuels in power plants by cofiring have been carried out but the portion is still very small, so the climate benefits are not yet significant. If the source of electrical energy can be 100% renewable energy, then the use of electric vehicles can also be said to be like the use of 100% biofuel in internal combustion engines.

Reducing Emissions or Increasing Electric Vehicles?

The photo from here

Basically the main background of the two things above is climate problem due to greenhouse gases, especially CO2 (carbon dioxide), so of course the fundamental answer or priority is to reduce these emissions (greenhouse gases). Electric vehicles can reduce these emissions if the prerequisites are met. The main prerequisite, of course, is where the source of the electrical energy used comes from. If the source of electricity is from fossil energy sources such as oil, coal and natural gas which produce greenhouse gas emissions, in essence the electric vehicle is not environmentally friendly, even though the power plants is far from the use of the electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles should use electricity from renewable energy sources so they don't increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, one of which can be read here. Production of electricity from renewable energy should be encouraged and supported first so that the amount is sufficient and after that only proceed with these electric vehicles. If this is not done, then no matter how many electric vehicles (buses, cars, and electric motorcycles) it will still not have a positive effect on the climate. A comprehensive understanding of the climate problem including its solutions and especially in the field of transportation with electric vehicles is something important, before moving on to the implementation stage.

Carbon capture and storage technology (Carbon Capture and Storage / CCS) has indeed been introduced, but its implementation is still very minimal and expensive so this technology has not been applied in Indonesia, especially in fossil-fuel power plants, the majority of which are coal. A number of CCS technologies that are being tested are amine-based adsorption (organic compounds and functional groups whose contents consist of lone-paired nitrogen atoms) are the most advanced carbon capture technologies. But apart from technical factors, economic factors are still the main obstacle.

So the best choice is to encourage and support as much as possible the use of renewable energy sources as a source of energy for these electric vehicles. If the electric vehicle operates with a renewable energy source that is environmentally friendly because it does not increase CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere or is an effort to decarbonize the transportation sector, then that is essentially a program that is perfectly successful according to the intent and purpose of developing the electric vehicle.

Sustainable Business in Post-Mining Land: A New Paradigm

The land area of 8 million hectares (80,000 km2) is a large area, even the area is roughly equivalent to twice the size of the Netherlands or Switzerland or as large as Austria. Various types of plants can be planted or cultivated on the land, both food crops, energy (bioenergy), feed and biomaterials. This is very much in line with the current era of bioeconomics and decarbonization where world attention is focused on reducing carbon (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels to non-carbon in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. And moreover Indonesia's location is on the equator so it has a tropical climate so it is very suitable for plant cultivation or biomass production for the purposes as above. The 8 million hectares of land is unproductive land or more precisely damaged land, namely post-mining land in Indonesia. Restoring (recovering) the land to a minimum condition like pre-mining is the responsibility of the mining companies. Of course it would be even better if the recovery was better than pre-mining conditions considering that a number of mining businesses generate large profits so environmental improvement efforts such as reclamation and post-mining rehabilitation should be carried out easily.

In addition to residential areas, tourism, water sources and cultivation areas, revegetation is one of the efforts for reclamation and rehabilitation of post-mining land (OP phase reclamation program attachment VI Kepmen ESDM No. 1827 K/MEM/2018). Revegetation for the ultimate goal of an environmentally friendly, sustainable and profitable business activity is certainly the best solution. The general characteristic of ex-mining land is a thin layer of top soil and subsoil so that little soil organic matter and soil microbes are needed for plant growth. It is impossible to simply revegetate land with these extreme conditions, therefore successful revegetation of ex-mining land can only be achieved by combining soil amendments, species selection and application of appropriate silvicultural techniques. This is because these business activities provide environmental, social and financial benefits. Revegetation with productive plantations or forests is an effort to achieve this. How big the benefits are, of course, needs to be studied in more depth on the types of productive plantations or forests that will be created.

The type of mine also influences the post-mining reclamation and rehabilitation work. In almost all coal mines there is no further processing, in contrast to mineral mines which require further processing. In post-mining reclamation coal mines it is simpler just to return the soil to its original condition whereas in mineral mines, apart from returning the soil as in coal mines, the problem of tailings (waste soil left over from the mining ore extraction process) is also another problem, whereas in smelters or smelters (processing/refining) of these minerals also produces slag (post-operation) which can also be another additional problem. The damaged lands in the post-mining reclamation area need to be repaired or rehabilitated so that they can return to their previous condition. The addition of organic fertilizer and biochar, will accelerate the improvement of soil fertility. Acceleration of soil fertility is important to accelerate the growth of plants planted in the area so as to reduce the potential for natural disasters such as floods and landslides. The use of biochar can also provide valuable additional income from carbon credit through a carbon sequestration / carbon sink mechanism. 

In these land conditions, not all types of plants or trees can be planted on the land. Trees or plants that can live and grow in marginal and even extreme conditions are the choices for these land conditions. Energy plantation of legumes (fast growing species) and bamboo is the best choice for the land. In energy plantations from legumes (fast growing species), apart from having high adaptability to marginal conditions including minimal water availability, the root nodules are also useful for fertilizing the soil. Wood from energy plantations is used for bioenergy into products such as wood pellets, while the leaves are for animal feed and honey from beekeeping which utilizes the flowers of these plants. Bamboo plants also have high adaptability. Products from bamboo plantations can be in the form of food, namely from bamboo shoots and the bamboo itself for various purposes. Industrialization of bamboo so that it becomes high added value products must be carried out. Almost all wood products can be replaced with bamboo and even the quality can be better, such as furniture, bamboo boards, ply bamboo and so on. With the existence of a sustainable industry that takes advantage of the products from the post-mining reclamation land, a number of benefits as mentioned above will be obtained.

The potential of 8 million hectares of land will produce very large biomass products if managed properly and correctly. The era of electric vehicles which is also expected to soon become a world trend will also require electrical energy stored in the battery. The electrical energy used should also come from renewable energy, not from fossil energy sources. The energy source from biomass to electricity is an ideal renewable energy source for the electric vehicle energy source. Production of biochar by pyrolysis and production of biogas from livestock manure as organic matter can be used for electricity production. With a number of driving forces and future trends, it is important to consider the utilization of the 8 million hectare land.
 

Energy Independent With Pyrolysis

A community even in remote areas can be energy independent as long as there is an energy source in the area. Biomass energy sources from plants are energy sources that can be obtained almost anywhere. The plant can be planted as a source of raw materials for the production of energy needed. Heat and electricity energy is energy that mostly needed, in addition to energy or fuel for vehicles as a means of transportation. Heat energy is mainly needed for cooking while electrical energy for various purposes in life. Pyrolysis is a technology that can meet the energy needs as above. The diagram below explains the application of pyrolysis to meet these energy needs:

Charcoal is a solid fuel product from pyrolysis. Although solid fuels such as charcoal, are not as practical and easy as gas fuels, the use of charcoal for cooking fuel has many advantages including being safe because it will not explode, smokeless, odorless, has a high calorific value and is an environmentally friendly fuel. While firewood in addition to causing a lot of smoke, smell, low calorie value also interfere with health. Today there are also many countries in Africa that use charcoal for cooking fuel. To make it easier to use and store, the charcoal can be made into briquettes. While fuel for vehicles such as diesel oil and gasoline can be produced from biooil. Vehicles for transportation can operate in the presence of these fuels. The availability of petroleum in Indonesia, which is estimated to be 10 years away, needs to be anticipated and prepared from now on. The current low price of petroleum makes petroleum exports less attractive, especially for Indonesia, which is currently a net importer of petroleum.

Charcoal stoves are widely used in Africa

In the future era when electric vehicles are widely used, electricity production especially for battery charging is prioritized. The energy source for electric cars as environmentally friendly vehicles should also be from renewable energy sources, for more details, please read here. Biomass is a carbon neutral energy source so it does not increase the concentration of CO2 or greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Woody biomass from the energy plantation is the ideal raw material for the pyrolysis feed. Multipurpose energy plantations are the best energy plantation for this, so that in addition to sustainable production, it also provides other benefits, for more details about multipurpose energy plantations can be read here. Remote areas, especially those with large lands, will have the potential to develop these energy plantations, so that an energy independent community or region can truly be formed and sustainable. Areas in surrounding the palm oil plantations can also utilize biomass waste from palm oil mills and plantations such as palm oil empty fruit bunches (EFB), fronds, etc. for the pyrolysis feed. Indonesia is the owner of the largest palm oil plantation in the world with an area of ​​around 13 million hectares and 1,000 palm oil mills.

Biomass Fuel and Electric Car

 

The world should be more green, that is the hope of all who understand and care the environment. There have been many concrete actions to continue to make the world green or green again. Fossil fuels are environmental damage factors that have made CO2 concentrations on the earth more than 400 ppm. The impact is climate change and global warming, and this is the focus of current environmental improvements. In addition, the practice of deforestation is another factor that makes the earth more barren and arid. The impact is very large on the ecosystem chain including human food and the potential for natural disasters.

Picture taken from here

In an era of approximately 10 years Indonesia will run out of reserves of oil and now it is already a net importer of oil because its oil production has not been able to meet domestic consumption. Doesn't Indonesia still have gas reserves, so that it can be used for the next 50 years? Although it is technically very feasible, but the use of natural gas replacing petroleum fuels is not a solution to environmental problems or not in line with the world direction for environmental improvement. This is because both fuel, oil and natural gas are fossil fuels or positive carbon fuels that contribute to increasing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. So the use of natural gas is not a solution.

Electric cars are an effort to reduce or eliminate CO2 emissions in the transportation sector. At present many electric cars have been produced to replace petroleum-powered cars or hybrid cars as the "bridge" of the transition. Some electric car manufacturers today include Tesla, Toyota, BMW, Mitsubishi, Ford and so on. Electric cars so far have received positive responses from various circles, but because the selling price is still relatively expensive and the availability of battery charging units is still minimal, the users are still limited. But it could be that in the near future it will soon flood the streets moreover if environmental policies for reducing and limiting fossil energy are increased.

The fundamental question of environmental aspect is where does the electric car get electricity as its energy source? If the electric car gets electricity from fossil-fueled power plants such as coal, natural gas and so on, it's just a lie because it only moves the CO2-emitting location from cars to power plants. Biomass, especially wood or agricultural wastes can be an energy source, especially production the electricity. This means that the biomass must be converted into electricity and used to charge the electric car's battery.

Power gasifier, stirling engine, ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) and so on are technologies to convert the biomass into electrical energy. Biomass power plants such as the power gasifier and stirling engine can be small in size so that they can be widely spread throughout the country. A lot of energy plantations will be created for this as well as the utilization of agricultural wastes is also increasingly optimized so as not to pollute the environment anymore. Whereas ash from burning can be returned to plantations and agriculture as fertilizer.

The above is technically different with below sentences from using a gasifier or stirling engine for driving a vehicle, even though the environmental aspects are the same. In the era of the oil crisis a few decades ago the gasifier was installed on the back of the car to supply the gas as fuel for the car. Whereas in the stirling engine because it is an external combustion engine or heat engine, there is a heat combustion or production unit that is used for the energy source of the stirling engine. In electric cars there is no need to install a gasifier or heat producer, but enough to install a battery as a generator of electricity which is converted into mechanical energy.

The use of biomass as a fuel source can be made by wood chip or wood pellet depending on technical and economic factors. When the distance to the power plant is close so that the transportation costs are cheap, then the biomass is quite made of wood chips while if the distance is far, then wood pellets will save the transportation costs. In the end so that this electric car is truly an environmental solution, so the energy source must also be from renewable sources and biomass is the most potential energy source in Indonesia. Integration of energy and livestock plantations will be an accurate solution and will truly make the world more green, for more details to read here. In addition, biomass energy sources, especially wood, are very feasible to be developed in Indonesia and superior to Solar PV, read more here.