Want to Continue Planting Oil Palm or Switch to Energy Plantation?

The number of oil palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia that have entered the old age so that is not productive, need to immediately get a solution. The first and most popular solution as many companies do by replanting or replanting the plantation with new oil palm trees. The second solution is to switch to cultivate other plants that are considered more profitable. Energy plantations for wood pellet production is the best solution for that. Why do companies or smallholders take this second solution? This is mainly because the oil palm business does not provide the expected benefits. Many palm plantations do not provide the expected benefits due to the high cost of care(maintenance)  including fertilizer and pest management as well as the selling price of cheap fresh fruit and / or CPO. Moreover, oil palm also takes 5 harvest before it can be harvested fruit.

 Why energy plantation for wood pellet production can be regarded as a good solution? This is because there are several reasons: first, the energy plantations maintenance is very easy and cheap cost. Second, by planting the energy plantations will also restore the fertility of the soil. Third, the need for wood pellets for the energy sector is also increasing. Fourth, the leaves of the plantation can also be used for sheep/lamb or goat farms. This sheep will also be the best treasure for us. Fifth, as a companion plantation of oil palm plantations. The extent of oil palm plantations that reach tens or even hundreds of thousands of hectares are planted in monoculture or only one type of plant vulnerable with various diseases, so by adding a companion plant of leguminoceae group in the energy plantation will reduce or avoid the problem as well as optimize the yield of the oil palm plantation itself. After the old oil palm trees are felled, the stems can also be used as raw material for pellet production or OPT pellet. Only then can it be continued to replant new oil palm trees, or switch 100% with energy plantations or combined  with some remaining as oil palm plantations and partially for energy plantations.

Then how will the energy plantations business also become a profitable and sustainable business? Similar to oil palm plantations so that their CPO products can be sold domestically or exported, which requires processing plant of fruit bunches from oil palm plantation, so also with energy plantations which need factory or processing unit to become wood pellet before marketed in domestic or export . Wood pellet production process is also simpler than CPO production and its factory or machineries price is also much cheaper. Mid-size entrepreneurs are more affordable to produce wood pellets from these energy plantations, for example from energy plantations of 500 hectares, 1000 hectares and so on. The design scheme of wood pellet production from energy plantation can also be read here. For readers who want to get estimation of wood pellet production, please send an email to eko.sbs@gmail.com

Finding The Best Treasure Of Energy Plantations Implementation

From Abu Said Al-Khudri said: Rasulullah SAW said: "The time will come that the best Muslim treasure is the sheep shepherded on the mountaintops and the fall of rain. By bringing his religion he runs away from some slander (Munkar or Muslim fights) ". (H.R. Bukhari)

From Abu Hurairah R.A. from the Messenger of Allah (SAW), he said: "Among the best human livelihoods, is a man who controls his horse in the way of Allah. He flies over it (he rides it up the fast way). Everytime hears the call of war he flies over it eagerly to seek death by being killed (in martyrdom) or facing death on the spot. Or a man who shepherds the sheep at the top of a mountain from the top of this mountain or the valley of some valleys. He established a sholat, gave zakat and worshiped to his Lord until death came to him. He does not interfere with man, and only do good to them. "(H.R. Muslim).

Both hadiths saheeh above explain the virtues of the sheep as the best treasure and shepherd the sheep as the livelihood or the best work after jihad. The best treasure of sheep and grazing is very possible with the implementation of energy plantation. The lands that were previously barren and unproductive can also be repaired with the leguminocea type of energy plantation trees. For more details about energy plantation can be read here. Tens of millions of hectares of land that are not or have not been utilized optimally need to be processed and optimized. This is because there are many urgent agendas today that need to be addressed, such as food sufficiency, nutrition improvement, health improvement and quality of life, creating a strong and quality generation, improving education, improving the economy, improving the environment and so on to create a glorious civilization that lights the world.

When we design and manufacture large scale energy plantationsfor the production of wood pellets, leaves can be used to feed the sheep. With a ratio of 6 trees / head / day, then with 10,000 trees / hectare and if every harvest day of 10 hectares means it can feed 17,000 sheep. Then the best treasure of the sheep also provides a large additional income. In addition, sheep can also be grazed in the area of ​​the plantation but with attention to the age of the energy trees in order to also be able to keep growing optimum not even shoots consumed sheep, as in the scenario 5F Projects For the World! Although it can be used as a single feed for sheep, but the use of gamal leaves with grass to feed the sheep will provide optimal results. The lamb is the best meat and is the world healthiest food, the lamb that is fed with leaves and grass or shepherded in the grass. Sheep fed with leaves and grass will produce Omega-6 ratios of Omega 3 (O6 / O3 ratio) in the range of 1 or balanced. The Omega-6 to Omega 3 ratio indicates the level of quality of food in terms of health, with a range of 1 at the best or balanced conditions whereas if the O6 / O3 ratio is greater then the lower the quality of the food. Meanwhile, if large livestock such as sheep are fed grains such as soybean-based O6 / O3 ratio to be large ie 13 or more. High O6 / O3 ratio will spur the onset of heart disease, cancer and other cardiovascular.

The leaves of the leguminoceae trees in the energy plantations also have a high protein content, for example gamal (gliricidae) leaf  has a protein content of about 25%. In addition, gamal (gliricidae) leaves also have a low tannin content. Tannin compounds in general will reduce protein digestibility for rumen digestion. Conversion of gamal (gliricidae) leaves with 'very' high protein content to lamb meat is also big. So sheep fed with gamal (gliricidae) leaves will have much greater weight than sheep that are not given gamal (gliricidae) leaves. The high nutritive value of gamal (gliricidae) leaves and positive effect on ruminant livestock production especially sheep puts it as ideal animal feed.

In addition to the encouragement of both the saheeh hadiths above and also the low consumption of meat in the country and also the high demand for sheep to export to Saudi Arabia which reached 8 million heads / year with 2 million during the hajj season, and the abundance of gamal (gliricidae) leaves from the energy plantation when it has been produced , has become a number of powerful thrust to get the best treasure by making sheep farms.

The destruction of agricultural lands as well as forests that are very numerous even according to FAO estimated globally has reached one third. Some have even entered the desertification phase. It is certainly alarming for human food sufficiency and other potential natural disasters. Allah SWT says in QS Ya-sin (36): 33; QS Al An'am (6): 99. And again this leguminoceae plant is meant in that verse. Leguminoceae plant roots that are able to bind nitrogen (nitrogen fixing trees) from the atmosphere that serves as a pioneer plant, the trees deliver the land that originally died / arid until eligible for overgrown for fertilizing the soil. Then with the rain falling from the clouds and the sun, the woody biomass formed and its leaves as a nutritious feed, is how energy and food formed come from 'sky'.So the importance of food and renewable energy so humans globally need to formulate and set targets to be sufficient and fulfilled as in the SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs) package. The leaves are also high in protein content that is needed for the sheep. Phosporus (P) and potassium / potassium (K) sheep droppings, with grazing in the soil, will further nourish the damaged soils, for nitrogen (N), phospour (P), and potassium (K) or NPK is an essential element of soil fertility. It is the great power of Allah who has given the 'recipe' / guidance to prosper His earth even from the condition of his death (QS Ya-sin (36): 33). It adds more faith and piety to Him like the word of Allah SWT:

"Verily in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day there are signs for the intelligent (ulil albab). Those who remember Allah while standing or sitting or lying down and they are thinking about the creation of the heavens and the earth - (then say) 'Our Lord, you have not created this in vain, Glory to You, so guard us from the torment of hell ". (QS 3: 190-191)

There's Always a Market For Every Type of Pellet Fuel

The marketing aspect has always been a scourge for potential producers. When production activities have been carried out including large costs have been incurred to purchase equipment or production machineries, land for factories, factory buildings and so forth, for example the production of large capacity wood pellets from energy plantations, but not yet mastered the market aspect, will then face the big problem. Assessing, analyzing and exploring aspects of the market with its characteristics prior to production activities is very important, especially for large capacity production that also requires such huge cost. This also applies to pellet fuel from biomass as a solid fuel that gets a lot of attention today and also started to be developed by many parties. And of course the fear of potential producers can be avoided if they have mastered the intricacies of the business that they will run it.

Biomass pellets or pellets fuel and more particularly in wood pellets can be made from a variety of biomass feedstocks, whether woody biomass, agricultural wastes or grasses. More specifically wood pellets are pellets that are made from woody biomass. While biomass pellet is pellet fuel made from all kinds of biomass including woods, agricultural wastes and grasses. Pellets fuel made from agricultural waste is called agro-waste pellets. The wood pellet group has characteristics of high calorific value and low ash content while agro-waste pellets have lower calorific value characteristics and higher ash content. Wood pellets can also be made from hardwoods and softwoods, each of which has little difference to its properties. So is the pellets fuel group from agricultural wastes whose raw materials can also be as diverse as rice husk, coffee husk, peanut shell, empty fruit bunches (EFB) and so on. The properties of pellet fuel from various agricultural wastes are also different although the difference is a little.

Ash content and ash chemistry are two important variables related to the use or utilization of the pellets fuel. In general, the higher the ash content, the smaller the calorific value of the pellets fuel. While the ash chemistry of various pellets fuel groups in general can also be distinguished as follows:

1. The content of silica ash (Si) and potassium / potassium (K) are low with high calcium (Ca), with high fusion temperature derived from almost all woody biomass group. And this is the best specification for combustion and gasification.

2. The content of silica ash (Si) and potassium / potassium (K) high with low calcium (Ca) comes from agriculture biomass waste group.

Furthermore, since the chemical elements of the biomass constituents in pellet fuel are numerous, they determine the specific properties of pellet fuel. For example: wood pellets of hardwoods such as meranti, merbau, ulin, halaban and so on differ a number of chemical constituents with wood pellets from softwoods such as sengon / albasia. Similarly, agro-waste pellets such as rice husk pellets (ricehusk pellets) with empty palm bunches pellets (EFB Pellet). Even both groups of hardwoods and softwoods, too, differences in the amount of ash chemical elements between different species of wood also occur and it affects the level of technology tolerance used. Scientifically ultimate analysis in the laboratory can be used to determine the content of ash and chemical elements in detail / detail. It is important to know for the specific use or use of pellet fuel.

Basically the utilization of the pellet is as fuel or energy source. Combustion technology, gasification and pyrolysis are thermal routes that can use pellets as fuel. The most widely used combustion technology, the later gasification and the last pyrolysis. Combustion technology with medium temperature to high temperature can be done. The industrial sector generally uses medium temperatures and power plants use high temperatures. Burning in the industrial sector using combustor, namely grate stoker (chain grate) and stoker (static grate). While the power plant using pulverized system, additional explanations can also be read here.

To be able to use the pellets fuel from various raw materials because no problem with a number of chemical in pellet ash is then gasification technology widely used. With its operational temperature gasification also relatively low (800 C) compared to pulverized on combustion, so a number of ash chemical elements also do not cause problems. The use of gasification technology has also begun much in power generation. Gasification technology by maximizing gas products has a higher efficiency level than combustion, but the price or investment for large capacity is expensive so that in large capacity power plants generally still use the above mentioned pulverized technology. With this gasification technology, not only wood pellet types can be used but agro-waste pellets can also be used as fuel.

What about pyrolysis? In contrast to combustion and gasification that produce ash as residue, whereas in pyrolysis is not produced ash because of low operating conditions compared to combustion and gasification namely 400-600 C and limited/absence of oxygen. Wood pellets or biomass pellets are rarely used for fuel or raw materials in pyrolysis. Pyrolysis that is widely used today is slow pyrolysis or carbonization for charcoal production, while fast pyrolysis for the production of liquid fuels (bio-oil) is also still rarely used. In charcoal production with (slow) pyrolysis or carbonization it usually uses wood or briquette (sawdust briquette / wood briquette) as its raw material to produce lump charcoal and sawdust charcoal briquette, to sharpen the information can be read here .

Torrefaction or mild pyrolysis can produce half carbonization product which can be compacted into torrified pellet fuel. The raw material of the torrefaction process is wood chip then after going through the torrefaction process  then crushing with hammer mill so that the size becomes powder which then compacted into torrified pellet fuel. With torrefaction process the energy content of biomass becomes higher by about 20% so that after compacted the energy content of torrified pellet fuel is also automatically higher than wood pellet. Torrefaction with the final product of torrified pellet fuel is predicted to be a trend of future biomass solid fuels. The wood pellet or biomass pellet factory can upgrade its product to torrefied pellet fuel by adding a torrefier or torrefaction device in its production. Not many modifications to the factory if it will add a torrifier or torrefaction equipment to become a final product torrified pellet fuel later. So here the use of torrefaction technology (mild-pyrolysis) for the production process of biomass fuel that is torrified fuel, while gasification and combustion technology is used to extract energy from biomass fuel in the form of pellet fuel into heat and electricity.

By examining in detail the characteristics of pellet fuel and its utilization technology, no pellet fuel is useless or no market. Energy demand also continues to increase as the population grows. The characteristics or specific properties of pellet fuel will also determine the price of the pellet. Wood pellets generally have higher prices than agro-waste pellets. In many ways wood pellets have many advantages over coal, especially in the industrial sector, of course also the problem of economy. It also encourages some industries to switch to using wood pellets. Performance or boiler performance in the industry can also compete with the use of wood pellets. For industries that want to test and want to switch using wood pellet for boiler can contact us at eko.sbs@gmail.com

Designing Large Capacity Wood Pellet Production From Energy Plantation

In anticipation of global wood pellet demand reaching 50 million tonnes / year 2024 with Korea and Japan reaching 20 million tonnes / year in 2020 or with a business value of  9 billion US dollars in 2020 and to become a major player in the business, so designing a large capacity and sustainable can only be done with energy plantations. The scheme below describes the stages in more detail and informative:

Container Still Become the Main Choice of Wood Pellet Export in Indonesia?

Buyers' satisfaction for getting goods on demand, undamaged and defective, is an important factor in the sustainability of a business so buyers continue to repurchase and repeat orders, by making or renewing existing contracts, even by increasing their purchasing capacity. This also applies to the wood pellets business. Attempts to get goods that order for the buyer one of them by keeping the goods along the journey from various damage is important one by choosing the packaging or the appropriate wood pellet delivery or the type of delivery. Almost all Indonesian wood pellet exports today use containers with wood pellets in jumbo bags and then arranged inside the container. Some use sack packs then place them in containers as well. There is also a way of bulk or not packed in jumbo bag or sack but still in containers. The use of containers is chosen because, firstly the export wood pellet volume is not large yet, second are not yet available adequate supporting facilities for large quantity wood pellets export with bulk shipment.

Wood pellets is a very sensitive product with water, so protection or keeping it out of water should be done to maintain the quality of the wood pellet. By placing the wood pellet in a container then protection from water such as rain water can be done, so it is still used as the main choice. Then how to export wood pellets in large quantity routinely done every month? Need extra effort at this time if want to use bulk shipment, especially for protection from water. Especially in the rainy season. Rainfall intensity in Indonesia is quite high compared to other countries in general, namely, an average of 2700 mm / year or three times higher than the world average of only 900 mm / year. Indonesia's rainfall is higher than India (1,080 mm), America (715 mm), China (645 mm), Brazil (1,750 mm), Argentina (591 mm) and even Thailand (1,625 mm). Only two of our neighbors are able to surpass the Indonesian rainfall of Malaysia (2,875 mm) and Papua New Guinea (3,140). While countries in the Middle East in general have only a small rainfall such as Jordan (111 mm), Qatar (74 mm), Saudi Arabia (59 mm) and Egypt who only get 51 mm rainfall per year. So if bulk shipment of wood pellets will be done then in the dry season will be easier because water protection is easier to do. In comparison we will see shipping of palm kernel shell (pks) which is also biomass fuel has been exported abroad especially with bulk shipment.

Palm kernel shells are not as sensitive as wood pellets or pellets fuel to water, so the handling is also not as difficult as wood pellets. There are three main things that become the main parameters of palm kernel shells that is water content, calorific value and impurity. Related to the moisture content because the palm kernel shells is not damaged by water but only keep it from getting too wet, while wood pellet which is an industrial product of woody biomass compaction (biomass densification) will be damaged and even destroyed by the presence of water in certain quantities. Mechanical interlocking that occurs during the compaction will decompose and loose due to the presence of a lot of water so the wood pellets destroyed. In shipment of palm kernel shells from stockpile locations to export ports, the use of trucks or barges is common and sometimes only sealed with less dense plastic. In wood pellet closure with plastic when heading to the carrier vessel can also be done but if not tight enough will be prone to water especially in the rainy season, plus if loading to the ship is done in the middle of the sea (transhipment) because the ship can not lean on the port like usually done in Kalimantan.

The difference in the tolerance level of water avaibility between the palm kernel shell and wood pellets, has implications for handling and even the equipment used. Weather factors (such as storms) and density loading traffic port add to the difficulty of loading wood pellets onto the vessel. This makes shipping large quantities of wood pellets with bulk shipment still difficult to be done, so shipping with containers are still the main choice in Indonesia. 

Wood pellet terminal in Canada

Wood pellet loading from silos into the ship

Cement terminal at seaport

Cement loading from silos into the ship

Another reference that we can refer to is the bulk cement shipments. Cement is a product that is also very sensitive to water, in the presence of water then the cement will clot so it becomes unusable, so protection against water is absolutely necessary. Cement distribution lines to their bulk shipment are all protected from the entry of water. In the highways we can easily find large trucks carrying bulk cement pass through, then in a number of ports are also built cement terminals in the form of silos or bin like high towers. When wood pellets production reach massive scale, the infrastructure or supporting equipment is also almost the same as cement and it is now also we can see in wood pellets producing countries like America and Canada. On the receiving port side or port of destination the shipment of adequate equipment is also required to handle the unloading of the wood pellets. For comparison, large quantities of feed pellets will also require almost the same equipment for bulk shipment. So whether the biomass fuel such as wood pellets become waterproof (hydrophobic) like coal? The answer can be with torrefaction technology so the product become torrefied wood pellet. Torrefaction will be discussed in more detail next writing. Insha Allah.

Liquid Fuels From Biomass In The Era Of Bioeconomy

Biomass solid fuels, especially wood pellets, have gained great attention so that their use continues to increase, as a means of lowering the temperature of the earth. The estimated use of world wood pellets will reach 50 million tonnes / year by2024 while Korea and Japan alone will reach 20 million tonnes / year in the next 3-4 years. Why is the biomass-fuel solid getting so much attention? This is due to the large coal-fired power plants that have been able to gradually use the wood pellets, even new plants are also built specifically using wood pellets or other biomass fuels such as palm kernel shells or wood chips. What about liquid fuels from biomass? Liquid fuel has a large portion as a vehicle fuel or industry, both derived from fossil and from biomass. Bioenergy (energy from biomass which includes solid, liquid and gas) currently accounts for about 10% of total global energy use, or equivalent about 53 EJ / year (about 6 minutes of solar radiation to the earth). Petroleum consumption accounts for one third of global energy followed by coal and natural gas. Bioenergy supplies the most energy compared to non-fossil energy sources, such as the table below. Liquid fuels from the bioenergy group alone reach about 6% or 3 EJ / year (radiant solar energy to the earth for half a minute). The liquid fuel is mainly used in the transportation sector. Liquid fuels from biomass are vegetable oils (fatty acids), biomethanol, bioethanol, biodiesel and biooil. Among them are bioethanol and biodiesel most attention, as most of the good engines and vehicles use the fuel.

Source : Biomass in the energy industry, BP & Energy Biosciences Institute

Brazil and the United States are the two major producing countries of liquid fuels from biomass in the form of bioethanol from sugarcane and corn. Brazil'ssugarcane plantation area of ​​9 million hectares and corn farming in America 39 million hectares. In addition to the production of fuel, sugarcane and corn partially processed into food products. Indonesia's largest producer of palm oil or CPO with production of 23 million tons / year with a current land area of ​​9 million hectares and is still growing. CPO in addition to biodiesel raw material, can also be as direct fuel, is also an important edible oil. Currently we are witnessing many liquid fuel stations in Indonesia selling Bio-Solar or B-20 for diesel-engined fuel vehicles with 80% petroleum diesel and 20% biodiesel from CPO. For the production of liquid fuels from biomass in Indonesia other than palm  oil trees proclaimed among others with sugar cane, cassava, shorghum, and jatropha. In general, the production of liquid fuels from biomass in Indonesia has not been encouraging. Even jatropha curcas have failed as biodiesel feedstock because the price is still expensive, so its biodiesel products can not compete with diesel oil from petroleum, plus jatropha oil is not a food product. It still needs a lot of effort to achieve the expected conditions in this sector. Moreover, the lands needed for agriculture of the above commodities generally require fertile soils and high maintenance costs. This is in contrast to the energy plantations of theleguminoceae plant for the production of wood pellets that can survive on marginal, critical and abandoned land.

The Qur'an also discusses renewable energy from this biomass, ie from trees in QS Yaasiin: 80, QS Al Waqi'ah: 71-72, and QS An Nuur: 35. In surah Yassiin and Al Waqi'ah the indication of such energy source from the tree, while in the surah An Nuur the indication of the fruit. Details of renewable energy development based on the Qur'an in more detail can be read here. Based on the above information that almost all of the liquid fuel from the biomass turns out to be also food for humans. So how should we respond to such conditions? Moreover, there has been Tortilla riot in Mexico in 2007 ago. The riot occurred because the United States cultivate corn to bio-ethanol fuel, while Mexico as a neighboring country is dependent imports of corn from America as food so that as a result there was food crisis. The two hadiths of Prophet Muhammad became the solution and guide for food and energy issues, for us as followers:

From Aisha she said: "Once the family of Abu Bakr (his father) sent (soup) goat legs to us, then I did not eat, and he (Prophet Muhammad SAW) also did not eat because we have no lights. If  we have some oil at that time, of course we are prioritized to be eaten. " (HR Ahmad).

Another story from Abu Hurairah: "There are times when for months gone by, but the houses of the Messenger of Allah do not have a single day of light, nor the kitchen nor smoke, if there is any oil to use for food."

Finally, with the guidance of the Qur'an and the example of the life of Prophet Muhammad SAW, uswatun hasanah, the people should be able to overcome food and energy conflicts, as well as develop innovative ability to explore the sources of renewable energy.

Search for cheap and abundant energy sources continue to be done to race down theearth's temperature. Liquid waste from CPO factories which still contain oil despite its high free fatty acid (FFA) of up to 60%, provided the moisture content and its impurities (M & I) is less than 2%, or the total oil is at least 98% sought by many countries for biodiesel production. Oil from CPO factory waste that was originally waste or so-called dirty oil or PAO (Palm Acid Oil) has now become a selling commodity for biodiesel raw materials. It basically indeed that all fatty acids can be processed or converted into biodiesel. Indonesia's potential for PAO is also very big considering about 600 CPO factories in Indonesia and not conflict with human food. PAO processing into cheap biodiesel so that it can be used as a power plant or vehicle fuel or industrial machineries in the country should also be a concern and can be implemented in not too distant future. Other PAO utilization can be as direct fuel for various heaters. Processing of empty palm bunches (EFB) and palm trunks into EFB pellets and OPT pellets has a lot of problems because of its very wet raw materials, resulting in expensive drying costs. The use of PAO can be one solution to the problem.

Go Biomass, Go Bioeconomy!

"Verily in the creation of the heaven and the earth, and the alternation of night and day there are signs for the intelligent (ulil albab). Those who remember Allah while standing or sitting or lying down and they are thinking about the creation of the heaven and the earth - (then say) 'Our God, you have not created this in vain, Glory to You, so guard us from the torment of hell ". (Qur'an Surah 3: 190-191)

Energy is at the foundation of various economic activities. To heat, cool, illuminate, communication and various computer systems, transportation, mechanical work always requires energy. Currently most of the energy comes from fossil fuels that are bad for the environment in the form of rising carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration which causes climate change and global warming problems. In addition, the fossil fuel in value is also unsustainable because of its limited resources, so the key words of energy development for the present and future is sustainability. In the Qur'an Surah An Naba '(78): 13, Allah SWT makes the sun a light or source of energy for the universe, then makes rain from the cloud (QS 78: 14) and And with that rain water God cultivates grains and plants (QS 78: 15) as well as shady gardens (QS 78: 16).

Mauna Loa Observatory: 1959 recorded CO2 concentration of 316 ppm, and in 2013 has reached 400 ppm or increased 27% in the period of half a century. It also means 50% higher before the industrial revolution era

Sunlight as a source of energy for the universe so that the temperature of the earth can be maintained and various life processes can run. Including fossil energy is also derived from various plants that photosynthetic in the past. Extracting solar energy as energy has become a human concern nowadays. In what way should humans extract the sun's energy? It is by using trees through its photosynthetic process for biomass production. In fossil energy, geological processes have made it concentrated and become a rich deposit, while in renewable energy the presence of sunlight becomes very vital. Even from the existence of various trees then the springs will appear and then into rivers. The question is where on earth the location can get abundant sunflow and continuously throughout the year? Tropical areas like Indonesia is the location so that the photosynthetic process can run with the optimal nature and for more details can be read here. Then why is the Muslim-majority Indonesia with a vast land area with abundant sunfloods not also have a meaningful role in the era of bioeconomy with renewable energy, especially biomass as its main commodity? Does not Allah SWT also command us to prosper the earth (Qur'an Surah 11:61)? Let's reflect together.

In the midst of energy efficiency, the projected global energy consumption continues to increase, with an increase of 1.5% annually from 2012 to 2035. Renewable energy, especially biomass, is significantly increased, ie, twice the growth of nuclear energy and more than three times the growth of hydro energy. While the growth of fossil energy consumption is only about 1/6 of this. This shows the era of bioeconomy increasingly open. The woody biomass of the trees has been a source of energy for society since ancient times and in the era of bioeconomy turned history over. The United States currently uses 1% of wood biomass for electricity production and 2% in the industrial sector. Even recently America through its energy department (The US Department of Energy) proclaimed a dry biomass production of at least 1 billion tonnes by 2040 and the mission has also encouraged its neighbor Canada to develop a similar program. While Finland and Sweden have even reached almost 1/5 of the energy sector using wood biomass that is for the production of electricity and heat sources. In contrast to Italy, known as the largest wooden biomass user for the household sector on space heating, for more detail can be read here. While in Asia, Japan and Korea are the two countries that pioneered massive wood biomass. Korea with RPS (Renewable Portfolio standard) proclaimed since 2012 has targeted the use of 20% wood biomass by 2020. Japan after the Fukushima nuclear plant tragedy in 2011 has also encouraged the use of wood biomass for its energy source. In general large countries have included biomass as its energy policy or commonly known as bioeconomy. How about Indonesia? Despite having a strategic position on the equator and wide available land but the vision of biomass energy in Indonesia has not been encouraging, because it only occupies 3% portion in its energy mix. Wood pellets are a very popular form of wood biomass energy today because they are efficient and easy to use and store. Wood pellet production process technology can be read here.

Basically there is a lot of energy that can be generated from biomass and all the energy from fossils can also be generated from biomass because of the similarity of the constituent chemical elements. Why are biomass constituent chemical elements the same as fossils? Back again because of the origin of the fossil from biomass and as described in the verses of Allah SWT in the series QS 78 above. Only in practice not all the biomass is currently processed into energy such as fossil diverse including various chemicals, this is because in general is still constrained technical and economical. In terms of shape of energy include solid, liquid and gas types, such as wood chips, wood pellets, wood briquette, torrified wood, charcoal in solid form, and bioethanol and biodiesel in liquid form and biogas and syngas on gas form. And more important that the use of trees as a source of biomass for energy in accordance with the Qur'an and for more details please read here. By remembering Allah SWT by standing or sitting or lying down and they are thinking about the creation of the heaven and the earth (QS 3: 190-191) is certainly not just a winner in the bioeconomy era but further increasing iman and taqwa to Him that gives the world and akhirat (hereafter). For those interested in discussing and facilitating this opportunity so that it is implemented please write email: eko.sbs@gmail.com