Indonesia: Untapped biomass potential can drive growth of RI industry

Indonesia: Untapped biomass potential can drive growth of RI industry

Indonesia has vast biomass potential, large enough to meet Indonesia's
renewable energy demand and boost its economy, a researcher has said.

Energy expert Erliza Hambali said that with the aid of various technologies,
Indonesia's biomass sources, such as palm oil waste, could be converted into
high-value products. The energy potential of biomass could be used in
various industries as a substitute for conventional petroleum-based
products, he added.

"We can create a new market of derivative products from palm oil waste,"
said Erliza, director of the Bogor Agricultural University's (IPB) Surfaktan
and Bioenergy Research Center (SBRC).

Erliza said several technologies and conversion processes had been developed
for biomass use so that in the future biomass could hopefully become a
viable option for various industry because it was renewable, environmentally
friendly and could reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Erliza spoke during the 2017 International Conference on Biomass held in
Bogor, West Java, from July 24 to 25. Around 200 researchers, practitioners
and business players from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and the US attended the
conference.

The potential of only a few biomass sources in Indonesia have been tapped so
far either as energy sources or as raw materials in the country's
industries, the conference said. Meanwhile, many countries have used biomass
as energy sources in the form of pellets. In Indonesia, the greatest source
of biomass potential comes from palm oil waste.

Justinus Satrio, a researcher from Villanova University, USA, said biomass
was not only an opportunity but also a challenge. "Biomass can damage the
environment if its use is not compliant with environmental conservation
principles," he said.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/07/31/untapped-biomass-potential-can
-drive-growth-of-ri-industry.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com