Environmentally friendly technology abound in Yogya
By Heru Prasetya
YOGYAKARTA (JP): You need water and electricity but live in a remote barren area? Don't worry, just drop in at the Langit Lintang Samodra Foundation in Sambisari village, Sleman, some 17 kilometers east of here.
Here you will find a laboratory of nature, whose creations have spread across the country and even overseas.
Even at a glance, the laboratory gives you an environmentally- friendly impression as it is uses materials that are usually discarded by people.
According to the laboratory workers, the materials are bought from scavengers, not only because it is cheap but also because it helps clean the environment.
In a way the laboratory resembles a workshop.
"It is actually our workshop," said the foundation's director Mohammad Seti Adji Sastroamidjojo, who is better known as Seno.
Earning his three university degrees abroad -- a B.Sc from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an M.Sc.E from UCLA and a PhD from the Australian National University, the 79-year- old Seno was a teacher at Ika Dai Gakko Jakarta for three years from 1942 before moving to Yogyakarta. He fought as a soldier for the country's independence before being entrusted to head the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University's solar laboratory in Karanggayam. Here lectured to students from his university or from the University of Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa.
Five years ago he retired from Gadjah Mada University to head the Wind and Solar Natural Resources Research and Development Center, which is part of the work carried out by the Langit Lintang Samodra Foundation. Once in a while, he lectures at universities if requested.
Windmill
Workers in his workshop bring Seno's ideas into reality, ideas which mostly relate to the utilization of natural resources such as the wind, the sun and the waves to create a clean environment.
One of his creations, the windmill, can now be found across the country, such as in Bima in West Nusa Tenggara, Gombong in Central Java and Ternate in Maluku. Besides local orders, the workshop has also received orders from the Philippines, Singapore, Sweden and the United States. The local windmills are cheaper than imported ones.
The windmill which can be used for pumping water and generating power, adopts a simple technology and only requires a small capital. Some of the spare parts, for example, are obtained from scavengers or are modified from used objects.
"Most important of all is its tested quality," Pak Seno said proudly.
His windmill uses an perpendicular axle, popularly called the Helix windmill. A 3.5-meter-long axle made of a 4-centimeter diameter rod is placed perpendicularly to a 3m-long iron crossbar with legs used as a frame. This axle will allow winds from every direction to blow the vanes of the windmill.
Then, the three spiral-shaped blades of the windmill -- made of a mixture of resin, catalyst, mat which is very soft gunny, and some coloring -- will be put in place. When rotated by the wind, the windmill will look like a large 2.8m diameter drum rotating around the iron axle.
To pump out water, the windmill would have to be connected to a mechanical pump. To generate power, the windmill would have to be connected to a generator. Presently, the generator used in Seno's windmill is the alternator of an automobile, which generates direct currents (DC). The electricity is stored in a battery. This direct current will then be passed into an inverter to become alternate current of 220 volts and 50-60 Hertz, ready to be used in households.
To make the windmill's vanes move, the wind must have a minimum speed of 300 meter per minute. If the wind is of a lower speed, the vanes will still rotate but the electricity generated will not be effective. That's why beaches, where the winds are at a speed of between 450 and 500 meters per minute, are the most suitable place for the windmills. Otherwise, the windmills should be situated in open places with no buildings obstructing the wind.
This explains why Seno conducted a number of trial operations of the windmill in coastal areas, example on Parangtritis beach and on Glagah Indah beach.
He said they conducted these trial operations for several years and the results had been satisfactory. After the trial operations, the windmills were dismantled.
A windmill with the above specifications may cost some Rp 32 million to build. A windmill used for generating power for lighting is capable of supplying 50 families with 50 watts of power eight hours a day. This power is enough to light two neon bulbs. When used for pumping water, the windmill can produce 6- cubic-meter of water every eight hours.
The windmills have been used mostly to generate power and to pump water to irrigate rice fields. In Yogyakarta, you can see this mills in Medari, Sleman which were constructed under the request of the locals.
Inexhaustible energy
Seno said the wind was an inexhaustible source of energy. A windmill can be used even in the most remote area. Very clearly, windmills are useful in places where electricity is still not available or where people have to pay a lot for electricity from the state electricity company.
A number of areas have enjoyed the "service" of this windmill. In Ternate, for example, a windmill has been installed in Gebe island.
"It is really an isolated place and an alternative power source is the only way for these people to be able to enjoy electricity," said Seno, who received in 1999 the Kalpataru award.
Apart from the windmill, Seno has also invented many other environment-related devices. His water heater, for example, is now used in physiotheraphy.
This heater uses solar cells to absorb and store solar energy. Water heated by solar energy is used for massaging patients requiring physiotherapy. The Sayap Ibu Foundation in Yogyakarta has used this device since 1988.
Seno also uses solar cells for his fish dryers, which use the same principle as the water heater. Mushroom growers in Wonosobo, Central Java now use these fish dryers to dry their mushrooms.
To Seno, the environment is everything and damage to the environment is hazardous. That is why he strongly objects to tree-felling activities. He never approves the utilization of forest timber for paper production.
His fear for the adverse consequences of large-scale tree- felling has inspired Seno to set up a paper mill with water hyacinth as the raw material. Water hyacinth is abundantly available and its use in paper production will help maintain a clean environment, especially because many people have a strong dislike for this water plant.
Seno is also against the use of nuclear power, particularly in Indonesia. He said Indonesia had no urgent need for nuclear power which could easily become a safety hazard. He believed that continued use of nuclear power would only lead to great losses for humanity.
One reason why he discourages the use of nuclear power in Indonesia is because Indonesians have poor discipline.
"It may well be the case that those assigned to keep watch over a nuclear power center will leave their work just for jagong manten (attending wedding ceremonies). This is still an incorrigible habit in our country."