Tapping energy from plants, why don't we?

Tapping energy from plants, why don't we?

By Edhi Martono

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Every time an oil crisis occurs (which is
what will continue to happen, covering anything from
distribution, scarcity or price), it shows one thing: that fossil
fuel is nonrenewable, and, inevitably, there will be more and
more crises ahead.

To add insult to injury, sometime in the future, probably not
as far as away we think, all the oil wells of the world will run
dry. And our lifestyle, which has been heavily dependent on this
energy source, will need adjustment, great adjustment, or else
our world will no longer be able to function like it does today.

The truth is, preparation for this adjustment never gained any
meaningful momentum. Almost any energy crisis so far today always
deceitfully ends happily, although the cost afterward will become
more expensive. The quest for alternative energies exclusively
becomes the realm of rich countries; while the not-so-rich still
think an oil-based life will last forever, and energy crises are
the farthest thing from their mind since there are a lot more
pressing problems waiting to be managed.

Some of the quests have even become political issues, which,
of course, do not contain any satisfactory technical answers for
the coming energy shortage.

And people forget the notable figures, such as the late Prof.
Herman Johannes of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. He was one
of the few who worried about the energy crisis, and had urged
people to look for alternative sources. He offered us plants:
renewable energy resources if we are able to manage them properly
and efficiently.

He wrote in the AgroEkonomika journal in 1978 (as far back as
that) about the advantages of plants as energy resources. Plants
provide us with firewood, alcohol (ethanol, methanol: readily
converted into gasohol, alcoholic gasoline), biogas and oils to
be used as alternative energies. Unlike fossil fuels, these
alternatives may be continuously available with proper care and
handling.

He was not all talk, either. He made charcoal briquettes and
an efficient terra-cotta stove to use them in. Those briquettes
were made from dried leaves and other plant refuse through drying
and compacting.

In an average household, the briquettes provide enough energy
for cooking and other simple needs. This discovery is as
important as utilizing fermentation products of farm/household
refuse by making biogas tanks, as some NGOs built in several
villages a few years ago.

Indonesia is potentially rich in these kinds of energy. The
effort -- and even campaign -- to utilize plants which are
abundant in our backyard, unfortunately, is sadly lacking, if not
absolutely absent.

When we turn to alternative energy, it usually means coal
(another nonrenewable resource), the often-debated nuclear
energy, geothermal steam (with technology so obscure not much
progress had been heard, despite the limited localities blessed
with such energy), and so on.

Why is it that nobody ever paid any attention to plants?
Technically speaking, the concept and technology, like those
written about by Dr. Johannes, are already established. As
mentioned above, he did not only justify the concept, but also
developed practical approaches to tap plants' energy, or do some
"energy farming". He went so far as to project its economic
analyses. So?

It seems that investors for alternative energy forms, like
plants, are a might on the shy side since there is no definite
market in Indonesia. When we talk about cooking, for instance,
the introduced mode is a gas stove: the clean, shiny stainless
steel stove which brings about not only practicality, but also
prosperity and is a status symbol. Whether it feeds on liquid
petroleum gas, a fossil fuel, is of little concern, as gas bottle
vendors abound in each and every corner.

So, the education that the consumer and the market acquire is
not renewable energy consciousness. The practice -- culture -- of
using BBM (Bahan Bakar Minyak, fossil fuel oil) as energy sources
stays dominant.

Once upon a time, Save Energy campaigns appeared on
television, but they were not followed up by any definite action.
Without action, or with so much dependence on oils, those
campaigns seemed all too awkward and ironic. Sure, they were
needed to motivate the public. But more important are the real
actions and practices, actions which are not only easy to do but
rightly address the energy crisis.

The old customs and traditional practices of using plant
resources as fuel sources are actually done everywhere in
Indonesia. Arang (wood coal) and kayu bakar (firewood) are still
popular in many rural areas.

But such practices without advisory and proper control will
also bring about other disasters: forest fires, desertification,
denudation of the green canopy, etc. Not that indigenous people
do not know how to use wood fuel in a sustainable manner, but as
there will be more people using them, there is no guarantee that
everybody knows what they are supposed to do with these
vegetative resources, rather than exploiting them. In other
words, even renewable resources should be utilized with the
utmost and efficient care.

Only then will the energy farming described by Dr. Johannes
play its role -- to its fullest extent. Indonesia has a lot to
offer: there are critical lands, marginal lands, places that are
not productive enough for food and fibers.

Should there be any campaigns, these lands may be promoted to
accommodate the planting of energy-giving bushes, vines and
trees. Introduce energy-yielding plants, tell the public how to
culture them, prepare factories to process them. The technology
is available, and when the market share becomes solid, investment
will follow.

How many more years will the earth's oil reserves last? It is
time to be frank, evasiveness may spell disaster.

The writer has degrees in Entomology from the University of
Hawaii. He teaches in Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.