Reviving the Integrated Coconut Industries in Indonesia

The absence of a market causes the coconut industry to not develop, stagnate and even tend to die. Although various products can be produced from coconut fruit but with a small product uptake is not able to turn on the coconut industry. When the products that the demanded by market are already obtained, such as CPO in the palm oil industry, it is possible for the coconut industry to stretch and rise and be taken into account. Modernization of technology also needs to be done so that the coconut industry becomes a modern industry even though the production capacity is not as big as the palm oil industry. Another factor needed to revive the integrated coconut industry and this is almost the same experienced by all industries in general that is the availability of energy. So that to meet the energy needs, not all coconut fruit should be processed, but some are used to produce energy, for example coconut fiber, because the economic value is the lowest.

Activated carbon is a product that has a very good market potential and with continuous pyrolysis technology followed by activation, the product can be produced without the need for additional external energy. Thus the activated carbon plant can stand on its own using its coconut shell waste. But to get the coconut shell, someone must process the coconut fruit. Products such as VCO, dedicated coconut, and coconut milk can be the main products so that the processing of the coconut fruit. The coconut water can be processed into isotonic drinks or nata de coco. The use of coir-fired boilers (if in a palm oil mill, high efficient boilers only use the fiber) or even fronds and leaves can be used for electricity and steam production. Similar to operations in palm oil mills as well, namely electricity can be used to move a variety of mechanical equipment for processing coconut and steam as well as a source of heat, especially if the processing of the coconut fruit does need it.

With the above pattern, the coconut industry can be operated even though the location is in a remote area and there is no electricity network there, a place where coconut plantations are located. Indonesia as a seduction country of coconut islands with the plantation area of almost 4 million hectares and the widest in the world today or the equivalent of 1/3 of palm oil plantations should be also the leader in the world coconut industry. 

Which is Better, Efficient Boiler or Pyrolysis System ?

Fiber and palm kernel shells (PKS) are palm oil mill solid wastes that are produced in CPO production in that mill. The amount of fiber and PKS waste is quite a lot, which is around 20% of each fresh fruit bunch (FFB) or almost the same as the CPO produced. A palm oil mill with a capacity of 60 tons / hour FFB can produce fiber as much as 8.1 tons per hour or 194.4 tons per day and PKS of 3.3 tons / hour per hour or 79.2 tons per day. And because both of them are waste, generally the utilization of the waste is not initially considered, including for use as fuel in boilers in palm oil mills for the production of electricity and steam. The use of fiber and PKS for boiler fuel generally uses 100% fiber and about 30% of the PKS. Under these conditions the remaining 70% of the PKS can be used for other things including being sold or even exported.

When the shell becomes a commercial commodity and demand is greater, palm oil mills replace their old inefficient boilers with new boilers that have a high level of efficiency. In this way, 100% of the PKS is no longer used to boiler fuel and only requires fiber as fuel. In this condition a paradigm shift in thinking begins to occur, that is when the solid waste is almost unnoticed and tends to be considered a problem, then it becomes an important part of earning additional income and it can even be estimated that if the shell is successfully sold then it is sufficient to cover the operational costs of the palm oil mill. Certainly something interesting if the production of CPO (crude palm oil) with 0% operational costs so that profit is increasingly attractive especially amid the recent decline in CPO prices.

Another thing that can be done is to use a pyrolysis unit, to run the boiler. With pyrolysis, not only fiber is used but also the empty fruit bunch (EFB). EFB are solid palm oil mill waste which to date have generally not been utilized. Besides producing energy, pyrolysis also produces products in the form of charcoal (biochar). Although charcoal (biochar) can also be used for energy sources, but in the business of palm oil companies the use of biochar for plantations can be more compatible. The use of biochar in palm oil plantations is mainly to  fertilizer saving, which is one of the major cost components (around 30%) in the CPO production business. With an area of ​​20 thousand hectares of oil palm plantations, fertilizer costs are estimated to reach Rp. 71.50 billion (around US$ 5 million) per year or Rp. 35.75 billion (around US$ 2.5 million) per year for every 10,000 hectares, for more details, please read here. Palm oil mills with big vision certainly try to maximize their potential with the aim of maximizing profits from upstream to downstream production activities. With Biochar can also target the increase in productivity of FFB, for more details, please read here.

The application of biochar will be easier to do in Indonesia than in Malaysia, this is because almost all palm oil mills in Indonesia also have palm oil plantations while in Malaysia the mills generally do not have their own palm oil plantations. The palm oil industry also has an important role for the two countries because Indonesia and Malaysia are the largest CPO producers and owners of biggest palm oil plantations in the world today. The palm oil industry contributes around 7% of Malaysian GDP and 3% of Indonesian GDP, so its role cannot be ignored. Both with pyrolysis and high efficient boilers, biomass waste can be used as an energy source and 100% of the PKS can be commercialized, but with pyrolysis is better because waste of EFB can also be processed, there are biochar product (while only ash if only with regular combustion) for Fertilizers saving in the palm oil plantations and the exhaust gases from the palm oil mill boilers are also clean because they burn gas (syngas) produced from the pyrolysis process.

Large Plantations and Large Farms

Fertilizer problems or soil fertility have always been the main topic or discussion for a large plantation business. This is very reasonable because maintaining productivity of crops can only be done by maintaining soil fertility or providing adequate fertilizer. For this reason, the budget for the supply of fertilizer is always a large portion of the plantation business. Then the condition leads to the question of how to make efficiency or save the fertilizer budget? Of course many techniques can be used for this purpose, but basically the selection or use of fertilizer that is appropriate and the effectiveness or absorption of fertilizer for plants is a key success factor in maintaining soil fertility. Let's try to answer the main question above.

When chemical fertilizers are increasingly abandoned because of their effects which damage the environment, there is no other choice but to use organic fertilizer. In large plantations such as oil palm plantations, basically there are also many biomass wastes from palm oil mills that can be used as fertilizer, such as fronds and palm oil trunks. But when these ingredients are also processed to become a particular product, and also the composting process of fibrous wood species takes a long time, the best choice is with organic manure. The question is where do you get livestock manure compost for the oil palm plantation? Actually there are more sources of organic fertilizer or compost that can be produced from palm oil mill effluent, namely from liquid waste. If the palm oil mill has an anaerobic digester, the biogas residue from the sludge can be used as organic fertilizer. At present there are not many palm oil mills that process liquid waste with the biogas unit, with the reason that the unit is considered expensive.

The history and experience of our predecessors before the use of chemical fertilizers can be used as a reference for this. At that time they were able to meet the fertilizer needs of their agricultural businesses, namely by sheep, goats, cattle and buffalo farming. The livestock manure is used for agricultural fertilizer and agricultural waste is used for animal feed. The basic pattern can also be developed for large plantations with several adjustment techniques to improve efficiency. Technical applications in the field that can be done, namely large plantations must cooperate with large farms or even ideally have a large farm to meet the needs of fertilizer for its plantations. For example, a palm oil plantation that has 10,000 hectares of plantation area, 100-200 (1-2%) hectares are used for sheep farming. The sheep breeding, not by just being caged, but grazing in the fields of pasture.

Why is sheep farming done in the pasture fields? This is because by grazing the cost of feed can be suppressed very large or the business becomes very economical. The biggest cost component of livestock business is feed. If the availability and supply of feed can be overcome then the other components become easier. The pasture is in the form of grass and shade trees. Making grass always available is the essence of the business, even it can be said that the pasture is grass farming itself. Rotational grazing is the best grazing technique at the moment. When the grass is fertilized with sheep dung during the grazing, the dirt produced when in the cage can be used for fertilizer on large plantations such as the oil palm. The biogas unit can be used to optimize the utilization of dirt from the cage.

Basically, sheep farming can also stand alone and also be profitable. Therefore, sheep farming can be done separately. In the case when an energy plantation is used for the production of wood pellets, it is still constrained by various things such as the presence and supply of electricity, so the farm business can still be run properly. The production of large-scale wood pellets in various regions in Indonesia is currently still constrained due to the electricity supply. This will certainly hamper the growth of the wood pellet industry so there needs to be another way to overcome this, which insha Allah will be discussed later.

With this concept, not only increases plantation and meat production, but also a complete closed cycle business that is environmentally friendly and sustainable. Honey bee farming can also be added for optimization because obviously the bees besides helping the pollination process will also produce honey, a superior product of high economic value. Various food problems, insha Allah, can be overcome with this concept. This is because from the production side it can be made very efficient with the 2 biggest cost components being reduced significantly by fertilizer and animal feed with the integration of large plantations and large farms.

Although it has used compost from livestock manure, there are still more techniques that can be applied to improve fertilizer efficiency by using biochar. With biochar, the fertilizer will be retained in the biochar pores so that slow release makes it effective for fertilization. In addition, biochar will also hold the fertilizer from leaching due to high rainfall, so that the use of fertilizer can also be saved significantly. Biochar will also be the home of microbes to decompose organic matter into nutrients needed for plants. So, in short, with biochar, the productivity of plantations is high, but the use of fertilizer is minimal because it is efficient, especially when fertilizer is produced from the farm itself. This biochar can be produced by processing the plantation biomass wastes by pyrolysis. For more details about pyrolysis can be read here.

The Big Vision of the Palm Oil Mill: Not Only Generating Electricity with Steam Turbine Generators but also Biochar and Bio-Oil

At the palm oil mill, electricity is generated from a steam turbine generator so a water treatment unit is needed to provide boiler feed water and a boiler unit to produce steam. The specifications of the steam produced are superheated steam with a pressure of 30 bar or equivalent to a temperature of 240 C. The steam then powers the turbine and drives the generator to produce electricity. Steam that comes out of the turbine with a decrease in temperature and pressure is not thrown away, but is used for steamming fresh fruit bunches (TBS) in the sterilizer unit. That is the reason why electricity production in palm oil mills uses steam turbine generators, even though actually producing electricity does not have to use the steam turbine. There are a number of technologies that can be used for electricity production.

The boiler fuel for steam production also does not use fossil fuels but uses palm oil mill waste itself (mesocarp) fiber and palm kernel shell (palm kernel shell). This is what makes palm oil mills very environmentally friendly in terms of their use of energy sources because they use biomass fuels, namely solid waste in the form of (mesocarp) fiber and palm kernel shells. Judging from the environmental aspects of the use of biomass fuel is carbon neutral, so it does not add CO2 in the atmosphere. Environmental issues are very prevalent today due to a number of environmental damage, to the peak of climate change and global warming. This encourages various industrial activities to increasingly pay attention to these environmental aspects.

When a palm oil mill uses its biomass waste as fuel to produce electricity and steam for the operation of the plant and it produces waste or residue in the form of ash, that is something that is common to almost all palm oil mills today. But when the palm oil company has a bigger vision, what is produced besides electricity and steam is biochar, not ash. Why Biochar? Although the management of the palm oil company that separates the plantation and mill divisions is common, the implementation of biochar is also expected to make a better reciprocal relationship. At present the palm oil fruits or fresh fruit bunches are supplied to the mill for oil extraction, so when biochar is produced by the mill the biochar will be supplied nto the  plantation to increase the productivity of the palm oil fruits. When a palm oil company will optimize its CPO products it also means maximizing the productivity of its palm oil  fruit. Palm  oil fruits productivity can be maximized if the cultivation aspects are also maximum. Biochar can be used to maximize fertilization and even reduce the use of fertilizers in oil palm plantations which amount to tens of billions of rupiah, for more details, please read here.

Are there palm oil mills that dare to take up the challenge? God knows Nature. But oil palm companies that have a big vision and understand the importance of increasing the productivity of oil palm fruit in line with environmental aspects, should be challenged with this. Oil palm companies that have big visions will also see this as an effective (pro-planet) environmental solution. This is because besides having a positive effect on the productivity of oil palm, also with environmental aspects. The application of biochar is carbon negative, so that CO2 in the atmosphere will be absorbed into the pores of the biochar, thereby reducing greenhouse gases in the form of CO2 in the atmosphere. When tens to hundreds or even thousands of tons of biochar are applied to oil palm plantations, so much CO2 in the atmosphere is absorbed into the soil. Biochar can also survive tens or even hundreds of years so that the carbon content in the soil increases or is not damaged along with the productivity of the palm oil plantation.

In addition to the production of biochar with continuous pyrolysis also produced biooil which can also be used as fuel or processed into various other biomaterials. With characteristics close to crude oil, it also means that all materials that can be produced from crude oil can be produced with biooil. Another application of biooil is for blending with ship oil (marine fuel oil). Other liquid products in the form of biomass vinegar, its use is also very supportive in palm oil plantations, namely as bio-insecticides and bio-pesticides. Rats that attack many palm fruit can also be overcome with the vinegar biomass, for more details, please read here.

Food Energy Water for the World Community

"There will be no doomsday, until wealth has been piled up and abundant, until a man goes everywhere carrying his zakat but he does not get anyone who is willing to accept his zakat. And so that the Arab lands become fertile again prosperous with meadows and rivers "(HR.Muslim).
The earth will once again prosper before doomsday. In general gardens and forests like that also cause springs to appear (QS 36: 34) which in time will flow into the rivers (QS 19: 24-25) and also be your pleasure and your animals ( QS 79: 31). Basically, the earth is very sufficient to meet human needs, especially in 3 main things namely food, energy and water. In the era of bioeconomy that is believed to be in sight and we will soon experience it, a number of technologies will be developed to support these three main sectors in a sustainable manner. The emphasis on something that is sustainable  is increasingly emphasized to increasingly abandon or not at all use fossil sources (fossil free), especially in the energy sector. It is this aspect of sustainability that clearly distinguishes the fossil economy era from bioeconomy.

The Concept of Energy Plantation and Verticulture 

The tropics will be excellent for developing bioeconomy because of the availability of sunshine throughout the year. This tropical region will compete for entrepreneurs engaged in this sector, such as the African continent and Indonesia. The availability of vast land in the area is a key factor in the development of energy plantations. Energy is a vital need for human kind today, especially to drive economic sectors. With energy plantations, massive energy needs can be met. Fast rotation and coppice plants such as calliandra and gliricidae are the mainstay of energy plantations. In addition to the energy plantation will be able to conserve water, livestock business can also be developed by utilizing leaves waste from the energy plantations. Sheep, goat or cattle farms are ideal for utilizing leaves waste from the energy plantations. Honey bee keeping can also be developed by utilizing flowers from the energy plantation.

verticulture with skyscrapers

Calliandra Energy Plantation

Tall buildings were built not even for human habitation, but as agricultural land for food crops (verticulture). Verticulture farming is to meet food needs and facilitate its management. Modern farming techniques are used to maximize the quality and productivity of the farm. To support the success of agriculture, IOT (internet of things) with a number of sensors that can be read online is an integral part of agricultural management. The effectiveness and efficiency of farming can be increased rapidly so that high productivity and quality can be achieved, while large lands mainly for energy plantations. Biochar which can be used to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of fertilization can be applied to verticulture farming.  Apart from being made compost agricultural wastes can also be partially converted into biochar. For large capacity biochar production, the continuous pyrolysis units are the best choice. Compost and biochar production also makes the farming practices zero waste. Even with continuous pyrolysis technology, in addition to biochar, heat and electricity can also be produced. Liquid fuel namely biooil, is also produced from the continuous pyrolysis technology.

With the majority of land used for energy plantations, the energy needs, InshaAllah, can be fulfilled even the meat needs of the livestock business, as well as food production with verticulture. The ideal concept, if it can be implemented, should be a solution to the problems of life today. The concept can be implemented if humanity realizes the importance of the program and supports it. Technically, this can be done, and some have done it even on a smaller scale and it has not been fully integrated.

The coming era of bioeconomy should also be in line with the improvement of the economic system that gives a sense of justice to the world's population. With the current economic model it takes 800 years for the bottom billion people to reach 10% of global income. As a result of the current liberalism and capitalism, the richest 10% control 85% of global wealth. The three richest people in the world have assets of more than 47 GDP, the lowest gross GDP. 1% of the richest people own more than 50% of the world's wealth. This huge inequality should be overcome immediately with a equitable and prosperous economy. The transition from fossil economy to bioeconomy can be both an medium and a momentum for improving the economic system. The tropics, which were previously of a minor economic role, should have been increased and taken into account or even become a major player in the bioeconomy era.

Owls, Cobra Snakes or Liquid Smoke to Repel Mice at Palm Oil Plantations?

Mice are animals that disrupt various human activities so they must be expelled or killed. Many stories from farmers who experienced crop failure due to rampant rat pests. Likewise in palm oil plantations, rats will damage the palm fruit. Biological countermeasures are mostly carried out, namely with owls and cobra snakes. While other efforts that can be done is by liquid smoke. Aside from being used for fertilizer, liquid smoke can also be used to repel these mice. A strong aroma and an acidic nature will make the mice away from the palm oil trees that have been given liquid smoke. The longer the effect of liquid smoke on the palm oil tree the longer the mice away from the palm tree.

Liquid smoke does not harm humans and can be produced in large quantities. Besides that liquid smoke also comes from biomass (pyrolysis) so that it is an environmentally friendly chemical and from renewable sources. Empty bunches or EFB which have generally not been utilized by palm oil mills can be used for the production of liquid smoke. In addition to liquid smoke, biochar is also produced which is also very useful in the palm oil plantations, for more details, please read here. Production of liquid smoke and biochar from EFB will also be a solution to handling solid waste in the form of empty bunches. The production of biochar and liquid smoke for large scale can be done only with continuous pyrolysis units, for more details, please read here.

While when biochar and liquid smoke are used in oil palm plantations, the pyrolysis product in the form of syngas and biooil can be used for boiler fuel. When syngas and biooil are used as fuel, palm kernel shells and a number of mesocarp fibers can be sold or exported like CPO. PKS (palm kernel shell) or shell can be exported directly to Japan or Korea. Whereas mesocarp fiber can be made pellets or briquettes before being exported. Production of pellets or briquettes from mesocarp fiber is almost the same as the production of wood pellets or sawdust briquettes, for reference can be read here and here.

Back to the laptop. So the production of liquid smoke from pyrolysis of empty palm bunches is more likely to be a solution to overcome rat pests in addition to various other advantages for palm oil plantations and mills. In addition, liquid smoke can also be used for fertilizers and is not harmful. Even to optimize the control of rodent pests is very possible with a combination of liquid smoke with owls and cobra snakes.

EFB Biochar and Fertilizer Savings in Palm Oil Plantations

High palm oil plantation productivity and high oil yield has always been a goal in the palm oil business. The nutrient estimates needed to produce 25 tons of FFB / ha / year were 192 N, 11 P, 209 K, 36 Mg, and 71 Ca in kg / ha / year. With the production of 25 tons of FFB / ha / year palm oil or CPO crude will produce around 6.5 tons (25% of FFB). Analogy in the field of animal husbandry where the feed component holds 75% of production costs or is the highest cost component, as well as fertilizer, especially in palm oil plantations. Fertilizer is the most expensive cost or 60% of total maintenance costs. To achieve this productivity, the calculation practically of the need is more or less as follows: an afdeling with an area of ​​1,000 hectares with 1 hectare consisting of 143 trees, so there are 143,000 trees of palm oil. If the dose per tree is 2.5 kg, then the fertilizer needs are 357,500 kg (357.5 tons), with the price of non-subsidized chemical fertilizers for example Rp 10,000 / kg, the cost incurred is 3,575,000,000 (Rp. 3,575 billion or US$ 238,333). If an area of ​​10,000 hectares means fertilizer needs of Rp. 35.75 billion (US$ 2,383,33), whereas if the oil palm plantation is 20,000 hectares, it will reach Rp. 71.50 billion (US$ 4,766,667). Of course an amount that is not small.

The question is what efforts can be made to reduce fertilizer costs but increase palm productivity. One contradictory thing seems to be because it reduces the supply of fertilizer but expects high productivity. This is where we need to examine and explore the facts that occur in the field. With a tropical climate and high rainfall, it makes large leached fertilizers. A condition, for example in hilly and bumpy areas, when the rain falls, the fertilizer that is washed is very large, even in vain fertilization is done because it is not absorbed by the palm trees as the target. The high level of leaching from the use of fertilizers by rainwater makes only available a small amount of available fertilizer in real terms or a number of analyzes said averaging only 50%. With the available fertilizers there are only a few that are also automatically absorbed by the palm trees. When for example washing (leaching) can be reduced by only 30%, it means that the fertilizer that is still available becomes 70%, so that the fertilizer is absorbed more and more and the productivity of the palm oil fruit also increases.

The initial stage that can be done is the cost of the same fertilizer but the productivity of the palm oil fruit can increase up to for example 30%. Furthermore, if this can be achieved, fertilizer consumption will be reduced for example up to 30% but palm oil productivity can be maintained at that level. This is possible when biochar has become a microbial colony and the quality of the soil increases so that uptake of fertilizer is maximal. Biochar is one of the media that can be used for this. An empty fruit bunch that is widely available in palm oil mills and is generally not utilized as a raw material for biochar production. A palm oil mill with a production capacity of 60 tons / hour FFB will produce EFB 13.2 tons / hour so that if the palm oil mill operates 20 hours / day the EFB produced 264 tons / day. The production of biochar with pyrolysis can also produce liquid smoke which can also be used as fertilizer.

Why can biochar be used to increase palm oil productivity and even reduce fertilizer consumption? This is because biochar with its pores with a surface area of ​​about 200 m2 / gram can hold the fertilizer from washing, maintain moisture and many soil microbes that can live in these pores thus improving the physical and chemical properties of the soil. Biochar can last up to hundreds of years in the soil so it does not need to be added every year when the amount is sufficient. Biochar implementation can be started from small scale to massive scale. To process empty fruit bunches (EFB)  in the palm oil mill into biochar, a continuous pyrolysis equiment is needed, to be more clearly read here. To monitor the effectiveness of biochar on oil palm plantations today can use internet technology or IoT (Internet of Things) and for more details can be read here and here.