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| Sunday, 4 May 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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The fuelwood alternative - solution to Sri Lanka's energy crisis? Biomass energy seems to be the 'solution' that Sri Lanka has been waiting for, to solve its energy problems. Widely used throughout the countries of the European Union in the past decade, the biomass alternative offers an opportunity to earn over Rs. 90,000 per year per family in income, provide employment and save millions of dollars in foreign exchange annually, while reforesting the country and making use of degraded land, which gets enriched in the process. Cautious estimates indicate the programme could supply over 10 million tons of fuel wood annually thereby generating 10,000 GWh (Giga-watte-hours) of electricity. This amounts to double the total capacity of Sri Lanka's major hydro power schemes. by VIMUKTHI FERNANDO
What is biomass energy? Biomass currently accounts for 55 per cent of Sri Lanka's total energy consumption. This is mainly in the form of fuelwood used for cooking and industrial heating purposes. However, in modern terms biomass energy is defined as 'electricity and liquid fuels made from plant matter'. The plant material can come from crop residues, from crop grown specially for energy and in some cases, from garbage. All this material can be converted to electricity through advanced methods that are much cleaner and more efficient than burning. It can also be converted to transportation fuels, such as ethanol by chemical processing. In many parts of the world, wood is used as an industrial fuel for 'dendro-power' generation, (to process heat application and electricity generation). Industrialized countries in the western world such as Sweden, Finland, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, the UK and the USA had been using fuel-wood for electricity generation, for many years. Proven, widely accepted and used in some of the above mentioned countries, dendro -power technology had improved in leaps and bounds. And now, not only the developed countries, some key developing countries such as China, India and Brazil have also come forward producing dendro-power. In Asia, as of year 2001, Thailand was taking the lead producing 1230 MW (mega watts) of dendro-power while China came second with 800 MW. Other notable countries are, India 273 MW, Malaysia 200 MW and Indonesia 178 MW. Dendro-power generation is experimented in Sri Lanka as well. Research and development in this sector is being conducted by the Ministry of Science and Technology with private sector assistance. A 35 kW (kilo watts) demonstration plant is situated at Sapugaskanda and plant with the capacity of 01 MW, is in operation at Walapone, while a 6 MW plant is in progress at Puttalam. The plants so far installed "have proved very successful and provided positive results" says P.G. Joseph, Director, Alternative Energy Division, Ministry of Science and Technology. Using fuel-wood to generate electricity is the way to independence in the energy sector, points out Dr. Ray Wijewardene, Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa. They are the pioneers in the introduction of dendro-power to Sri Lanka.
"The exchange required for imported coal to meet the country's anticipated grid-electricity requirements by 2006 would utilize all the country's earnings from the exports of tea, rubber and coconut combined!" says Dr. Wijewardene. CEB projected electricity demand for 2006 stands at 14,000 GWh, while the cost of electricity production using thermal energy stands over US $ 500 million. However, if there is a commitment from the government for the task, 10,000 GWh could be produced utilizing 500,000 ha, one third of the available degraded land in the country, they propose. The potential of dendro-power in Sri Lanka is "even more than what is proposed so far," according to studies conducted by Energy Forum, says Ashoka Abeygunawardene of the Forum. "It is not only the barren land that could be used. In reality, more gliricidia, is grown in homesteads, making it cheaper and a more readily available form of fuel-wood." A recent study by the US Union of Concerned Scientists on dendro-power generation in the state of Illinois state employment generation, keeping the energy dollars at the state (Illinois), reducing erosion and agricultural chemical runoff, reducing landfill needs and zero carbon emissions preventing global warming as benefits of their potential biomass production. This is not only true for USA. It is even more for Sri Lanka, a developing nation. Especially when the country is at a juncture of 'regaining' its past glories, on its pathway to development and prosperity. Dendro-power, could not only save Sri Lanka, vital millions of dollars foreign exchange in purchasing and transporting fossil fuel (oil and coal), it would also enrich degraded land, provide employment alleviating rural poverty, and may also bring the more necessary dollars by being part of the Clean Development Mechanism promoted by the Kyoto Protocol being a totally environment friendly method of producing energy with zero carbon emissions. The trend especially of the developed world is towards environment friendly and decentralized forms such as dendro-power in energy production. So, why not Sri Lanka also employ this method of cleaner and a more efficient form of energy production with negligible capital costs compared to other thermal (coal & oil) forms of energy production? (Source: Country Reports, South Asia, WEC, UK) Fuelwood farming A plant known and used throughout the years by Sri Lankan villagers, hitherto grown as fences encircling their household compounds, paddy-fields or chenas, enriching the soil with its nitrogen fixing capacities, Gliricidia has come up as one of the best species suitable for dendro-power generation. Identified as a SRC (Short Rotation Coppicing) species, gliricidia has been found suitable for various agro-climatic zones of the country. Other fuel-wood crops experimented include Leucena, Casia and Acacia varieties. When farming a mix of species is encouraged for better growth of trees and for environment reasons. When it comes to fuel-wood farming, the trees are planted at high density, at 1 to 2 meters distance between two plants. The plants allowed to grow, is lopped at about 4 to 5 feet. It is the profusion of branches, or coppice, which stem out from just below the level when 'lopped' that is used as fuel-wood. These branches are harvested at about one to two inches in diameter. While the main stem is used as fuelwood rest of the green vegetation is used as fodder or mulch. The lopped branches, handled as sugar cane are left on the ground for about a week to dry, then cut into pieces in a customary 'dara mitiya' size and transported to the electricity generating site. The first harvest of branches could begin after about 1 year to 15 months of planting. Harvesting could be done every six months. But, in Sri Lanka, a tropical country these fast growing trees could even be harvested 3-4 times a year. The annual production of 01 hectare is well over 25 tonnes of dry-matter. However, conservative estimates at 20 tonnes per year assures an income of Rs. 30,000 at the present rates of Rs. 1,500 per tonne of fuel-wood, a supplementary income for farmers since maintenance costs are negligible. What happens at the dendro-power plant The fuel wood, about 1-2 inches in diameter purchased from the farmers is tipped into the loading hopper. There, the sticks are chopped into small pieces of about 3-6 inches each and fed into the furnance or gassifier. There are two methods of electricity-generation using fuelwood. While one uses steam the other method more suitable for small plants uses a combustible gas. In the first method, fuel wood is combusted in a boiler to raise steam at high temperature and pressure. High-pressure steam is used to drive turbo alternators to produce electricity. This is very similar to traditional oil or coal fired systems and used all over the world for many years. In Sri Lanka, sugar industries use this technology to meet their power needs. In the second method, wood is partially combusted to produce a comubstible gas. This gas is cleaned and used as fuel to drive IC engines to produce electricity. It is a method similar to that of driving motor vehicles on liquid petroleum gas. Impacts Reported by the World Energy Council, UK. The WEC's annual report on Renewable Energy, states the impacts of Sri Lanka's dendro-power generation as follows: The total extent of degraded land is estimated to be around 2 million hectares. The impact of converting this land into energy plantation is as follows:
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