Slowing Palm Oil Land Expansion: Replanting or Biochar ?

The reckless expansion of palm oi plantations is definitely offside sustainability. Instead of palm oil being a blessing due to their highest productivity among other vegetable oil sources (soybeans, sunflowers, rapeseed, coconuts, etc.), growing only in tropical regions and contributing 40% of the global vegetable oil supply, they have instead become a natural disaster. The cost of this disaster is no small matter, costing thousands of lives, in addition to other material losses. This issue was particularly highlighted during the recent floods in Sumatra. Are the profits from palm oil worth the loss of life?

Clearing tens or even hundreds of thousands of hectares of oil palm plantations produces valuable timber. It's even possible to generate substantial profits from land clearing alone, even though palm oil plantations and production haven't even begun. This is what drives entrepreneurs to flock to this plantation sector, driven by the sole goal of maximizing profits without considering their own needs, resulting in widespread disasters. Furthermore, the implementation of mandatory B-40 or even B-50 biodiesel, currently being discussed, will undoubtedly create a new market for palm oil/CPO, much easier and more flexible than exporting to Europe, which is subject to the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), or to the US, which faces high tariffs.

Moreover, it has already been established that palm oil/CPO consumption for biodiesel has exceeded food demand. The mandatory implementation of the B-50 program also requires a 20% increase in CPO production capacity, or 60 million tons per year. The most profitable and fastest way to do this is through extensive deforestation, as the timber from cleared forests can be sold directly.

When the goal is to increase palm oil production gradually, safely, in a planned, and sustainable manner, adequate consideration is required, not blindly and recklessly clearing forest areas (deforestation) under the guise of land conversion. Besides the use of superior seeds, there are at least two ways to increase palm oil productivity: replanting and biochar application (part of land intensification).

According to Joko Supriyono, former chairman of GAPKI (Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association) for the 2015-2018 and 2018-2023 periods, in his book "Is Indonesian Palm Oil Still Successful?", it is stated that if replanting of palm oil in Indonesia successfully reaches 300 thousand hectares per year, it is estimated that CPO and CPKO production in 2045 will reach 80 million tons. While currently CPO and CPKO production is around 55 million tons. And with the use of biochar, palm oil productivity will increase by an average of 30% in 5-10 years, meaning that by 2035 CPO and CPKO production will reach 71.5 million tons. Moreover, if the two methods are combined, the results should be even better.

Indonesia's current CPO production reaches approximately 50 million tons/year, covering a land area of ​​16.8 million hectares with an average CPO production of 3.55 tons/ha per hectare, or 3.55 million tons per million hectares. If biochar is used and productivity increases by 30%, this means an increase of 15 million tons of CPO (a total of 65 million tons of CPO/year) and this saves approximately 4.2 million hectares of land, or the use of biochar will slow down forest clearing for palm oil plantations. The application of biochar with compost will improve the quality of the compost to become premium compost. For more details, read here. This allows the palm oil industry to operate by utilizing all its biomass waste.

The replanting movement of palm oil plantations must be encouraged to continuously increase palm oil production. The problem of biomass waste from palm oil trees, which cover thousands of hectares, also poses a challenge. With such a large volume of old palm oil trees, utilizing them for value-added products is crucial. With an average hectare of palm oil plantations consisting of 125 trees, each tree having an average dry weight of 0.4 tons, this yields 50 tons of dry weight of biomass per hectare. For an area of ​​10,000 hectares, this yields 0.5 million tons of dry weight, and for an area of ​​100,000 hectares, this translates to 5 million tons of dry weight. An optimistic estimate suggests that Indonesia could achieve 5% replanting (very optimistic) or 820,000 hectares, which would yield 41 million tons of dry weight of biomass per year. Similarly, Malaysia, with 5% replanting or 285,000 hectares, would produce 14.25 million tons of dry weight per year.

Business readiness factors, both technologically and in terms of the market or user base, need to be carefully assessed. With such a large volume, biomass processing plants or industries can be established and operate optimally without worrying about raw material shortages. Products such as pellets, briquettes, biochar, and other bioproducts, such as other biocarbons, biomaterials, biofuels, and biochemicals, are also possible from this old palm oil trunk biomass waste. Old, dead oil palm trunks, often left unattended on land, should be utilized to produce these useful, value-added products. For more details on utilizing trunk waste for fuel pellet production (OPT Pellets), please read here. 

Energy Sources for Data Centers: Between Growth and Sustainability and the Role of Bioenergy

Data centers are physical facilities that house computer systems and related infrastructure, such as servers and storage, used to store and process data. They form the foundation of a nation's computing power and are a core dependency in building large-scale Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI data centers, in particular, are particularly energy-intensive. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a typical AI data center currently uses as much energy as 100,000 households, while large AI centers currently consume about 20 times that amount (2 million households).

The computing power needed to support AI growth is also doubling approximately every 100 days. For example, Malaysia, it is not surprising that data center energy consumption in Malaysia is projected to soar to more than 5,000 MW by 2035, which is 40 percent of Peninsular Malaysia's current power capacity, or 11.1 percent of Malaysia's projected power capacity in 2035. Meanwhile, in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the projection of data center electricity consumption in Indonesia has increased significantly, predicted to reach 5,200 MW in 2034 and could even reach 12,000 MW in 2033. And the current capacity in 2025 is only around 274 MW and with a predicted growth of 16.8% per year, it can reach the target of >2,000 MW in 2029.

There are at least two main drivers of growth in the data center industry. First, demand-side factors include the growth of cloud computing and AI, along with the increasing global demand for data storage and processing capacity for everyday tasks like social networking, e-commerce, and data storage. Second, supply-side factors include the availability of resources such as electricity and water, fiber optic connectivity, and land availability.

In the growing data center industry, high or wasteful energy consumption has contributed to rising electricity prices for residents and small businesses. Each country should learn from these case studies as they strive to strike a balance between growth and sustainability. For example, in Georgia, the fastest-growing data center market in the country, Georgia Power reports that 80 percent of the projected 8,200 MW increase in energy demand by 2030 is related to planned data centers opening in the state. To address the increased demand, base electricity rates have been raised and new nuclear power plant (NPP) are under construction.

Georgia is an attractive market for data centers, given its relatively low electricity prices, with industrial electricity rates about 42 percent below the US national average. Significant tax relief was also promised, with at least $163 million in state collections eliminated and local sales tax annually starting in 2022. However, starting in 2023, the average Georgia Power residential customer will pay $43 more per month following a base rate increase. To address this challenge, a Senate bill was introduced to protect residential and commercial customers from higher electricity bills due to the utility's significant investment in AI-powered energy needs.

Efforts to address the increasing energy demand for data centers while reducing their environmental impact are necessary. Typical approaches include optimizing Power Use Effectiveness (PUE) and related metrics, as well as shifting to renewable energy. The use of renewable energy for data centers remains limited, or even at a small capacity of less than 5%. Renewable energy sources still prioritize solar and intermittent wind.

Industry participants also state that the intermittent nature of solar energy (at least without a well-developed battery storage system) does not make it an ideal energy source for data centers, given the need to keep data centers running 24/7. With limited solar generating capacity, data centers often rely on backup diesel generators. While renewable diesel (biodiesel and green diesel) is an available option, there are currently no regulations encouraging this transition.

Biomass as an energy source, or bioenergy, for data centers is still very limited. This biomass can be used directly in biomass power plants, where the CFB type is very common, or through co-firing in coal-fired power plants. Furthermore, biomass can be utilized as an energy source and biochar production through pyrolysis technology, as is the case with this US company. The syngas from pyrolysis serves as a carbon-neutral energy source, and biochar is the primary product for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), resulting in carbon-negative operations. 

OPT Pellets for Biomass Power Plants and BECCS in Japan and Europe (Presentation Version)

One way to maintain or even increase the productivity of palm oil plantations is through replanting , which is absolutely necessary. Old palm oil trees will decline in productivity, becoming uneconomical. Just as palm oil planting is carried out in stages, replanting oil palm plantations is also carried out in stages and periodically.

Most palm oil companies affiliated with GAPKI have been replanting regularly, or annually, on an area of ​​4-5%. GAPKI currently has 731 members, while according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) in 2023, the number of palm oil companies in Indonesia reached 2,446, spread across 26 provinces.

Of Indonesia's approximately 16.8 million hectares of oil palm plantations, 9 million hectares are managed by private companies, 550,000 hectares are owned by state-owned companies (PTPN), 6.1 million hectares are owned by smallholders, and the remainder has not been verified. Specifically for replanting, the government is targeting 180,000 hectares per year for smallholders, but by 2024, only 38,244 hectares had been realized, far short of the target.

With an average hectare of palm oil plantation containing 125 trees, each tree having an average dry weight of 0.4 tons, per hectare yields 50 tons of dry biomass. For an area of ​​10,000 hectares, this translates to 0.5 million tons of dry biomass, and for an area of ​​100,000 hectares, this translates to 5 million tons of dry biomass. Optimistically, Indonesia could achieve 5% replanting, or 820,000 hectares, which would yield 41 million tons of dry biomass per year. Malaysia, with 5% replanting, or 285,000 hectares, would produce 14.25 million tons of dry biomass per year.

To read and access the presentation, please download here. 

EFB Pellets: Indonesia and Malaysia's Huge Potential Ready to be Monetized

Empty oil palm fruit bunches (EFB) are the most abundant solid waste from palm oil mills. Efforts to utilize them have also attracted considerable attention. With hundreds of tons of waste produced daily, it certainly presents a challenge, but also an attractive opportunity. Considerations of investment size and potential profits are key. EFB pellet production is an attractive option given the need for biomass fuel for decarbonization, renewable fuels, and carbon-neutral fuels to achieve Indonesia's Net Zero Emissions (NZE) by 2060.

The global population of palm oil plantations, with Indonesia and Malaysia leading the way, makes processing this material highly attractive. Many machinery companies have focused on empty fruit bunch processing, particularly through size reduction and pressing, but few have focused on producing EFB pellets. This is because empty fruit bunches, with their high fiber content, are more difficult to process than wood materials like sawdust or other agricultural waste biomass. 

Selecting the right, reliable, and experienced production machinery supplier is key to success. Performance guarantees, such as agreed quality and quantity targets, as well as timely machine manufacturing, installation, commissioning, and production, are indicators of the supplier's reliability. A track record is also an important consideration. Furthermore, the high potassium content of empty fruit bunches (EFB) poses a challenge in producing boiler-friendly fuel, particularly for pulverized combustion, commonly used in power plants.

And with the increasing number of companies producing EFB pellets, there will be competition for the supply of empty fruit bunches raw materials, such as PLN EPI (Energi Primer Indonesia) which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PT Biomassa Energi Group (BEG) and G7 Group SP.Z.O.O from Poland which was developed jointly will start operating in February 2026, with an initial production target of 120 thousand tons per year, and will be followed by five additional factories with similar or larger capacities, more details read here. 

What is Sumatran Flood Wood For?

Former Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP), Susi Pudjiastuti, urged President Prabowo Subianto to evaluate and halt the timber industry if it turns out that state revenues from the sector are not commensurate with the environmental damage and human lives lost. The devastating floods in Sumatra (Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra), which killed thousands of people, have captured national and even international attention. The government must elevate the status of the disaster to a national disaster so that the causes, perpetrators, impacts, and future anticipation can be identified. Without an elevating status, the problem will not be adequately addressed and foreign aid will be reluctant to enter. The perpetrators who caused the natural disaster, including the makers of the policies that supported it, must be investigated and prosecuted.

And that's not even counting other material losses, such as the destruction of infrastructure, homes, and so on. This tragic and heartbreaking situation would not have occurred if forests had been properly protected. When forests are cleared for palm oil plantations without adequate consideration and calculation, or solely for profit, the price is thousands of human lives, as Susie Pujiastuti noted. The timber from land clearing for palm oil plantations is so abundant that it becomes a source of significant profits.

Indonesia is currently the world's palm oil king with production of more than half (50%) of the world's palm oil or around 50 million tons of palm oil / CPO per year and the demand for palm oil continues to increase as the world's population continues to need a supply of vegetable oil (for food and biofuel). Palm oil is the world's largest vegetable oil production, beating other vegetable oils such as soybean oil, sunflower oil and canola oil. Palm oil with soybean oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed / canola oil are the four main vegetable oils in the world, where producing countries compete with each other (read: trade war) to market their vegetable oil products. The advantage of palm oil is the highest productivity of palm oil among other vegetable oils or the most efficient among the four most consumed vegetable oils in the world. For comparison, to produce 1 ton of palm oil requires 0.25 hectares, while to produce 1 ton of soybean oil requires 2 hectares, then 1 ton of sunflower seed oil requires 1.43 hectares and production of 1 ton of rapeseed / canola oil requires 1.25 hectares.

Another advantage is that palm oil tree cannot grow in subtropical countries like Europe and North America, so this should be a blessing for Indonesia, not a disaster. This is despite the fact that they are not native to Indonesia but originate from West Africa. With an area of ​​nearly 17 million hectares, Indonesia is the owner of the largest palm oil plantations in the world and a significant source of foreign exchange for the country. However, efforts to boost palm oil production through extensification must not ignore the aspects of safety and environmental sustainability. This extensification can even be slowed down through a number of intensifications, one of which is the application of biochar. For more details, read here.

The sustainability and deforestation aspects are 2 important points especially for a number of European countries to assess plantation products, especially palm oil and even the EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation) will be implemented in about 1 year or fully effective January 1, 2027. But unfortunately, these European countries apply double standards because palm oil is treated very strictly even with various layered regulations, but this is not the case with other major vegetable oils, namely soybean oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed / canola oil.

The Sumatran floods recently demonstrated a haphazard policy (out of the bounds of sustainability) that was then exposed by the disaster. Land clearing resulted in a massive amount of logs. The abundance of logs created a seemingly endless island of logs, but they also polluted the environment and disrupted mobility. The losses caused by the floods were so great that they formed a seemingly endless island of logs due to the sheer size of the piles. One of the post-flood measures is clearing these logs. Some of these logs have high economic value and can therefore be utilized. Of course the profits from the sale of these logs are given to the people affected by the disaster caused by the indiscriminate logging. This distribution helps accelerate post-disaster recovery.

Technically, the wood needs to be selected based on its type, size, and market potential. Meanwhile, wood that is less economical or considered waste, such as because it is too small, broken into small pieces, split, and so on, can be used for biomass fuel, such as wood pellet production. The production capacity of a wood pellet factory is adjusted to the volume of waste, market demand, and investment in the factory's production machinery. The location of the wood pellet factory should also be close to the raw materials and not far from the export port. Several treatments, such as washing, are necessary because the wood is dirty and muddy. Similarly, wood submerged in the sea can potentially increase its chlorine content. Besides wood pellets, other biomass fuel products that can be produced include wood chips and wood briquettes. Market readiness is crucial in selecting biomass fuel products to be produced.

Biomass fuel production from flood wood waste is certainly not sustainable. Although the volume of wood waste is mounting and will only be depleted in a few years, consideration must be given to continuing to produce sustainable raw materials, especially after the flood wood waste is gone. Bare lands need to be reforested, as do critical and even idle lands. Appropriate plant selection and land mapping are essential. To sustain the production of biomass fuels such as wood pellets, energy plantations need to be established on suitable land. Energy plantation plants such as calliandra and gamal/gliricidia have taproots, making them useful for controlling erosion and landslides. In fact, within a certain area, these energy plantations can generate hundreds of trillions in revenue; for more details, read here. Likewise, other production forests, which produce wood for various industries and purposes, must also be managed properly to be a blessing, not a disaster. 

Processing of Empty Palm Fruit Bunches (EFB) for Ash Production as Potassium Fertilizer and Energy

Palm oil mills produce a large amount of biomass waste, and one of the largest in their daily operations is empty fruit bunches (EFB). Comprising approximately 22% of the fresh fruit bunches (FFB) processed by the mill, the volume becomes enormous and piles up daily if not managed properly. For example, a palm oil mill with a capacity of processing 60 tons of FFB per hour for 20 hours per day produces 264 tons of empty fruit bunch waste per day (approximately 6,600 tons per month and 79,200 tons per year). This enormous amount would resemble a hill if piled up in one place.

Incinerators have recently become popular, particularly in Indonesia, for processing empty fruit bunches due to their speed and practicality. Furthermore, the ash produced by burning them can be used as fertilizer due to their high potassium content. However, these incinerators produce exhaust emissions that pollute the environment, including black smoke and particulate matter. These emissions, which pollute the environment and exceed the threshold permitted by the Ministry of Environment (KLH), have led to the prohibition of incinerators. This ban has led to an increasing number of unmanaged empty fruit bunches. Using empty fruit bunches for mulch is also less effective, and composting, a biological process, takes a long time.

Video link for conventional EFB incinerator here

This problem demands an immediate and effective solution. The quickest practical solution is to upgrade the incinerator to make it environmentally friendly or to reduce emissions below the required threshold. This can be achieved by using adequate emission control devices to meet these environmental requirements. While many emission control devices are available, cost and target output are crucial considerations when selecting them. This approach not only addresses the problem of empty fruit bunches, but the resulting ash can also be used as a potassium fertilizer.

Furthermore, by upgrading the incinerator with emission controls (basic type), the equipment can be developed into several types, as follows: the second type is a cogeneration boiler for palm oil mills, allowing 100% palm kernel shell (PKS) to be sold, even for export. The third type is by adding a new boiler and steam turbine for electricity production, which is then sold to PLN (Indonesia State Owned Electricity Company) under a power purchase agreement (PPA). The fourth type is equipped with waste heat recovery equipment, allowing for more general use. This also means the combustion process in the upgraded incinerator can also be upgraded so that the combustion process can run optimally. Several combustion technologies, such as chain grates, step grates, or reciprocating grates, can be considered to achieve maximum performance, including the removal and handling of ash product.

Empty fruit bunches (EFB) processing can vary, although the primary focus is addressing environmental pollution caused by them. However, their large volumes certainly represent a potential raw material for processing units. Therefore, in addition to addressing this waste, the technology used must also provide financial benefits. Of the numerous EFB processing technology options, the cost-to-benefit ratio of a technology application will be a crucial consideration for EFB processing.

In addition to combustion using conventional or this upgraded incinerator, thermal processing routes also include pyrolysis, with slow pyrolysis specifically for biochar production and fast pyrolysis for bio-oil production. Another pyrolysis variant is mild pyrolysis or torrefaction for the production of torrified biomass. Then there's gasification to maximize gas (syngas) production from biomass. Furthermore, empty fruit bunches of palm oil can be used as fuel or an energy source. To facilitate handling, storage, and reduce transportation costs, empty fruit bunches need to undergo biomass densification technology, with the final product being pellets or briquettes. 

Harvesting Energy from the Sun

The sun is crucial as a source of energy for living things, including plants, animals, and humans. It is an abundant, free, and inexhaustible source of energy, except at the time of judgment. The word "sun" is mentioned 25 times in the Quran and is the name of one of the chapters mentioned by Allah in the Quran. This suggests that Allah intended to signal that there is something for humans to explore through the sun (Asy-Syams).

An American Muslim and environmental activist, Ibrahim Abdul Matin (2012), in his book Green Deen: What Islam Teaches about Protecting the Planet, refers to renewable energy as energy from heaven. According to him, energy from heaven originates from above, meaning it is not extracted from the earth and is renewable. "Extraction causes imbalance (causes climate change), while energy from above is like energy from heaven." 

By 2024, solar power production will reach 453 GW. With wind power generation added, the two sources will account for 97.5% of the total renewable energy, making them the dominant renewable energy source. With wind power production reaching 114 GW, or about a quarter (25%) of solar power, solar energy is crucial due to its competitive cost and rapid development. China is currently the world's leading producer of solar PV. 

China's ambition is to build a "solar great wall" designed to meet Beijing's energy needs. The multi-year project, expected to be completed by 2030, will be 400 kilometers (250 miles) long, 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide, and reach a maximum generating capacity of 100 gigawatts. Currently, the project is reported to have reached a capacity of 5.4 gigawatts. Since 2024, China has led the world in electricity production from solar panels. As of June 2024, China led the world in operating solar power generation capacity with 386,875 megawatts, representing about 51 percent of the global total, according to Global Energy Monitor's Global Solar Power Tracker. The United States ranked second with 79,364 megawatts (11 percent), followed by India with 53,114 megawatts (7 percent). 

Even Elon Musk has been saying it for years, and it's something solar energy pioneers already know: the sun has enough energy to meet all our energy needs. The problem lies not only in ensuring that people have the technology to harvest the sun through solar panels, but in cities and urban centers, one of the biggest issues is storage and what to do with excess energy when the sun is shining, which is why batteries for storing that energy are so important. Consumers and businesses, when possible, typically feed energy back into the grid, where they receive cash or credits for their contribution.

But harvesting solar energy is of course not only done with solar panels (solar PV). Trees or plants also harvest solar energy and convert it into other energy sources, namely biomass-based. Renewable energy sources derived from plants (bio-energy) are also in line with QS. Yaasin (36): 80. To produce these energy sources, whether such as wood, fruit, seeds or other parts of the plant, plants carry out photosynthesis. In addition to water and carbon dioxide (CO2), this photosynthesis process requires sunlight. 

Plants, through the process of photosynthesis, store energy from the sun in the form of biomass, and this is likened to a battery. This green battery of plants can be used as a very large energy source; for more details, read here. Unlike harvesting solar energy with solar panels (solar PV), which is highly dependent on the weather, resulting in intermittent electricity supply, or likewise with wind, which sometimes does not blow, biomass energy from plants will produce stable electricity. Once converted into biomass and harvested as an energy source, the energy will always be available. And to generate electricity from solar panels (solar PV) to overcome weather problems and prevent intermittent electricity supply, very large batteries are required, and currently not available. 

Indonesia is believed to be a tropical country, the biomass heaven. This needs to be translated into more concrete terms so that it can be understood, implemented, proven, and optimally utilized. Its potential is immense and should be used to support the well-being of its people. The simple diagram below illustrates the many possibilities in this tropical "biomass heaven." 

The availability of raw materials is a vital and absolute must for various biomass processing processes to be carried out and be sustainable. On the other hand, there is a huge potential for land that can be utilized for this purpose, amounting to tens of millions of hectares, namely critical land / marginal land, dry land and post-mining land (coal mines, tin mines, nickel mines, copper mines, gold mines and so on). In more detail, it is estimated that for critical / marginal land reaches 24.3 million hectares (Times Indonesia, 2017), while dry land reaches 122.1 million ha consisting of dry acid land covering 108.8 million ha and dry climate dry land covering 13.3 million ha and post-mining damaged land reaching 8 million hectares. Energy plantations or biomass plantations need to be created in these areas and can even be used for various food crops. In fact, currently there are plant species that can only be economically viable in these lands. 

The Quran, as a source of knowledge, teaches how to obtain renewable and sustainable energy that will save humanity and the earth. By delving into and studying the verses of the Quran in detail, we will uncover various important guidance for navigating life. This should motivate and inspire humans, especially Muslims, to conduct beneficial scientific research. Applying existing resources, in line with Quranic guidance, and developing and refining efforts to harvest solar energy must continue. Furthermore, the Quran provides a solid moral, ethical, and legal basis for the balanced and responsible development of science and technology. 

The Quran explicitly emphasizes the importance of knowledge. This is evident in the first verses revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), which contain the command to read, and the story of Adam being taught the names of all things, signifying humanity's superiority through knowledge. The Quran encourages travel and observation, thus opening minds to scientific discoveries. The Quran provides guidelines to ensure that the knowledge developed is used for good and does not conflict with moral values.