Biotechnology Researchers Try to Generate Energy from Bamboos
12 February 2017 18:38 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Sleman - The Center for Biotechnology Research and Development and Forest Plant Breeding of the Environment and Forestry Ministry is conducting research to generate energy, especially for electricity, from bamboo plants. "Bamboo is also a potential source of electrical energy. In a simple concept, bamboo has been used as a cooking fuel," Tandya Tjahjana, head of the research center, stated in Sleman District, Yogyakarta Province, on Saturday.
Bamboo can be used as an alternative source of energy, and the important point now is to find ways to process bamboo to become the driving force for a power plant. "Research is ongoing for using bamboo to generate energy and has been conducted in several areas. Bamboo plants can burn quickly and generate heat as proven by a research," he noted.
Tjahjana remarked that if the study is able to find ways to process bamboo to become an alternative source of energy, then it will help the government provide electricity to the community. "The government is actively realizing the program to generate 35 thousand megawatts of electricity. Hopefully, bamboo could become an energy source for a power plant in order to help the government realize the program," he pointed out.
Another advantage is that bamboo plants are able to grow quickly in all types of soil and altitude. "Sleman District is actively developing bamboo as a non-timber forest product," he noted.
The bamboo handicraft industry has been growing rapidly in Sleman District, as the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has established the area as a center for the development of the bamboo commodity in Indonesia. "The prospects of bamboo cultivation are classified as extraordinary. There is especially a technology to promote bamboo plant breeding. It is incredible, and we have found the technology being applied on the field. We are working at a research center in charge of supporting the government's programs," he added.
ANTARA