Wood pellets are a type of renewable energy in biomass utilization. They are an alternative fuel that is more environmentally friendly. Wood pellets resemble wood briquettes, but the size and adhesive material differ. They have many benefits, including meeting various needs in households, industries, and companies.
How Wood Pellets Are Made?
Wood pellets are formed from the processing of round wood or wood waste into powder, which is compacted so that it is cylindrical with a diameter of 6-10 mm and a length of 1-3 cm with an average density of 650 kg / m2 or 1.5 m3 / ton. Wood pellets are widely used in Europe and America as a source of energy for space heating in winter, energy generation (carbon for electricity), and a source of energy in households for cooking purposes. Wood pellets produce a relatively high heat ratio between their output and input (19:1 to 20:1) and energy of about 4.7kWh/kg.
Uses of Wood Pellets?
Wood pellets as fuel do not produce smoke or CO2, so they are considered very environmentally friendly, and the price is also affordable. Compared to LPG gas, which has an expensive price and produces CO2, which is not environmentally friendly, wood pellets are far superior. Wood pellets have the same properties as firewood; when not in use, they can be extinguished first and turned on again when needed. Despite having the same characteristics as firewood, the caloric content of wood pellets is at the same level as coal; this is because wood pellets have gone through a drying phase, which helps remove the moisture content of the wood.
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Wood pellets are arranged in a package with a stove or burner for household use. Wood pellets are carbon neutral because they do not add CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Wood pellets come from trees that have absorbed more CO2 than they release. CO2 emissions from wood pellets are about ten times lower than coal and fuel oil and eight times lower than gas. With these advantages, wood pellets are much more helpful than other fuels, such as firewood, gas, or coal.
Indonesia, the Best Wood Pellet Producing Country
Indonesia can produce wood pellets both for export and domestic use. Indonesia is a tropical country on the equator, where sunlight shines throughout the year as the main requirement for tree growth. Plants that have been developed in Industrial Plantation Forests (HTI), such as Acacia (Acacia mangium) and Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.), can reach a diameter of 30 cm in just five years. In comparison, planting the same species in a subtropical climate takes 40-60 years. Indonesia should utilize this advantage to develop renewable energy, such as wood pellets.
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The use of wood pellets in Indonesia is a little. Indonesia has several wood pellet factories, for example, PT Thaka Sukses Mandiri and PT Pelet Biomas Indonesia, but the results are exported abroad. For this reason, it is hoped that wood pellets can be seen and used in Indonesia.
Some other advantages of using wood pellets in the household are as follows:
- Save wood; by using this, the use of wood becomes less.
- Cost-effective, reducing costs that are usually used to buy LPG gas.
- Comfortable, there is no smoke in the use of wood pellets.
- Clean, when compared to LPG or firewood, which causes blackening of kitchen walls.
- Healthy, reduces CO2 emissions.
- Safe, no risk of explosion in the use of wood pellets.
After knowing the advantages of wood pellets, can wood pellets be used in Indonesia as an environmentally friendly fuel? When viewed from the many staples in Indonesia, the great benefits and can reduce CO2 gas, these wood pellets should be used as a substitute for the fuels we usually use, such as coal used in factories, a substitute for LPG gas stoves at home and can replace firewood that is traditionally used by rural households.
