Bamboo: A Substitute for Wood for Biofuel

(Bio Market Insights) ... recently, bamboo has caught their eye, as evidenced in a study made in Indonesia which we discuss, as it presents a future in sustainable energy.

Its fuel characteristics, high productivity, short rotation and rapid growth makes bamboo even much more valuable: the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR) claims that a single bamboo pole is capable of providing enough power for a rural household for an entire month. Because of its energy yields and credibility as a viable source of bioenergy, bamboo power has been used extensively in India, China and Brazil.

Researchers from RMIT University and Center for International Forestry Research have partnered with Clean Power Indonesia (CPI) due to their increased curiosity into how bamboo works as a biofuel and how it may be more sustainable than traditional wood. Bamboo has great fuel characteristics: high heat values, volatile contents, lower ash and moisture content. Bamboo has proved itself as a great alternative to wood; removing bamboo normally doesn’t damage the environment nor its stock and its approach to carbon sequestration is much more effective than that of wood. Bamboo biomass can be processed through either thermal or biochemical conversion to produce different energy products, such as charcoal, pellets, and briquettes, which could substitute wood fuel products. And small islands of Indonesia are a testament to the effectiveness of the bamboo, as we’ll mention further on.

Through the processes of gasification, bamboo can create clean gas and actually leaves charcoal as a natural by-product. These two fuels are created simultaneously with the same process, becoming more cost-effective. Consequently, the bamboo charcoal can be used as a solid fuel the same as coal. Through the process of pyrolysis –the same used for wood– the liquid fuels can be processed in a biorefinery to produce biofuels.

Through biochemical conversion, bamboo can be transformed to other types of biogas and biofuels. With biochemical conversion the sugar in the bamboo can be fermented and transformed into bioethanol and methane, making it more versatile than wood and other traditional biofuel sources.

The benefits of using bamboo don’t rest with their many ways of being used as biofuel: it’s joined by its inherent sustainability. As we have mentioned above, bamboo is a fast-growing species, but it can also grow and develop perfectly in degraded lands with minimal use of water or fertilizer, stabilizing soil, controlling soil erosion and retaining water in land. It’s because of this that it can provide a habitat for biodiversity and help agroforestry systems as a by-product of its harvest. In contrast to wood, bamboo doesn’t need to be cut down entirely to be used for biofuel: because it grows so fast, in about 5-12 years when it’s mature, it can be harvested and systematically thinned yearly, which could actually boost bamboo productivity in the long run.

According to the CPI, “more than 50 million people in rural communities in more than 50,000 villages and 4,000 islands live without access to reliable power in Indonesia”. Seeing the possible benefits of using different types of energy created by bamboo, the CPI joined the local government and started a pilot project in February 2021 in the Mentawai islands of Indonesia; a chain of islands and islets where more than 85,000 people live. Now that the pilot has concluded, the CPI shared their amazing results. They made it possible for 1,250 households to have access to reliable electricity throughout 3 different villages, each one with their own bamboo-based power plant, using the gasification method.

The use of bamboo for biofuel has been put into practice successfully in several countries, besides Indonesia, such as Ghana, Ethiopia and Colombia. READ MORE