Garbage from LGUs produce biomass energy

• Source: http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1951434538219/garbage-from-lgus-produce-biomass-energy
• Wednesday, June 17, 2015

By Jose Mari M. Garcia (CLJD/JMG-PIA 3)

CLARK FREEPORT ZONE, June 17 (PIA) -- Department of Energy (DOE) has tapped solid waste facilities to scale up the generation of biomass energy and help meet the country’s electricity demands, prompting local government units to take advantage of their looming garbage woes.

Technologies to convert wastes from municipal and city dump facilities into biomass energy are being developed to not only add up to the country’s power supply but also lessen the nuisance of piling garbage, said Ruby De Guzman, division chief of DOE’s Biomass Energy Management Division.

“DOE and the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) are continuously developing, finding ways on how to utilize our biomass resources not only in agricultural residues but from emerging feedstock like municipal solid waste,” De Guzman said during the International Biomass Conference held June 16-17 in Widus Hotel.

This reflects the potential of provincial, city, municipal and barangay solid waste management facilities as a source of biomass energy to augment the country’s electricity supply which, according to DOE, is falling short this year and causes threat to the country's economic and social life.

De Guzman said the biomass industry has contributed 276 megawatts of power from 2011-2015, and they are looking forward to add 200 MW until 2020.

According to Dr. Rex Demafelis, chair of UPLB’s Interdisciplinary Biofuels Research Studies Center (IBRSC), there is a need to adapt technologies to capitalize the potential of biomass energy and catalyze various stakeholders into building concrete actions for the production of bio-based fuels and energy.

“We need to explore and develop feedstocks and industrially relevant technologies for biofuels production,” he said.

Demafelis said the International Biomass Conference provided a talking venue for prospective collaborators who can aid in technology transfer to magnify the use of biomass energy and openly discuss the increasing severity of garbage problem among LGUs having congested landfills or no landfill at all.

Themed Exploring the Market Potentials of Biomass for Bio-based Fuels and Energy, the two-day conference attended by about 200 foreign and local stakeholders also featured a visit at a biomass plant in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija that has been producing 12 MW of electricity.

Stockpiled with foreign and local experts on renewable energy, biomass engineering, agriculture, and solid waste management, the conference was co-organized by UPLB-IBRSC, Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research, DOE, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.