Electric plants powered by rice husk to be set up
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
By Claro Cortes, Correspondent
Manila: The government is planning to put up 10 rice husk-powered power plants across the Philippines as part of its efforts to tap alternative sources, scientists said yesterday.
President Gloria Arroyo has ordered an intensive search for ways to alleviate the effects of rising world fuel prices to the country.Dr. Leocadio Sebastian, PhilRice executive director, said rice husk, as an energy source, carry a lot of promise.
The rice husk-fired co-generation power plants, with power-generating capacities of between 1.5 and 10 megawatts, are being eyed in Palayan City, San Jose City and Talavera town, all in Nueva Ecija and Iloilo, Palawan, Isabela, Camarines Sur, Bohol, South Cotabato, and Occidental Mindoro.
However, there is a downside to the use of rice husks. Rice husk disposal is a growing concern since rice husks release greenhouse gases that pollute the air as they decompose.
Researches say rice husk, when burned in the open, wreaks more havoc to the environment, explaining that they could emit unfiltered smoke, carbon dioxide and other gases that could deplete the ozone layer.
Over-carbonised rice husk or the ash, on the other hand, impede the growth of rice planted in the area where it is burned, preventing water from reaching the plants' roots, thus hampering its growth. Worse, burning kills beneficial micro-organisms in the top soil.
PhilRice is working in tandem with the Asean Centre for Energy (ACE) and the European Communities' Asean Energy Facility (EAEF) in tapping rice husk as a viable energy source. The technology, which is used in Japan, is environment-friendly.
Tadeo said feasibility studies on the power plants would be completed next month. Philippine rice mills collectively generate an average of 845 kilos of rice husks an hour, which could be turned into about 480 kilowatt-hours of energy, enough to supply the daily power requirements of a rice mill.
Launched in March 2002, the EAEF also aims to increase the security of energy supply of Asean countries and Europe, enhance economic cooperation between the European Union and Asean countries, and facilitate the Asean Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation up to 2009.
STUDY3.14m metric tons of husk produced in '04. Five tons of rice generate a ton of rice husk. In 2004 alone, government statistics show that 3.14 million metric tons of rice husk were generated, representing 22 per cent of the total paddy production of 14.25 million metric tons.
According to studies, this is equivalent to 1,600 gigawatt-hours of potential energy, which could light a highly urbanised city for a year. Dr Bernardo Tadeo, coordinator of the Philippine Rice Institute's biomass utilisation project, said these power plants have a life-cycle cost of P4.30 to P5.95 per kilowatt-hour.
posted by philpower @ 2:35 PM,
