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Continuous profit from quail-waste based biogas
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S
utarman can never hide his smile as his quail egg business gradually grows. He can sell an average of 30 to 40 kilograms of eggs per day.
The 57-year-old farmer also breeds hundreds of ducks, cattle and goats in one compound. Assisted by his wife, Tampar, 56, he boils hundreds of quail eggs every 30 minutes to then be sold in town. Despite the intensity of boiling, the couple showed not a single sign of concern over the supply of cooking gas.
“I don’t have any problem using the gas stove for a long period as it’s free of charge,” says Sutarman while pointing at the bright blue flame bursting out from the stove in the corner of his kitchen. He proudly showed how his stove produces a bright blue flame that most commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or cooking gas stoves cannot.
Such a quality of flame can only emerge from gas produced by his quails’ waste. The family can run their business more cheaply with a cooking gas supply thanks to waste from the 5,000 quails that they breed. Bird waste that the grandfather of seven initially considered useless can now be converted into an alternative energy source: biogas.
On the top of the stove, there is a pipe that channels the gas from a device called a biogas reactor. The reactor is located in the front yard, right at the side of an empty field. When he ignites the stove, the gas will run from the reactor to the stove through the longer-than-6-meter pipe, making a hissing sound. With the biogas, Sutarman and his wife are not required to spend Rp 20,000 every week to purchase the LPG.
“We usually use the cattle’s waste, but following our experiment, we have succeeded in using the quails’ waste,” he said.
To produce the biogas, he only needs to process 30 kg of quail waste each day. From this amount, the gas can generate a bright blue flame for 15 hours per day on average. “I never thought that breeding such birds can generate a safe, environmentally friendly and free fire. It’s very profitable for a small business like this,” he added.
On a daily basis, by selling his quail eggs, Sutarman can generate a profit ranging from Rp 100,000 to Rp 150,000 collected from the middlemen. It’s a relatively high income for an ex-farmer like him.
Obviously, the existence of biogas in households like Sutarman’s is the result of a process. A permanent biogas reactor like the one that Sutarman has costs around Rp10 million to 12 million. He was one of 176 families in Bojonegoro and Tuban that received biogas reactors as stimulus from the Terus Untung (Always Profitable) and Biogas (TUNAS) programs initiated by ExxonMobil Cepu Limited (EMCL) as the operator of Block Cepu.
In managing the programs that have been running since 2014, EMCL, supported by the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas), appointed the Trukajaya Foundation as its partner. The foundation has obtained years of experience in developing the biogas program for communities by utilizing the livestock’s waste to be converted into a renewable energy for four years. Within the last three years alone, a total of 185 families have adopted this approach in generating alternative energy.
Eli Supriyanto, a representative of Trukajaya, said there had been increasing demand for cooking gas in the community for household purposes. This was triggered by the government’s policy of replacing kerosene into cooking gas. On the same occasion, when LPG was hard to find, people tended to look for wood in the forests, which obviously is limited in supply. “On the other hand, kerosene is expensive and now, it’s becoming increasingly scarce,” he said.
This is where biogas becomes an alternative to cooking gas for households. It’s a flammable methane generated from an unaerobic fermentation process from organic materials, completed by methanogonic bacteria. An odorless and invisible gas, the methane burning process produces blue and smokeless fire. “The gas is hotter than kerosene, charcoal and other traditional fuels,” he said.
Eli Supriyanto further explained that the main source of biogas is the waste of livestock that can easily be found in the community, but it’s not yet properly utilized. “Therefore, EMCL and Trukajaya initiated this biogas program as an effort to disseminate the use of the renewable alternative energy,” he said.
Meanwhile, EMCL external affairs manager Dave A. Seta explained that EMCL was fully aware of the importance of renewable alternative energy in responding to the globally decreasing energy reserve sourced from oil and gas. For EMCL, energy plays a vital role in both daily life and the economic life of the community.
As part of the commitment, EMCL developed a program that promotes the sense of independence among communities through wise use of energy. The Program Terus Untung dengan Biogas (TUNAS) focuses on the development of renewable biogas energy.
Together with the community, EMCL has at least built 178 biogas reactors in six villages within the Gayam subdistrict in Bojonegoro and in one village in Tuban regency. Within the same region, EMCL also trained 55 biogas technicians to become biogas experts. Maintenance of the biogas reactors in the respected areas, as well as promotion of alternative energy utilization, will rely on these experts.
EMCL expects that the program can improve the knowledge of community members on utilizing livestock waste to become biogas and other products.
This Operation Supporting Program, which has been agreed on by SKKMigas, is part of the mainstream oil and gas industry’s commitment to contributing positively to the community. “We expect this program will improve the quality of livelihood as well as the capacity of the community living within the vicinity of our production areas,” said Dave. “With the existence of biogas in households, the cost of cooking gas can now be allocated for other purposes,” he added.
In reaching that goal, EMCL is strongly committed to applying a high standard of ethics by complying with relevant laws and regulations, and at the same time respecting the local and national culture. “While, of course, conducting a safe and responsible operation,” he emphasized.
