Alternative energy eases residents' reliance on PLN and fuel

Yuli Trisuwarni ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Bandung   |  Mon, 11/30/2009 2:19 PM  |  The Archipelago

Residents in Haurngombong village in Pamulihan district, Sumedang, about 50 kilometers east of the West Java provincial capital of Bandung, have not been affected by the power crisis such as the rotating blackouts imposed by state power firm PLN.

The 365 village residents have been relying on cattle manure to produce gas and run the power generator that is channeled to residents' kitchens.

A resident in Pangseran hamlet in Haurngombong village, Siti Aminah, 35, said previously she did not enjoy living near cattle sheds due to the unpleasant smell.

However, when siblings Adang S.P. and Komar Purnama, with help from the Padjadjaran University Research and Community Service Institute (LPM Unpad) and West Java-Banten PLN introduced local residents to cattle-manure management, their approach to manure has changed.

"Now, people are more willing to clean cattle manure because when mixed with water, it can produce gas that may enable us to be independent from PLN and expensive kerosene," Aminah said.

The village producing dairy products is home to 826 cows that produce nearly 6 tons of milk daily.

The amount of manure produced is large as each cow turns out around 25 kilograms of it per day.

Adang said when he proposed the idea to raise the value of cattle manure in 2003 and requested technical help from LPM Unpad and a generator from PLN, residents did not respond well.

Pangseran and Simpang villages were set as model projects.

Residents from the two villages, most from low-income families and had never had the luxury of electricity, later responded positively to the program because they needed power.

"Residents realized they could use the biogas from cheap cow manure when the power crisis occurred and the fuel price rose in 2006," Adang said.

The price of kerosene rose from Rp 1,400 (14 US cents) per liter to Rp 8,000 per liter. The village were waiting to receive a gas stove and 3 kilogram canister during the energy conversion program carried out by the government.

Thanks to technical assistance from LPM Unpad, Adang and Komar and other residents installed two small-scale biogas installations using 5 cubic meters of cow manure from three cows.

"We bought a generator costing Rp 4 million and a gas pipe installation that cost Rp 6 million," Adang said, who is also the Haurngombong village chief.

A family using biogas could save around Rp 56,000 per month, while the state could save Rp 164,300 monthly from subsidy cuts.

The coordinating minister for the Village Independent Energy program technical team, Musdalifah Machmud, said besides saving funds, residents in Haurngombong could play a role in reducing the effects of global warming because they could reduce the greenhouse effects using livestock manure, which produces around 1 percent of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

"If we can turn manure into biogas, imagine how much we can help reduce the green house effect," Musdalifah said.

The Village Independent Energy program has currently reached 633 villages across the country. Despite the obstacles of transporting technology and limited funds from the government to finance the program, it has saved fuel costs by Rp 1.2 trillion over the past three years.

He said the program should not only be used in remote villages, but in urban areas to reduce the burden during peak-load periods.

The power crisis may prevail due to the increase in power consumption by about 10 percent each year, while the increment in power production is just half.

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