Rice husks can reduce fossil fuel imports

By Sosimo Ma. Pablico

The voluminous amount of rice husks produced in rice milling, instead of being wasted, can be used to generate heat and energy, reduce fossil fuel importation, and help solve the worsening oil crisis.

A rice mill in the Philippines generates an average 845 kg [kilograms] of rice husks in an hour, which can be converted into 480 kilowatt (kW) energy, enough to supply the daily energy needs of an average rice mill, results of a PhilRice [Philippine Rice Research Institute] survey on 381 mills showed. 

Dr. Bernardo D. Tadeo, coordinator of an EC [European Community] – ASEAN energy facility project at PhilRice, said 1,389,888 liters of diesel oil worth P49,688,496 would be saved per hour even if the rice husks produced by the 381 mills alone were used for energy generation.

At the same time, the worsening problem on rice husk disposal would also be solved.  In many areas, millers simply dump their rice husks along highways and other open areas. These become eyesores eventually releasing greenhouse gases, which pollute the environment.  Burning of rice husks in open fields also results in environmental damage. 

Open burning emits unfiltered smoke, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases that deplete the ozone layer and pollute the air. It also produces rice ash, which hinders the growth of rice plants, as the ash holds and prevents water from reaching the plant roots, thereby decreasing productivity. 

Moreover, open burning kills beneficial soil microorganisms as well as burns the trash that can be decomposed into  organic matter, which otherwise should improve the soil.

The Philippines can learn from experiences in Thailand and Malaysia where many rice millers now use rice husks as fuel for cogeneration plants to produce heat and energy. 

The Patum Rice Mill and Granary in Thailand, for instance, operates a 9.24 MWe [megawatt energy] cogeneration plant that uses all its rice husks and even buys 25 percent of its needs from much smaller rice mills. When the power plant is fully operational, it sells 5 MWe of energy to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.

Likewise, the Chia Meng Co. Ltd. in northern Thailand, with a milling capacity of 500 tons of palay a day, uses a 2.5 MWe rice husk-fired cogeneration plant.  The plant was paid back after about four years.

On the other hand, the 5 MWe cogeneration plant of the Ban Heng Bee Rice Mill in Malaysia uses 2,040 kg of rice husks every hour.  The plant generates heat and energy at the same time for three months during the grain drying season and produces only energy the rest of the year.

Given similar financial support and incentives received by Thai and Malaysian millers from their governments to put up cogeneration plants, Filipino rice millers are likely to follow.

 

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