Financial Times

The potential of Bamboo in Dendro power generation
By Lanelle Hills
While consumers come to grips with terrifying oil prices and have nightmares over the rising cost of utilities like electricity, the time to venture out into unconventional alternative sources of energy is drawing nearer. Among a variety of energy options aimed at easing the burden on consumers is Dendro-based power generation through sustainably grown fuel wood.

"Since the hydro potential is nearly exhausted, the only other viable option in a larger scale is Dendro. Although solar and wind could make significant contributions it will take a few years before that happens but Dendro is something that is available now and can be developed very easily," says Parakrama Jayasinghe, President of the Bio Energy Association of Sri Lanka (BEASL), a body formed by a group of concerned citizen in a bid to promote the use of indigenous resources.

Dendro power refers to the generation of renewable energy through biomass. To date the favored supply source for Dendro power is the Gliricidia plant. This is due to the large harvest it produces as well as its Nitrogen fixing property which is an advantage for farmers who don't have to pay extra for fertilizers. However, bamboo which is emerging as the latest 'green gold' could out yield this plant due to its rapid rate of regeneration which is capable of producing four times the biomass of the fastest growing trees.

Dr. U.P. de S. Waidyantha, Director General of the National Agribusiness Council, said that, "recent prognostication suggests that in another 20 years or so there will not be enough fuel wood and the most likely alternative would be bamboo." He also believes that with the right support and development bamboo could be harvested as a crop with economic potential capable of surpassing even conventional tea.

BEASL, formed two years back, has been urging governments over the years through proposals, for a national policy on energy and the need to include in it renewable sources. Last year the foundation was laid for the first ever Dendro power generation plant in Walpane, which is now complete.

The power plant built on the initiatives of Lanka Transformers Ltd. and Ceylon Tobacco has a 1MW capacity and is expected to supply power to the national grid in a few weeks. "There is 1.6 million hectares of barren and chena land and if 500,000 hectares are harvested with crops such as bamboo, the country's energy requirements could be met," said BEASL council member Nelson Nagasinghe. The present capacity of power generation through hydro and imported fuel is 1500 MW but Jayasinghe, also a council member for the Network of Bamboo and Rattan, believes that "if there is courage and willingness, Sri Lanka has the potential to generate 4000MW, which is more than double the present capacity, solely through Dendro."

Asked about state support towards Dendro-power generation, Jayasinghe said they were happy that the present government is talking about it as an alternative, but believes they are still to make a positive contribution by providing a fair tariff for Dendro power generation - instead of paying more for power generated by imported fuels.

"We would like to make our farmers richer than an oil or coal owner," he said. Setting up a Dendro power plant is not as expensive as a coal power plant while the resource for the former is low cost and freely available if government support is forthcoming in promoting fuel wood such as bamboo as an essential crop. Bamboo could be grown anywhere on water lands, watersheds and along banks of rivers preventing erosion. It's also ideal for long term rehabilitation of old tea land and could provide fuel wood for tea factories.

Once sustainable crops have been grown very little after care is required. It is also a year round harvest with income levels being maintained unlike conventional crops. Jayasinghe also believes such crops could help to remove some of the pollution produced by other power plants since a green cover is maintained with only a portion of the crop being harvested at a time.

Of all the species of bamboo, giant bamboo has bigger yields producing about 100 tons per hectare per year, but it cannot be propagated on a mass scale by conventional methods. Although scientists of the Institute of Fundamental Studies in Kandy perfected a tissue culture technique for mass propagation, with a lack of funds and change of government it remained unutilized. However the "present minister is keen to go ahead with these plans and provide funding for a project that can grow upto a million plants a year," said Dr. Waidyanatha since the present difficulty faced in Dendro power expansion is the lack of material.

Speaking at a recent seminar organized by the Network for Bamboo and Rattan in collaboration with the SLAAS, River Basin Development Minister Mahaweli Minister Maithripala Sirisena said he appreciated a need for an institutional structure and agreed to the setting up of a institutional frame work for things to develop. "There is so much you can do with Bamboo apart from using it as fuel for Dendro power plants," says Dr. Waidyanatha, adding that its main industrial use is in making paper.

Citing an example in Thailand where farmers were moving away from traditional crops to bamboo cultivation in order to make paper pulp, he said a ton of good quality paper pulp fetches about US$ 500. Bamboo could also be used in making houses in some instances most of the houses are constructed using bamboo.

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