Help Save the World

with
Bamboo
By

Dr. Segundino U. Foronda, Ph.D.

Forester, Inventor & Forest Products Specialist
E-mail: drdino.foronda@gmail.com

Democracy M. Icawalo
INBAR Alumnus & Bamboo Advocate
E-mail: mr8ph@yahoo.com
What is Climate Change?
 CLIMATE CHANGE

• Climate Change refers to any change in climate

over time whether due to natural variability or as a
result of human activity or changing levels of
Green House Gases (GHGs).
• It describes the short and long term effects on the
earth’s climate as a result of human activities such
as fossil fuel combustion and vegetation clearing
and burning.
• It is also now referred to as GLOBAL WARMING.
Causes of Climate Change

• Wanton utilization of fossil fuels

• Deforestation
 Effects of Climate Change
• Pollution of water, air and soil
• Polar ice caps melting
• Negative economic consequences
• Increased extreme weather conditions
• Spread of diseases
• Landscape changes
• Adverse effects on agriculture and food supply
 Solutions
1. Re-greening with trees and bamboo
Bamboo is more recommended, however,
considering its natural characteristics as
follows:
- Bamboo absorbs 35% more carbon dioxide
compared to trees. It also emits 35% more
oxygen. Even in finished products form, it
will not release its C02 contents for decades.
- It is much more sustainable and easier to
plant. Even when burned, it will just grow
back unlike trees.
- Its maximum maturity period is only 5 years
while the minimum time for trees to mature on
the average is 10 years.
2. Use of clean & sustainable fuel
substitutes
Fossil Fuels vs. Bio-oil & Bio-coal
Non-renewable - Renewable
Grey CO2 - Green CO2
Dirty - Clean
Not cheap - Cheaper than
fossil fuels
 Bio-oil
What is bio-oil (BO)?
• Not oil in traditional sense
• Liquid biomass, molecular composition
resembles the feedstock
• Clean burning, carbon dioxide neutral fuel
• Aka: pyrolysis oil, bio-crude oil
• Can be co-fired in furnaces, boilers, gas
turbines, and diesel engines
 Bio-oil

Green substitute to conventional fossil

fuels in power generation for now.

( Soon, for transportation fuels! )

 Benefits of Bio-oil
• Reduce dependence on fossil fuel
• Establish land cover
• Reduce GHG emissions
• Create jobs
• Motivate economic activity in the countryside
• Save foreign exchange
• Cheaper than fossil fuel
 Cost of Bio-oil
“Even more importantly, bio-oil is priced at
$25 - $35 a barrel…” (Zeman, 2007)

Equiv crude oil: US$ 45.45 – 63.64 a barrel

CDM benefits when factored will increase

bio-oil’s competitiveness!
Bio-oil Processing
Fast Pyrolysis
 Products of Fast Pyrolysis
Bio-oil Char
- Liquid biomass - Black powder
- Can be stored, pumped - Incompletely
and transported combusted biomass

Non-condensable gas
- Re-circulated into the
pyrolysis process
 Feedstock
Any lignocellulosic or cellulosic material
Forestry, agricultural and processing residues
• Wood, sawdust, bark, forest slash, waste paper
• Rice straw & husk, corn stalks & cobs, bamboo
• Cellulosic residues from bio-diesel/ bio-ethanol
production, e.g., coco shell & husk, bagasse, etc.
• Poultry litter, animal dung

No competition with food supply!

Bio-fuel Crops Compared
Bamboo – Most Favorable Feedstock
• Indigenous plant species
• Easier to establish than tree species
• High regenerative capacity, even when burned
• High capacity to withstand extreme
environmental conditions
• Fast growing and high-biomass yield
• Short maturity period
• Co-products:
- Bamboo shoots
- High quality pole segments
 Bamboo BO Plant Capacity

1000 ha plantation = 100TPD BO Facility

Daily BO output = 70-75 TPD

 Moving Forward
Invest in Bamboo Bio-oil Production
and make money!
Reduce dependence on fossil fuels
Reduce GHG emissions
Protect the environment
Create jobs
 Bio-coal
What is bio-coal?
• Torrefied biomass
• Aka: e-coal, green coal
• No smoke/ odor, clean
• HHV = 22-26 MJ/kg
• Easy to mill, friable
• Hydrophobic
• Decay resistant
 Benefits of Bio-coal
• Stores and handles like fossil coal
• Requires no retrofitting for coal-fired plants
• Consistent and uniform fuel efficiency
• Generates electricity as efficiently as fossil coal
• Enables immediate GHG emissions reduction
• Fossil coal will emit (+/-) 300% more carbon
dioxide compared to bio-coal
• Cost of bio-coal is only (+/-) 40% of the cost of
fossil coal
 Bio-coal Processing
Torrefaction
• 200-300 °C
• zero oxygen
• (+/-) 30 minutes

Densification
• milling/ grinding
• pelletizing
Feedstock  Bamboo
We need to move

from this

to this!
 Remember, we need to save
our world for our children.

Help save the world with bamboo!!!