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The need for food packaging increases along with population and economic growth in Indonesia. Styrofoam is one of the food packaging that humans need because it is practical, lightweight, inexpensive, water-resistant, and has good heat and cold resistance. However, styrofoam negatively impacts health and the environment because styrofoam contains harmful chemicals such as styrene. Styrofoam destruction through burning can cause air pollution because the combustion results in dioxin gas which can interfere with human respiration. One of the solutions to reduce the negative impact of Styrofoam is the utilization of biomass as a raw ingredient used in the production of biodegradable foam. In 2019, palm oil production in Indonesia reached 48.42 million tons/year, 26% of which were empty palm oil fruit bunches (EFB). The cellulose content in EFB is high enough to be used for various applications. One of the applications of EFB is the raw material in producing biodegradable foam, an alternative to eco-friendly packaging to replace Styrofoam. Oil palm empty fruit bunches contain 84% -cellulose. This shows that the cellulose of EFB has excellent potential as one of the raw materials for producing biodegradable foam. In addition to EFB, the raw materials include starch, chitosan, magnesium stearate, polyvinyl alcohol, and distilled water. Production of biodegradable foam with a size of 19 cm x 13 cm x 0.3 cm requires 1.5-6 grams of cellulose or 11-44 grams of fresh EFB. Currently, biodegradable foam still has bad characteristics, so it is necessary to add additives to enhance the properties of biodegradable foam. This study examines the effects of chitosan on tensile strength, water absorption, biodegradability, density, and melting point of biodegradable foam. The production of biodegradable foam in this study used the thermopressing method at operating conditions of 120°C for 2.5 minutes. The most optimum results in this study obtained a tensile strength value of 3.79 MPa, water absorption capacity of 9.81%, decomposition capacity of 48.52% for 21 days, and a melting point of 82.94°C, namely the starch composition of 50 % w/w, chitosan 15% w/w, cellulose 5% w/w, PVA 20% w/w and magnesium stearate 10% w/w. This study revealed that adding chitosan increased the density, tensile strength, and melting point but decreased the absorption and decomposition of biodegradable foam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DME can be synthesized from natural gas, coal, biomass, and/or coal seam, and is a sulfur-free, near-zero aromatics synthetic fuel which is considered as an excellent substitute for conventional diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Currently, various production technologies are developed and many commercial projects are actively being progressed. This paper presents recent development and future prospect of Dimethyl Ether (DME) as an alternative energy, simple review for biomass energy, comparison of biomass and coal conversion to DME. The use of lignite coal as the basic material for the manufacture of DME is less profitable because it produces H2S gas which is harmful to the environment, thus requiring a purification unit to remove the gas. The addition of these units increases production costs. Meanwhile, biomass has higher availability and contains lower sulfur than coal. Biomass that has the potential as a substitute for lignite is tofu waste because of the highest availability and the highest syngas yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy sourced from fossil to be the only main source of energy to full-fill all aspects of needs. But, fossil fuels as energy sources are non-renewable sources so could run out at a certain time. The decreasing of fossil sources production, especially crude oil, encourage the government of Indonesia to generate, develop, and improve the potency of New-and Renewable Energy (NRE) sources. Solar panel is the most reliable NRE sources to reach the projection of NRE utilization increased by 31.2% in 2050. Li-ion batteries are electrical energy storage devices that are most preferred to be used in solar panels. Li-ion battery with cylindrical model made of LiNi0.85Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA) and LiNixMnyCo1-x-yO2 (NMC) cathode material shows good electrochemical performance (energy density, specific capacity, cycle, and stability) and toughness. The cathode material synthesis method is important because it determines battery performance. The combination of co-precipitation and solid-state methods is the best choice to produce cathode materials that provide the best performance for Li-ion batteries for solar panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, biomass gasification technology for supplying heat has attracted several energy-intensive industries, such as ceramics and hot mixed asphalt production, as the fossil fuel pricing escalates, and environmental issues dominate the news. It offers higher energy efficiency, raw material flexibility, a wider range of capacities, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Palm kernel shell is a potential biomass source in Indonesia as feedstock of the gasification process because of its high calorific value, abundance, and being considered as carbon-neutral and sustainable. The gasification process performance should be measured based on carbon conversion efficiency (CCE) and cold gas efficiency (CGE) to guarantee the operation's reliability. This study aims to develop the performance evaluation method of an industrial updraft woody and woody-like biomass gasification system using air as a gasifying agent for supplying heat through a thermodynamic approach. The model developed was created using licensed Aspen Plus v.11 software. The constructed model was validated with several laboratory experiments of previous researchers using various types of biomass considering carbon monoxide and hydrogen contents in the producer gas. The thermodynamic model showed a good agreement with the experimental data assessed based on root mean square error (RMSE) value for H2 and CO being 3.02 and 2.10, respectively. The developed model was implemented to evaluate performance of an asphalt mixing plant with palm kernel shell updraft gasifier as a heating source of aggregate. It was observed that at the operation condition of equivalent ratio (ER) of 0.082, the CCE and CGE were 46% and 38%, respectively. The model dictates that this installation unit should be operated at an ER value of 0.28, which is equivalent to a feedstock flowrate of 990 kg/h and an air gasifying agent flowrate of 1250 Nm3/h to achieve near to 95.20% of CCE and 76.34% of CGE. At the same time, about 50% savings on feedstock was also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A small power plant based on biomass gasification technology is attractive to provide electricity to many remote areas without fossil fuel access because biomass is locally available and contributes to net-zero carbon emissions in the terms of a greenhouse gas component. Palm kernel shell is a potential biomass in Indonesia to provide energy needs. It is available in scattered areas that are economical for a small-scale power plant operation up to 200 kW. The gasification technology converts the shell into combustible gases, which are also known as producer gases with carbon monoxide and hydrogen as the main components for fuelling a gas generator set resulting in carbon dioxide and water in the flue gas. Although palm kernel shell considered carbon-neutral, a power plant based on biomass gasification also emits CO2 indirectly as a result of the fossil fuel combustion during shell generation in a palm oil mill, handling and transportation from the mill to the power plant. A power plant based on the palm kernel shell gasification system produces greenhouse gases and solid residue as char and tarry components in the producer gas. This assessment examined the global warming potential level of a 5-kW power plant based on palm kernel gasification technology using a Gate-to-Gate approach to develop system improvement scenarios. All carbon dioxide emissions were predicted with an openLCA database of Environmental Footprint (MID-point indicator). The mass and energy balance calculations resulted in the amount of generated char. A laboratory experiment was conducted to observe tar content in the producer gas. It was found that the power plant emits 1.69 kg CO2 eq/kWh, produces 0.33 kg char/kWh and the producer gas contains 2.70 × 10−4 kg tar/kWh. It is recommended that when using palm kernel gasification for electricity generation, plant managers should consider char as a solid conditioner in a palm plantation area and implement a tar removal system to minimize gas genset failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]