Plant diversity and energy potency of community forestin East Kalimantan, Indonesia: Searching for fast growing wood species for energy production

Abstract

Abstract. Amirta R, Yuliansyah, Angi EM, Ananto BR, Setiyono B, Haqiqi MT, Septiana HA, Lodong M, Oktavianto RN. 2016. Plant diversity and energy potency of community forest in East Kalimantan, Indonesia: Searching for fast growing wood species for energy production. Nusantara Bioscience 8: 22-30. Nowadays, there is an increasing interest in intensifying the production and use of biomass to replace fossil fuels for the production of heat and electricity, especially for a remote area that generally abundance with the wood biomass resources including in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. In this work, diversity of plant species that commonly growth in community forest area of East Kutai District, East Kalimantan, Indonesia had been studied to point out their energy potency to be used as biomass feedstock for the electricity generated. Diversity of plant species in the community forest was evaluated by making 13 sampling plots with 20mx20m size approximately. Concurrently, the energy properties of plant biomass such as proximate and ultimate compositions were also analyzed using ASTM methods. Results showed that more than 30 species of tropical trees and wood shrubs were grown in the community forest. The presence of them was classified into two different growths of origins: natural and artificial plantation, and also three different categories of plant resources: tree species from logged over forest, commercial fast growing plant tree species for the fiber production and woody shrubs. The highest dominancy and productivity was found in Paraserianthes falcataria (L.) Nielsen since the wood biomass was artificially planted for the commercial purposes. Among the 31 plant species analyzed we found the highest energy potency was obtained from Cratoxylum cochinchinense (Lour.) Blume that produced 3.17 MWh/ton, and the lowest was from Trema orientalis (L.) Blume 0.97 MWh/ton. The woody shrubs species such as Vernonia amygdalina Delile., Piper aduncum L., Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth ex Walp., Calliandra calothyrsus Meissner., Bridelia tomentosa Blume, Vitex pinnata L., Vernonia arborea Buch.-Ham. and Bauhinia purpurea var. corneri de Wit. were suitable to be used as sustainable feedstocks for the electricity generated and promising to be developed as energy plant species in the future using Short Rotation Coppice system (SRC).

Invasive Alien Species Plants in Sukaraja Atas Resort, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park

“…Kaliandra (C. calothyrsus) merupakan jenis tumbuhan asing yang berasal dari daerah barat daya Panama hingga Meksiko bagian selatan. Jenis tumbuhan legum ini mudah ditanam dan pertumbuhannya cepat dengan tinggi 5-6 m, produktivitas bijinya cukup besar, dan mudah beradaptasi dengan lingkungan baru (Abqoriah et al 2015;Amirta et al 2016). Menurut Herdiawan dan Sutedi (2015), kaliandra dapat tumbuh di berbagai jenis tanah, termasuk tanah liat berpasir dan tanah masam.…”

“…Menurut Mustabi et al (2019), selain digunakan untuk mencegah kebakaran, ekstrak tumbuhan ini memiliki kandungan zat adiktif yang mampu membunuh cacing seperti cacing kawat (Haemonchus contortus). Amirta et al (2016) juga menyatakan bahwa tumbuhan tersebut memiliki potensi sebagai biofuel karena mengandung selulosa sebesar 46-48%. Hermawan et al (2017) menjelaskan bahwa jenis tumbuhan asing invasif seperti kaliandra telah banyak mendominasi beberapa kawasan yang terbuka di TNBBS.…”

Spatial Assessment of Degraded Lands for Biofuel Production in Indonesia

“…and is used for firewood and land restoration due to its fast growth and good adaptability to a wide range of habitats [18,23]. The shrub is also used for animal feed [25,41].…”

“…It grows in various soil types, including sandy clays and acid soil [22,42]. There is emerging interest in biofuel production from C. calothyrsus since it is highly cellulosic (46-48%), fast-growing, suitable for a short rotation and adaptable to diverse habitats [18,[22][23][43][44].…”

“…sepium is a medium-sized species of 2-15 m height [24]. In Indonesia, it is called "gamal" and is used for firewood, cattle feedstock and medicine [23,[31][32]. Its leaves, fruits, seeds, roots and bark can be toxic for human consumption [32,45].…”