Wise use of waste. Alternative yet renewable energy sources have been found!!

Hello guys, it’s day9 of #15HariCeritaEnergy alreadyyy. And you know, it’s getting hard to make a new post since I have to read some references (journals, data, and news at once) related to this specified theme (which is renewable and conservative energy) while I also struggle to finish my thesis to get my undergraduate degree (gonna have a thesis defence by August 31, I am so stressful ugh). The themes I’ve involved are so much different, and I can’t deny that I am absolutely exhausted but I still wanna give it a shot. Thesis is about fulfilling my responsibility, yet this blog contest is about catching my dream (I am really craving for study abroad, or at least inhaling the foreign country oxygen for free after this long battle with statistics). Well, I’m gonna stop moaning and start this discussion.

As I mentioned a few days ago, I was interested in waste-based energy as the alternative energy and renewable energy. My interest begins since for the last four years, I’ve been living in Jakarta where I always see waste/garbage/trash or whatever you called that hurts my eyes and nose (uhhh, sorry for being too much). But no, I don't exaggerate that everyday I see lots of rubbish. You can find it everywhere you go. Yeah, at the waste shelter, of course we’ll see some, but I still find it like everywhere, along the riverside (even carried by the stream of river), on the gutter, along the road wherever I go. I am not lying, everyone, no, I am not.

The waste problem is such a cliche, it’s always there since long long time ago, but getting worse since the population getting bigger. The population growth, especially in a city, can be said as a double-sided knife. Why? When the number of population getting greater (especially those in productive age), it leads to give a huge supply of labor force which leads to the better economy. But, the bad side also can’t be avoided. One of the bad impact of the population growth, especially overpopulation, it’s really possible to leads bad impacts to environment, such as the increasing number of slums area and the increasing quantity of waste as the result of consumptive people who produce rubbish and rubbish. I am so positive that each one of us already taught in elementary school that we have to do 3R solve the waste problem. Do you remember what’s that? Yap, you’re right. Those 3R are reduce, reuse and recycle. I neither say that you’ve forgotten all those 3R, nor you don’t do that in daily life. I can’t be so judgemental to all of you since I didn’t follow you around in your daily life, I’ll just assume that all of us already tried to implement that 3R.

However, the waste problem still exist till nowadays though some of us already tried to reduce, reuse and recycle. Even somehow the flood comes bacause of the waste in river. So what should we do? Solving waste problem doesn’t stop in preventing step, but it has  solve the remaining problem as well. What I mean here is that waste that already produced by people which can’t be used anymore. So the next question must be, what can we do? Is there anything to do with that dirty yet smelly stuff? The answer is yes, there is. There are lots of things we can do with that waste. We can make various handycraft from that unorganic waste such as glass and plastic, also we can make compost from the organic waste. But, the interesting fact that lately being such a hit is, the fact that the wast can be transformed into energy source, or so called waste-based energy.

If you love to watch news in TV, or at least read newspaper, several weeks ago, there was a news which inform us that the plastic waste can be used as an asphalt material. Sounds mesmerising, right? It doesn’t mean that we are allowed to produces plastic waste as muny as we want, but at least we have found a solution to make the waste even more valuable. Based on the news I’ve read (http://ekonomi.kompas.com/read/2017/07/30/120000926/indonesia-mulai-bangun-jalan-aspal-dengan-limbah-plastik), the government of Indonesia, through the Ministry of PUPR (Pekerjaan Umum dan Perumahan Rakyat) already tested this innovation in Udayana Univerity, Bali. The result shows that the asphalt mixed with plastic waste became more sticky, which means the stability was better than the asphalt in usual. To build 1-km long road with 7m in width, it needs 2,5 ton of plastic waste, while if the road is provided to be accrosed by the heavy vehicles, it needs to make two layers, which needs 2 times of the material (5 tons of plastic waste). According to CNN (https://www.cnnindonesia.com/gaya-hidup/20160222182308-277-112685/indonesia-penyumbang-sampah-plastik-terbesar-ke-dua-dunia/), based on Jambeck data in 2015, Indonesia produce plastic waste around 187,2 million ton. I can’t even imagine how many it was. But we can see the potential through it, and we are eager to change the problem into a promising opportunities.

Besides to be used as a mixed material with asphalt, the waste can be used as a waste based energy, especially as a power plant source. According to Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resource (https://www.esdm.go.id/id/media-center/arsip-berita/sampah-menjadi-energi-potensi-2066-gw-termanfaatkan-176-mw), Indonesia has waste-based potential energy 2,066MW while the utilization was only around 17.6MW. It means, it’s still can be optimalized as power plant in the near future. When it really happens, it means we can save our world so much more efficiently by keeping good environment and producing alternative energy at once. I guess it’s worth to try. So, as the conclusion, I do support the government to develop the waste-based energy in many many ways, including the making and implementation of some policies related.

For further information, please do a research by yourself in www.esdm.go.id

Ps. For this post, due to my deadline of thesis, I can’t make it in Bahasa Indonesia version by today. Once I get the chance, I’ll make it for o you. Please be advised and thank you. Xx