By Gunawan Jusuf
When you think of the farm economy of Indonesia, the production of jet fuel probably is not the first thing that comes to mind. But sugar industry analyst Gunawan Jusuf explains that sugar cane can power the Indonesian economy unexpectedly, far beyond the market for sugar as a sweetener.
First, Some Definitions
What does Gunawan Jusuf mean by the circular economy?
Indonesian sugar producers provide an opening for an alternative to the old model of the economy in which resources are mined or harvested and turned into useful products that then become waste. In the new circular economy, “waste” is also transformed into useful products.
These new technologies reduce the environmental burden of pollution while they help to make Indonesia an even more self-dependent economy. They provide new jobs and lower consumer prices.
But Jet Fuel from Sugar Cane? Gunawan Jusuf Explains
Everyone knows that sugar cane can be transformed into rum. This is not an appropriate activity in Indonesia.
Not everyone knows that sugar cane can be transformed into kerosene. Sugar cane waste can create paraffinic kerosene, a fuel that burns at lower temperatures. It produces less soot. It releases fewer particulates. It does not contain toxic sulfur compounds; burning it does not release equally toxic benzene and toluene.
Recently simplified industrial processes turn sugar cane into sustainable aviation fuel, powering airplanes at a lower cost with less environmental damage. Scientists have even estimated that switching to 50 percent sustainable aviation fuel would reduce chronic lung disease, children’s asthma, and heart attacks among people who live within 100 km (60 miles) of an airport by 11 to 20 percent.
Sustainable Jet Fuel Isn’t the Only Way that Sugar Cane Can Power Indonesia’s Future
Jusuf enumerates a long list of ways that sugar cane has become a renewable resource for new industries in Indonesia.
- Sugar cane supports microbes that fix nitrogen in the soil. Commercial fertilizers require natural gas to fuel nitrogen fixation from the air. As natural gas costs in international markets have soared, commercial nitrogen fertilizers have become prohibitively expensive. Sugar cane offsets this problem.
- Sugar cane can be turned into construction material. After the sweet juice has been pressed from sugar cane, the remaining bagasse can be made into fiberboard. Even American homes have used bagasse fiberboard for walls, partitions, and acoustic insulation since the 1930s.
- Sugar cane can be used to produce the medicine policosanol. Available in most of the world without a prescription, this sugar cane byproduct can relieve muscle cramps after heavy exercise and stimulate healthy circulation in people with venous and cardiovascular problems.
- Sugar cane bagasse can also be burned to power boilers to generate electricity. It burns cleaner than coal or fuel oil. In the moist, tropical climate of Indonesia, it is always available.
Sugar cane is driving diversity, stability, and independence in the Indonesian economy, Gunawan Jusuf says. Sugar cane is providing Indonesia with a sweet economic future.
Published by: Khy Talara
