Life on Myanmar's biofuels plantations
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By isabel rojo tiong in General Published: Thursday, 11 December 08 - 06:20 PM (GMT +08:00) |
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AS A clean energy reporter, I often write about new developments in technologies such as solar and biofuels, but seldom get the chance to get up close and personal with the actual process.
But just a couple of months back, I was given the opportunity to get my hands dirty, literally, when I was invited to visit a jatropha plantation in - Myanmar.
It couldn't have been a more unlikely destination, and it almost didn't happen because of cyclone Nargis. But fortunately, the damage done to the plantation was reparable and I finally made it to Myanmar where for the first time, where I could touch the plant, seeds, fruits, that I often wrote about. And spoke to the people who made it happen.
So let me give you the context of my visit: Biofuels is an industry that is both full of promise and controversy.
Singapore has a number of biofuels refineries itself, and the EDB has singled the sector as one of the key renewable energy areas important to Singapore's economy.
But on one hand, while biofuels is a key player in the world's future energy mix - one that is renewable and can make our transport fuels cleaner, its development can also lead to deforestation as it competes with food crops for arable land if not managed sustainably.
Amidst this raging debate on the sustainability of biofuels, a second generation of feedstock has emerged - one that uses non-food crops. The jatropha plant, algae, wood mass from plant waste have been singled out as some promising "fuels of the future" as they don't compete with food and can grow in hardy conditions or exist abundantly in other locations.
In Asia, many countries have particularly caught on the jatropha "fever", with China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Myanmar planting its seed extensively in the hope of riding on the wave of this sunrise industry.
But these feedstocks are also not without its risks. Most are relatively under-researched, and no one knows if full-scale commercial applications of using such feedstocks to make biofuel will be successful yet.
So it is with all these considerations that I went with my eyes wide open to visit the 100,000 acre estate at Maw Tin, in south Myanmar, to get a better understanding of how the industry and this particular feedstock works.
And my experience did not disappoint.
I was happy to learn that biofuels can be cultivated sustainably and responsibly if planned for, right at the beginning.
The plantation was eco-friendly and completely self-sufficient. It had the hallmarks of Singaporean planning and efficiency, if I might say so. And not surprisingly, it had a Singapore connection.
The plantation is the work of Singapore-listed firm Yoma Strategic Holdings, which has a unit, Plantation Resources, which manages and sells produce from this estate in partnership with a local Myanmese firm called Myanmar Agri-Tech.
The plantation has a 650-strong community, mostly local farmers, who go about planting the seeds, harvesting them, sorting the seeds out, and then re-planting them again. When I spoke to Myanmese farm worker Thin Thin Khing, she tells me of her days in the fields.
Six days a week, working from 6.30am to 11am, then 1 to 4pm. Days off for the 29-year-old are spent relaxing with her co-workers in Pathein city, less than half an hour away. She's worked on the farm for more than a year now.
Before this, she says, she had never worked before, and was mainly doing housework for her family. Now, she earns about US$45 (54,000 kyat - the local currency pronounced like "chut") a month - above the national average of US$30.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided on the farm, prepared by cooks who live on the plantation. Their food is also produced on the estate, where beans, rice, vegetables and even domestic animals such as goats and pigs are reared for consumption.
Power for the plantation comes from burning biomass (rice husks) and water is pumped from underground, making the entire plantation almost carbon neutral, save for the diesel used to power vehicles. I even spotted the kids of the farmers riding a baby elephant, which they had tamed from the wild, now used to do menial physical work on the plantation.
2 Comments so far: |
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| link exchange | Betty | 01/22/09 |
| Keep up the good post | investment-gan | 03/22/09 |
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Top | Reply to this Title: link exchange Author: Betty Date Posted: 22 Jan 2009 05:03 PM (GMT +08:00) Dear Admin
I greatly enjoyed looking through your blog and found some informative posts on finance. I have also some finance related web sites having more information regarding various financial problems and its solutions.
So,I think it would be beneficial for both of us if we will join in a community and become link partners to each other which will help your blog/site in getting more Google values. If you are interested then please contact me at my email-id.
We can also write a blog post for each other's blog on any financial topic with a link in it.
Waiting for your earliest response.
Thanks and regards
Betty Parker (contactbettyparker@gmail.com)
[ N.B:- I DO ONLY THHREE WAY LINK EXCHANGE ] |
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Top | Reply to this Title: Keep up the good post Author: investment-gan (http://realestate.trilioninvestment.com) Date Posted: 22 Mar 2009 08:21 PM (GMT +08:00) Your blog is very informative indeed, as stated by the first comment. some issues are an eye opener to me. Keep up the good post. |
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