As the nation continues to grapple with the impacts of the current fuel crisis, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is highlighting local innovations that could help ease the country’s reliance on imported fuels.
Bamboo pellets (left) are produced by splitting fresh bamboo into slats, shredding into chips, sun drying for 12 to 48 hours, and processing into fine powder through hammermilling and sieving before being compacted using a pelletizer (right).
The bamboo pellets and charcoal briquettes developed by the DOST- Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) are cleaner, locally sourced, and energy-efficient biomass fuels that are sustainable and support community-based energy production.
“The recent declaration of a state of national energy emergency shows our country’s vulnerability to disruptions in fuel supply. By converting abundant biomass materials into efficient fuels, we offer a renewable, locally sourced substitute that can help with our country’s needs,” explained DOST Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr.
Bamboo pellets are a densified form of bamboo designed for optimum combustion. These pellets have higher energy density than other biomass materials, such as wood chips and agricultural residues. Materials with high energy density contain and give off more energy.
Bamboo pellets are also lightweight and easy to transport. It is typically cylindrical in shape, with a diameter of about 8-12mm and a length of 20-30mm.
“One cubic meter of these pellets can generate as much as 12.15 gigajoules (GJ). One GJ is approximately 277 kilowatt hours (kWh),” explained DOST-FPRDI researcher Dr. Anniver Ryan P. Lapuz.
“In coal-fired power plants, bamboo pellets can be used as a co-firing fuel. For biomass-based industries, they can serve as a supplementary fuel source to conventional materials such as bagasse and rice hull. At the household level, these pellets could be used for cooking just like your regular charcoal— only, it is denser and gives higher heating value than the ordinary ‘uling’,” added Lapuz.
Studies show that co-firing bamboo pellets with coal can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This makes bamboo pellets a promising option in the country’s efforts to mitigate climate change.
DOST-FPRDI Director Rico J. Cabangon explains, “bamboo is an ideal and reliable biomass energy source because it is abundant and fast-growing.” According to Cabangon, some species of bamboo can grow more than 1 meter per day or about 4 cm per hour. It can also thrive almost anywhere— in poor soil conditions, grasslands, denuded lands and watersheds, and in both tropical and temperate regions.
“By turning a fast-growing local resource like bamboo into a fuel alternative, we are helping build a future that is less dependent on finite resources and more grounded in sustainable materials,” he added.
Another innovation, the charcoal briquette, is a compacted mass of fuel material made from a mix of charcoal fines and binder, and molded under pressure. Compared to ordinary charcoal, these briquettes are less messy and easier to handle because they are compact and uniform in size. They also burn slowly, give more intense heat per unit volume, and are almost smokeless when burning. DOST-FPRDI has manual and hydraulic charcoal briquetting technologies ready for adoption.
Opportunities for MSMEs, rural communities
Aside from alternative fuels, these technologies also open opportunities for small businesses and rural communities to engage in biomass fuel production.
“Promoting biomass-based energy technologies can stimulate rural livelihoods while addressing crucial energy concerns,” Cabangon said. “With the right support, communities can establish small-scale pelletizing or briquetting operations to generate income as they participate directly in building a more resilient and localized energy system.”
With continued research, technology transfer, and industry partnerships, DOST-FPRDI hopes these technologies will contribute to a more sustainable, affordable, and secure energy future for the Philippines.
The Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) is one of the attached agencies of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) aimed at providing science-based, innovative, and inclusive solutions across four strategic pillars: human well-being, wealth creation, wealth protection, and sustainability. These pillars embody the mantra OneDOST4U: Solutions and Opportunities for All. For more information, visit www.fprdi.dost.gov.ph
DOST-FPRDI conducts a test run of the newly installed Hydraulic-type Charcoal Briquettor at the Thega Coconut Farm in Laiya, Batangas. (Photo by Kathleen Bitao).
