The Utilization of Metroxylon Sago (Rottb.) Dregs for Low Bioethanol as Fuel Households Needs in Papua Province Indonesia

Abstract

The rate of energy needs in Indonesia has increased and the availability of derived fuel energy from fossil has waned. It became worse because of the increase of the population growth, followed by the accretion of life needs that impact on the increase of fuel needs. As much as 55 % fuel oil is used for household industry and transportation. This condition motivates the government to develop alternative energies which are cheaper, renewable and environmentally friendly. One of them is the utilization of sago waste to produce bioethanol as alternative fuel source to fulfill the energy availability in our country especially in the provinces. The Sago potential in Indonesia is ± 1 250 000 ha, where ± 1 200 000 ha of which is in Papua. Thus, Papua has the largest sago potential in the world. This study was conducted to produce clean combustion processes that are healthy, fuel saving and environmentally friendly. The research method consisted of  three steps; they were the production of bioethanol from sago dregs using fermentation, the test of fuel characteristics of lower heating value using a bomb calorimeter and the measurement of combustion efficiency with water boiling test as well as heat release rate using a cone calorimeter. The fuel used was bioethanol from sago waste that contained 60 % ethanol.