FPP UMM Assesses Bioenergy Development for Global Balance

The International Conference on Bioenergy and Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture Technology (IcoN-BEAT) was held for the second time by the Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Agriculture (FPP) of the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM). Who also presented Cross-country speakers to provide new insights on this topic. There is Prof. Hiroyuki Sakakibara from Japan, Assoc. Prof Juris Burlakovs from Estonia and Assoc. Prof. Zane Vincevica Gaile from Latvia. Also present was Dr. Ir. Dadan Kusdiana, M.Sc., Prof. Didiek Hadjar Goenadi, and Henik Sukorini, Ph.D. On Wednesday (28/7).

Dadan initiated the first presentation by explaining the vital role of bioenergy in supporting energy transformation. He started by explaining the development of bioenergy in Indonesia, power plant-based bioenergy, and increasing biofuels to replace fossil fuels. Even with biomass as a substitute for coal as well as utilizing municipal solid waste and organic waste.

"The development and utilization of biogas for industry and the transportation sector are also important for energy transformation. The potential for using bioenergy for electricity is also huge. Based on a survey several years ago, the potential provided is equivalent to 32 gigawatts of electricity. Meanwhile, we currently use 2 gigawatts of power," said the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Director.

This is reinforced by Didiek, who continues to encourage people to think further about nature conservation. The researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Biotechnology and Bioindsutri research continues to invite him to maintain the existing soil organic carbon stock. Then Zane from the University of Latvia always warns about the dangers and harmful impacts of peatland destruction in the future. One of them is causing global environmental imbalance.

Juris Burlakov said the same thing. He considered the need for increased efficiency of resources and recycling. Both are an effort to reduce the consumption of the primary raw materials and an effort to preserve the environment. Meanwhile, an interesting presentation was given by Hiroyuki Sakakibara. According to him, a good domain will impact the quality of organisms, including plants. Soil full of nutrients will support plants to be able to carry out biosynthesis of bioactive compounds.

He said that flavonoid compounds are valuable compounds. This is inseparable from its role in protecting plants from damage caused by UV exposure. "So the hope is that farmers can produce any crop production with maximum quality," he continued.

The conference was closed with the presentation of material by Henik. According to him, agriculture is a strategic sector that provides the most significant contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Therefore, he said that developing sustainable land and protecting it from environmental damage is a big challenge.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ir. Damat, M.P. as the chairman of the committee, said that this event aims to increase the participants' knowledge related to agriculture and environmental sustainability. In addition, it also increases the publications of lecturers in Scopus indexed journals. According to Damat, scientific publications are indeed needed by lecturers and universities. "IcoN-BEAT is also our effort to build international cooperation. This time, we collaborated with Jordan Journal from Jordan and Sarhad Journal from Pakistan to provide material at the workshop held on the second day," he continued. (wil)