The development of biomass energy has rich potential in Viet Nam and offers a far better option than hydropower plants that cause considerable damage to the environment, biodiversity and society as a whole, experts say.
A study by the national Institute of Energy says the country can produce biomass energy from the 53 million tonnes of agricultural waste it generates every year, equivalent to 12 million TOE (tonne of oil equivalent) of petrol.
The waste that can be used to produce biomass energy includes hay, rice husk, sugar bagasse, wood waste and cattle dung.
Dr Phan Hieu Hien of the HCM City Agriculture and Forestry University’s Centre for Energy and Agricultural Machinery Research said biomass materials like hay, rice husk and wood waste used to be the main source of fuel around the country.
However, the use of gas and electricity wasted these materials and resulted in increasing need for fossil fuels and hydropower, he said.
According to Hien, the southern region has the greatest potential for producing biomass energy in the country because of the huge volume of hay and rice husk generated in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, urban waste in HCM City and wood waste from the exploitation of plantations in south-eastern provinces.
“It’s necessary to conduct more research on this type of energy for having policies that boost its development,” he said.
None of the projects set up to produce power using rice husk in Cuu Long Delta localities of Can Tho, Dong Thap and Tien Giang had succeeded so far, he noted.
In HCM City, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said efforts have been made to generate power and collect methane from landfills around the city.
A power generation facility based in the Go Cat landfill that can generate 0.95MW from the waste has operated since 2005. In the pipeline are another two power plants, which operate by burning solid waste to generate 40MW each.
“Energy potential of landfill waste by using gases collected from them or burning waste is huge since the city generates around 7,500 tonnes of solid waste a day,” said Dr Nguyen Trung Viet, head of the department’s Solid Waste Management Division.
Hien said the country should reduce its dependence on hydropower by developing and using biomass energy.
“We should only develop small or very small-sized hydroelectricity power plants,” he said.
According to Dao Trong Tu, a former board member of Mekong River Commission, no river in the country is in its original condition because of power dams and reservoirs.
“For electricity power development, we have paid a high cost in the negative impacts on environment including the loss of biodiversity,” said Tu, who is a senior consultant with the Viet Nam Rivers Network.
“Dams on the upper reaches of a river have had bad social and economic impacts. They have taken away agricultural and residential land, destroyed fisheries resources in rivers, and changed the water available for agriculture in downstream areas,” he said.
