Alternative Energy

Tri Hita Karana Bali is continually seeking sustainable solutions for energy use that benefits both humans and the environment. We are currently training farmers on how to adopt biogas, micro hydro and wind turbine systems as alternative energy sources.

ON BIOGAS:

Propane gas in Bali is extremely expensive and places a financial burden on low-income families, while also placing a strain on the environment with its associated emissions during extraction, transportation, and combustion. Propane gas is a primary fuel source for cooking for a majority of Indonesian families.

The Indonesian government has been spending IDR 20 trillion per year to subsidize chemical fertilizers, a practice it can no longer afford. As such, farmers must seek cost-effective alternatives for fertilizers.

Tri Hita Karana Bali offers training in a solution to these two seemingly separate problems with biogas. Biogas utilizes livestock manure to produce a safe and affordable alternative to propane gas, reducing methane pollution, and producing a byproduct of rich compost to be used as fertilizer.

ON WIND TURBINE:

In order for the compost to aerate and become productive it must be stirred consistently.  By attaching a simple wind turbine to a drum of compost we can create healthier compost.

ON HYDROLYSIS:

Humans have been using water for energy since the 17th century, but it is only very recently that the design has been simplified to a mechanism that generates enough hydrogen to increase the efficiency of an internal combustion engine.  By using the direct current that is produced by a running engine, it is possible to electrolyte water and split the oxygen and hydrogen atoms.  The result of this electrolysis is referred to as brown gas.  Feeding the brown gas into the air intake of a vehicle’s engine increases performance, saves fuel and reduces pollution.

We are now using four hydrogen generators on a mobile rice miller with a 1976 diesel engine.  Before installing the hydrogen generator, the engine struggled to power the miller and produced thick black smoke.  It is now capable of milling 650 kg of rice per hour, with no visible emissions.

In order to test the efficiency of the hydrogen generators we ran the diesel engine with 175 ml of fuel, both with and without the generators turned on.  The result of the first test was as follows.

With use of hydrogen: 12:59:81

With no hydrogen: 11:05:94

It is necessary to perform numerous tests to verify the accuracy of data and we will continue to do so.