For E. Java Village, a Solution in Bioethanol

Self-Sufficient: Farmers from Sumbermanjing Wetan village in Malang find freedom from higher subsidized fuel prices

Jakarta Globe, Dyah Ayu Pitaloka, Dec 09, 2014

Farmers from Sumbermanjing Wetan village in Malang, East Java, have
 devised their own method of producing bioethanol using corn and a secret
enzyme. (JG Photo/ Dyah Ayu Pitaloka)

Malang. Residents of Sumbermanjing Wetan village in Malang, East Java, seem unfazed by the recent price hike of subsidized fuel — unlike the rest of the country.

Their secret lies in an unassuming shed of no more than 15 square meters in size, with walls made of woven bamboo.

It is easy to see why people often mistaken the humble structure as a chicken coop, with the exception of a three-meter chimney sticking out of its roof. Surrounding the dilapidated structure are discarded corn cobs, stalks and silks, all of which completely carpet the ground.

For the last two years, people in the village have been experimenting in turning maize into ethanol. The scale of the production is small but substantial enough to make residents self-sufficient.

“Of the 80 members of the Giri Makmur farmers’ cooperative, everyone has been using bioethanol for free,” says Didik Prasetyanto, a co-founder of the effort, as he points to two drums used to distill a batch of fermented maize.

“We use maize to produce ethanol because there are more corn farmers [in the village] than sugarcane farmers,” Didik says. “In the beginning, we [experimented] using cassavas and sugarcane.”

The farmers once struggled to buy fuel for their motorcycles and to light their stoves because their village was so remote. Middlemen would inflate the price of gasoline and kerosene to far above their retail prices, Didik explains.

When the group realized they had been growing the ingredients for biofuel literally in their back yards, they gathered together Rp 20 million ($1,620) to use as startup capital and were soon building their makeshift distillery, experimenting with various techniques and enzymes needed to produce their own fuel.

Didik and the others meticulously recorded their findings, at times consulting on their production techniques and products with local universities.

Didik explains that the corn is first slurried with water and a teaspoon of a dark-colored enzyme, the contents of which the villagers closely guard as they are still in the process of patenting their technique.

It takes six hours for the secret enzyme to dissolve the corn, Didik explains.

The brew is fermented for seven days, after which it is cooked for six hours at a temperature of 87 degrees Celsius, producing a colorless and odorless ethanol vapor that is then placed into water bottles.

The farmers can produce up to 20 liters of ethanol at a time from about 40 kilograms of corn, with 92 percent purity.

“The [product] can be used as a substitute for LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] as fuel for a stove,” Didik says. “Just a quarter of a liter can be used for about four hours of cooking, non-stop.”

The group has spent the past 18 months experimenting with methods to produce a concoction that is 99 percent ethanol, which, with some adjustments to a vehicle’s engine, can be used as a direct substitute for gasoline.

This technical-grade ethanol is produced by distilling the corn brew twice in a gas-powered furnace.

Didik says the output would be equivalent to high-octane gasoline.

“The production costs can reach up to Rp 30,000 [per liter]. With 40 kilograms of corn and the special enzyme we can only produce up to 14 liters [of technical-grade ethanol],” he says.

The high production cost and low output, which makes the concoction twice the price of its high-octane gasoline equivalent, makes the fuel available only to the group’s members. However, the waste product can still be worth a lot of money, Didik says.

“The dissolved corn [...] is dried so the acidity [level] is reduced. [The corn waste] is high in protein and is good for chicken feed,” he says.

Meanwhile, the liquid waste is mixed with other organic ingredients and sold as mulch. Like the fuel, these products are available for the villagers only, while the profit goes toward more research.

“We dream of increasing our production and selling it to the public,” Didik says, adding that they need to first get their technique patented and find a way to reduce production costs.

The Malang district agriculture agency has begun to monitor the farmers’ success in producing their own biofuel and hopes to introduce the program to neighboring villages.

“We have [proposed] a budget to map out the agricultural potential [of the bioethanol program] in the district of Malang for 2015,” agency chief Tomi Herawanto says. “We need to determine the most ideal type of crop so the process can be sustainable without disrupting the food supply.”

Sumbermanjing Wetan village’s success has attracted Hariyono from Krajan Lor village, located on the southern coast of Malang, to learn more about the promising technique.

Hariyono says he has been successful at setting up his own distillery which at the moment can only produce the 92 percent ethanol for cooking.

“I want the farmers [in Krajan Lor] to be able to make their own fuel. This way we won’t have to complain about the fuel prices going up,” he says.