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Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Government of Japan East Asia Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project Report March 2011 EX Corporation
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Government of Japan
East Asia Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project
Report
March 2011
EX Corporation
Table of Contents
Page 1. Project Outline ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Objective ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Achievement of Project in Previous Years (FY 2008~2009) ............................................. 2 1.3 Outline of the Project Implemented in 2010 ................................................................... 11
1.3.1 Basic Concept for Project Implementation ............................................................... 11 1.3.2 Major Activities .......................................................................................................... 11
2. Preparation of and Organizing the International Symposium ...................................... 14
2.1 Outline................................................................................................................................ 14 2.2 Participants........................................................................................................................ 15 2.3 International Symposium ................................................................................................. 16
3. Summary of Participants’ Evaluation .............................................................................. 33
4. Conclusion ~Outcome of the International Symposium and Issues towards Further Promotion of Biomass Town Concept~ ................................................ 39
4.1 Evaluation .......................................................................................................................... 39 4.2 Future Challenges ............................................................................................................. 43
Annex 1 Distributed materials at the International Symposium Annex 2 Minutes of panel discussion at the Symposium Annex 3 Questionnaire form for policy evaluation
List of Abbreviations
BDF : Biodiesel Fuel CPO : Crude Palm Oil DARD : Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ho Chi Minh City DEDE : Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, Ministry of Energy DOA : Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives DOAE : Department of Agriculture Extension, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives DONRE : Department of Natural Resource and Energy DOST : Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Department of Science and
Technology EMCO : Environment Management and Conservation Office, Department of Environmental
Engineering, Khon Kaen University GHG : Greenhouse Gas HCMUT : Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology JICA : Japan International Cooperation Agency JST : Japan Science and Technology Agency MARD : Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development SFRI : Soil and Fertilizers Research Institute VAAS : Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences
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1. Project Outline 1.1 Objective
Global warming is one of the most pressing global issue requiring urgent attention and solution. In face of such a global challenge, the value of effective usage of biomass – a renewable, biologically derived organic resource – is receiving considerable attention internationally. East Asia1 is rich in biomass resources due to its climate and thriving agriculture and has a high potential of effective utilization of biomass for energy, material and other economic and environmental usage.
The main objectives of the East Asia Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project are to:
Create partnerships between countries in East Asia to promote the effective utilization of biomass resources
Develop a sustainable biomass system compatible with food production Share and promote the Japanese “Biomass Town” experiences (technologies, business model,
framework, etc.)
This project is a three-year project (FY 2008-2010) with FY 2010 being the final year. This year’s main activities are:
Support for the finalization of Biomass Town Concept in Thailand and Vietnam, Support for involvement of the relevant government agencies for further materialization of the concept
in Thailand and Vietnam, and Coordination and implementation of the International Symposium on Biomass Town in December
2010 for further promotion of the concept and network building.
Figure 1 Progress and Direction of Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project in East Asia
1 In the East Asia Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project conducted by MAFF of Japan, “East Asia” is defined as countries that are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus Three and are also eligible for official development aid (ODA) from Japan.
BasicSurvey
HRD
Concept
FY2008 FY2009
Research in Japan
Selectsites
On-site training for Town developmentInform local citizens
FY2010
Designate sites forfield surveys
Discuss conceptaccording to eachcountry’s situation
Enact Towns in model regionsExpand HR networks
On-site training for Town developmentInform local cit izens
Build HR network forTown projects
in model regions
Contribution to revitalization of agricultural community in East Asia andmitigation of Global Warming potential by utilizing Japan’s Biomass Town experiences.
Formulation of Biomass town model out of Japan
Sustainable agriculture and rural development
Mitigation of global warming potential
Identify new Biomass Utilization Project
(technical cooperation, joint research, CDM etc., )
Thailand, Vietnam Thailand, Vietnam and other countries
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1.2 Achievement of Project in Previous Years (FY 2008~2009) (1) Achievement of FY 2008
Achievements of FY2008 are as follows; Selection of potential project sites for the creation of Biomass Town Concept in both Thailand and
Vietnam Biomass Town project sites were selected in both Thailand and Vietnam through site visits, discussion with relevant agencies, and discussion of the Steering Committee held in Japan. Kohn Kaen Prefecture was selected in Thailand (later the site was changed into Na Duang Village of Loei Prefecture based on the request of the Counterpart) and Cu Chi District in Ho Chi Minh City was selected in Vietnam as Biomass Town project sites.
Identification of project Counterparts (three from each country) Counterparts (three from each country) were identified through interviews with relevant agencies and the candidates most recommended by the Embassy of Japan in the respective countries and the government agencies of both the governments.
Table 1 Participants of the Workshop held in Japan(Counterparts) Name Organization Remarks
1) Thailand Dr. Somjate Prathoommintra
Chief of Expert, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC)
Recommendation of Embassy of Japan in Thailand Responsible person for R&D in Department of
Agriculture (DOA), MOAC
Dr. Kanchana Sethanan
Associate Professor, Director of Office for Energy Management and Environment
Expert for Production Management, Distribution and Computer Simulation
Dr.Sukkamon Hinchiranan
Researcher, Biomass Technology Group, Department of Alternative Energy and Efficiency, Ministry of Energy (MOE)
Recommended by the Director of the Dept. of Alternative Energy and Efficiency, whom we were introduced to by the Embassy of Japan in Thailand
Experience of studying in Japan for a year A person in charge of biomass utilization in the
Ministry of Energy Has a good understanding of biomass projects in
energy sector in Thailand. 2) Vietnam
Mr. Ngo Dinh Minh Hiep
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT)
Master of Chemistry Experience of studying in Japan for a six weeks
period and has visited Biomass Town in Japan Recommended by President of HCMUT
Mr. Nguyen Tuan Thanh.
Department of Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh City (DOST)
Chemical Engineer Was recommended by the Director of DOST, Ho
Chi Minh City. Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Trung
Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ho Chi Minh City (DARD)
Zoologist Was recommended by the Director of DOST, Ho
Chi Minh City. Experience of visiting Japan
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Workshop conducted in Japan The 6 selected participants (Counterparts of this project throughout the three year project period) and one self-funded participant from Thailand were invited to Japan to attend the East Asia Biomass Town Workshop held during Feb 23 to Mar 3, 2009. The major outcomes of the workshop are as follows:
Domestic and international network building Discussion on the contents and future direction of the Biomass Town Concepts of the selected two
project sites Determination and preparation of schedule and procedures towards Biomass Town Concept
formulation Identification of the need of support from Japan towards Biomass Town Concept production
Table 2 Schedule of Workshop in Japan
Time Topic [Day 1] 07:30 Arrival of participants to Japan 10:30-11:45 Visit to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF)
Welcome address Introduction of Biomass Town initiatives in Japan
12:30-15:00 Lunch, Move to hotel, hotel check in 16:30-18:00 Orientation 18:00-20:00 Welcome Reception [Day 2] SESSION I: THE BIOMASS TOWN CONCEPT 09:00-11:00 Seminar 1: Introduction of The Biomass Town Concept 09:00-10:00 Sustainable Biomass Town in Asia
Lecturer: Professor Akiyoshi Sakoda, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo
10:00-11:00 East Asia Biomass Town Utilization Technologies Lecturer: Professor Yoshiyuki Shinogi, National Agriculture & Food Research Organization, National Institute for Rural Engineering
SESSION II: BIOMASS INITIATIVES IN ASIA 11:00-11:30 Presentation 1: Overview of Biomass Efforts in Thailand and Vietnam 11:00-11:15 Introduction of Biomass Related Initiatives in Thailand
Presenter: Dr. Kanchana Sethanan, Director, Energy Management & Conservation Office, Faculty of Engineering, Khon Kaen University
11:15-11:30 Introduction of Biomass Related Initiatives in Vietnam Presenter: Mr. Ngo Dinh Minh Hiep, Researcher, Refinery & Petrochemical Technology Research Center, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
SESSION III: BIOMASS UTILIZATION BY JAPANESE COMPANY 12:00-14:00 Move to Asahi Beer Factory 14:00-17:00 Site Visit 1: Asahi Beer’s Zero Emission Biomass Utilization Facility
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Time Topic
Visit to Asahi Beer factory to observe the zero-emission biomass utilization facility efforts at Japan’s top beer company
Introduction of biomass and other environmental efforts conducted through Asahi’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy
17:00-19:00 Return to Tokyo
[Day 3] SESSION IV: EXAMPLES OF JAPANESE BIOMASS TOWNS & BUSINESSES IN CHIBA 08:00-11:15 Move to Katori City, Chiba 11:15-12:00 Site Visit 2: Foodo-mura (Restaurant) 12:00-14:00 Site Visit 3: Yamada Biomass Plant
Lecturer: Professor Akiyoshi Sakoda, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo Introduction of the biomass recycling system (combination of several small-scale
biomass recycling facilities) including the utilization of livestock manure, vegetable waste, rice husks for fertilizer and energy production
Introduction of MAFF’s biomass recycle research facilities SESSION IV: EXAMPLES OF JAPANESE BIOMASS TOWNS & BUSINESSES IN CHIBA 08:00-11:15 Move to Katori City, Chiba 11:15-12:00 Site Visit 2: Foodo-mura (Restaurant) 12:00-14:00 Site Visit 3: Yamada Biomass Plant
Lecturer: Professor Akiyoshi Sakoda, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo Introduction of the biomass recycling system (combination of several small-scale
biomass recycling facilities) including the utilization of livestock manure, vegetable waste, rice husks for fertilizer and energy production
Introduction of MAFF’s biomass recycle research facilities 14:20-16:00 Site Visit 4: Bright Pig Co Ltd’s Food Recycling System – A Partnership between a
Major Supermarket and Pig Farmers Introduction of Bright Pig’s liquid feeding system utilizing food waste Introduction of its marketing strategy and distribution system in partnership with a
major supermarket in Japan 16:00-18:30 Return to Tokyo [Day 4] SESSION V: EXAMPLES OF JAPANESE BIOMASS TOWNS & BUSINESSES IN TOCHIGI 08:30-12:00 Move to Motegi-machi, Tochigi 12:00-12:45 Lunch 13:00-15:00 Site Visit 5: Motegi-machi Recycle Center, “Midorikan”
Introduction of Motegi-machi’s efforts in promoting organic agriculture Visit to a recycling plant utilizing food waste, livestock manure, foliage/yard waste,
and other agricultural waste for fertilizer production Introduction of Motegi-machi’s effective biomass utilization system based on local
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Time Topic production and consumption
15:00-15:30 Site Visit 6: Michino-eki (Road Station) Motegi Visit Motegi’s Michino-eki where they sell vegetables, etc. produced by biomass
fertilizer Introduction of marketing strategies for biomass-related products
15:30-19:00 Return to Tokyo [Day 5] AM Fly to Fukuoka and transportation to Yamaga City(Kumamoto Prefecture) 13:00-14:30 Site Visit 7: Yamaga Biomass Center
Introduction of Yamaga City’s integrated biomass center where liquid fertilizer produced from methane fermentation of municipal sewage is used to fertilize rice and wheat production
Introduction of electricity generation system utilizing methane gas 14:30-15:30 Move from Yamaga City, Kumamoto to Ooki-machi, Fukuoka 15:30-17:00 Site Visit 8: Ooki-machi Recycling Center, “Kururun”
Introduction of participatory recycling initiatives in Ooki–machi to utilize sewage for methane fermentation
17:00-18:00 Move to Fukuoka City 18:30-21:00 Dinner Reception
[Day 6] SESSION VII: SUMMARY 13:30-15:00 Summary of Site Visits
Presentation of workshop summary by reviewing visited sites and seminars 15:00- Preparation of Final Presentation (OPTIONAL) [Day 7] All day Free (OPTIONAL TOUR OF TOKYO) [Day 8] SESSION VIII: WRAPUP MEETING 13:00-14:00 Preparation for Final Presentation
Final preparation of the presentation 14:00-15:00 Seminar 2: Introduction of Methods of Establishing Biomass Towns in Japan
Presentation of basic methods to formulate Biomass Towns in Japan Lecturer: EX Corporation
15:00-16:00 Discussion: Future direction and strategy for promoting Biomass Town and biomass utilization in Asia
Discussion on how Biomass Towns implementation framework/methods can be modified in Thailand and Vietnam
Discussion on what the benefits/barriers are to establishing a model-Biomass Town in Thailand and Vietnam
Feedback of the Workshop
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SESSION IX: FINAL PRESENTATION 16:00-17:30 Presentation 2: Final Presentation 16:00-16:45 Final Presentation by Thailand (30 min. presentation & 15 min. Q & A) 16:45-17:30 Final Presentation by Vietnam(30 min. presentation & 15 min. Q & A) 17:30-18:00 Comments and Discussions
CLOSING 18:30-20:30 Dinner Reception
[Day 9] AM Departure of participants from Japan
Pictures taken during Workshop in Japan
Discussion at MAFF
Presentation by a Participant from Vietnam
Bio-Refinery in Yamada Machi
Composting Facility (Bright Pig Co. Ltd.)
Final Presentation by Thai Participant
Roundup Meeting (incl. Committee members)
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(2) Achievement of FY 2009 Seminars were held for the Counterparts and other concerned parties and also workshops were organized in both Thailand and Vietnam with the purpose of publicize Biomass Town Concept in both the countries. In Thailand, the project site had been changed from Khon Kaen to Na Duang Village, Na Duang District, Loei Province.
Capacity Building for coordinators, who are planning to set up Biomass Town Concept, through seminar(s).
(Thailand) We had collaborated with Dr. Somjate and other members of staff from DOA and organized seminars for stakeholders from Tambol Na Duang and other relevant people and explained objects and outline of the project and how to tackle the issues in villages. Along with the activities above, we had the opportunity to exchange ideas on Biomass Town Concept with Director General and other concerned parties.
(Vietnam) We had meetings with the concerned parties or DARD, DOST, HCMUT, whom we had
selected as our Counterparts in Vietnam. We had selected DOST as the responsible authority for the project. DOST, which manages working group for setting up Biomass Town Concept, organized seminar two times with focus on data collection and research for local needs. In association with the Japanese side, views from residents in the area were collected at the seminars.
Build up a Network by holding seminars in the area
Seminars were organized in both Thailand and Vietnam for awareness raising among the residents and other concerned organizations and also for the purpose of establishment of a network.
Planning for Biomass Town Concept (draft) in the selected areas Counterparts have done planning for Biomass Town Concept which includes general information on quantity of biomass available in the area.
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Table 3 Training Program in Thailand 1st Seminar Date September 06, 2009 Place DOA Office Participants
- Dr. Jirakorn Kosaisawe, Deputy Director General, DOA - Dr. Somjate Pratummintra, Chief of Senior Researcher, DOA - Dr. Kanchana Sethanan, Director, Environmental Management ard Conservation Office
(EMCO), Khon Kaen University *Dr. Sukkamon Hinchiranan, researcher of Department of Alterative Energy
Development and Efficiency( DEDE), was scheduled to attend but could not attend Contents - Introduction to the Biomass Town Concept (Review of workshop of previous year)
- Implementation status of the project in Thailand - Techniques to estimate the amount of existing biomass and the amount left to be utilized - Discussion on future directions of the project
2nd Seminar Date September 09 & 10, 2010 Place Na Duang Village, Na Duang District, Loei Province Participants - Dr. Somjate Pratummintra, Chief of Senior Researcher, DOA
- Mr. Sampard Surachaipany, Chief of Department of Agricultural Extension (DOAE), Na Duang District Office
- Mr. Montree Jampasiri, President, Community and Committee Members Contents - Introduction to the concept and overview of the Biomass Town Project for the parties
concerned in the Na Duang Village. - Site survey for better understanding of the situation (study of cattle farms, oil palm
plantation, maize and cassava dry yards in the area) 3rd Seminar Date November 04, 2010 Place Na DuangVillage, Na Duang District, Loei Province Participants - Mr. Sittipong Srisawangwong, DOA, Khon Kaen Office
- Mr. Sampard Surachaipany, Chief of DOAE, Na Duang Office - Mr. Montree Jampasiri, President, representative of the community, in addition to others
Contents Field research to identify existing amount and current utilization of biomass in: - Cassava plantations - Aquaculture farms
4th Seminar Date December 09, 2010 Place Na Duang Village, Na Duang District, Loei Province Participants - Dr. Somjate Pratummintra, Chief of Senior Researcher, DOA + four participants (5 in
total) - Mr. Sampard Surachaipany, Chief of DOAE, Na Duang Office - Mr. Montree Jampasiri, representative of the community, + others (20 in total)
Contents - Explanation of Biomass Town Concept for the parties concerned in the area.
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- Discussion on creation of Biomass Town Concept 5th Seminar Date December 17, 2009 Place Na Duang Village, Na Duang District, Loei Province Participants 300 community members that practice agriculture (Seminar was organized by the
Community) Contents - Explanation of Biomass Town Concept to the parties concerned in the area
- Discussion in groups on proposals of projects to be implemented under the Biomass Town Concept (more than 40 proposals have been submitted to the steering committee as of December, 2009)
6th Seminar Date December 18, 2009 Place Nong Khai Province Participants - Dr. Somjate Pratummintra, Chief of Senior Researcher, DOA + two other participants
(three in total) Contents Site survey was conducted at MOE Nong Khai office in Nong Khai province, where MOE
had already installed BDF refining test plant (5,000L/D). Nong Khai is the first province among the 17 provinces in North Eastern area where the farmers voluntarily started planting oil palm trees.
7th Seminar Date January 09, 2010 Place Krabi Province Participants - Dr. Somjate Pratummintra, Chief of Senior Researcher, DOA + two other participants
(three in total) (Community members had a plan to visit the site separately)
Contents - Field visit to a small-scale Crude Palm Oil squeezing unit under development (for consideration of equipment procurement and installation at the site)
8th Seminar Date January 27, 2010 Place DOA office, Bangkok Participants - Dr. Somjate Pratummintra, Chief of Senior Researcher, DOA + two other participants
(three in total) Contents - Sharing of findings from field research regarding the amount of biomass available in the
area and further discussions on activities for Biomass Town Concept creation. (Underlined participants are the Counterparts of the Project
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Table 4 Training Program in Vietnam
1st seminar Time 24th August Place DOST and other locations Participants
Prof. Phan Minh Tan, Director, DOST Prof. Phan Dinh Tuan, Vice-Director, HUMUT Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Trung, DARD Mr. Le Minh Dung, DARD Ms. Phan Thu Nga, DOST Ms. Nguyen Bich Thu, Head of Division, DOST Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long, officer, DOST Ms. Vu Han Giang, R&D officer, DOST Mr. Ngo Dinh Minh Hiep, Researcher, HCMUT Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Ha, Lecturer, Faculty of Environment, HCMUT
Contents Explanation on difference between JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency)+JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency) and the Project Selection of Working group members for Biomass Town Concept formulation Lecture on biomass data collection methodology Discussion on future steps of the Project Field survey with participation of principal members visit to compost facility,
eco-friendly agriculture promotion centre 2nd Seminar Time 21st, 22nd September Place DOST and other locations Participants
Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Ha, Lecturer, faculty of Environment, HCMUT Mr. Nguyen Tuan Thanh, officer, DOST Mr. Ho Chi Tuan, DARD Msc. Mr. Ngo Dinh Minh Hiep, researcher, HCMUT Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long, officer, DOST Ms. Phan Thu Nga, DOST Ms. Nguyen Bich Thu, researcher, VAAS’s delegate from SFRI Ms. Le Thi Kim Phung , JICA+JST Coordinator, HCMUT
Contents Discussion on priority-setting regarding survey for biomass amount Discussion on direction of biomass utilization in the subject area
Collection of data regarding biomass and needs survey regarding biomass utilization with Cu Chi District Department of Agriculture
(Underlined participants are the Counterparts of the Project
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1.3 Outline of the Project Implemented in 2010 1.3.1 Basic Concept for Project Implementation
The project aimed to support the local administration of the target countries on planning and publicizing their Biomass Town Concept smoothly. Considering that this year is the final year of three years project duration, International Symposium was organized in December. Basic concepts for project implementation Concept 1: Providing support from the point of view of "Biomass Town Concept Promotion" in the target
countries
Concept 2: Flexible support on Biomass Town Concept under planning as per actual situation in the target areas (depending on Counterparts' capacity, demand from the areas, seeds in the area and administration system)
Concept 3: Using the international Symposium as an occasion for the participants from East Asian countries to motivate themselves to introduce Biomass Town to their own countries and to do so, have discussion with MAFF of Japan.
1.3.2 Major Activities (1) Planning Biomass Town Project We provided necessary support to stakeholders were provided on accuracy improvement of their Biomass Town Concept (draft) and planning Biomass Town project. We established the structure for promoting the project by involving Na Duang Village, related parties from Cu Chi Area, members of staff from the government in both the countries in the committee and working group for getting official approval from the respective governments. We also supported the organizing of workshop at the area level, which was organized for residents and administrative staff in the area for better understanding and improvement based on actual demand from the area. The flow chart for planning the Biomass Town Concept is shown in the Figure below.
Figure 2 Flow Chart for Planning a Biomass Town Project
Central Government Level Area stakeholders Level
(1) Support on setting up planning and Promotional structure
(2) Support on accuracy improvement of
Biomass Town concept
(3) Stakeholders consensus on Biomass Town Concept
(4) Standardize Biomass Town Concept
(5) Involvement of counterparts
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(2) Organizing International Symposium The International Symposium was organized, inviting responsible persons of biomass projects from
ASEAN countries, embassies of neighboring countries, ASEAN secretariat, international organizations such as Asian Development Bank, domestic committee members, researchers and policy makers from the target area countries, private sector and mass media (about 100 person), in Bangkok on 13-16, December, 2010 (Symposium was held on December 14, 2010)
The aims of the Symposium were as follow;
- To promote a better understanding of Biomass Town Concept in the target area and background of the project
- To build up a network among the parties concerned - Awareness raising and promotion of Biomass Town Concept in the East Asian region Figure 3 indicates the outline of the project
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Figure 3 Outline of FY2010 Project
Achievement from the Past Years’ Scheme[FY2009]• Selection of candidate sites for Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project in Thailand and in Vietnam • Selection of counterpart s for the Project (3 persons for each country)• At workshops, followings were conducted; a)intra-/inter-country networking, b) consideration of specific planning and directions for the Project in subjectareas, c) drafting of schedule and procedures for the formulation of the Concept d) clarification of requiredassistance/co-operation from Japan for the formulation of the Biomass Town Concept[FY2010]• Human resource development for biomass utilization front-runner in EastAsia through holding of seminars/• Dissemination of Biomass Town Concept to local community and related persons through holding of
workshops in both countries and establishmentof networks .• Drafting of Biomass Town Concept by the counterparts from FY2009.
Purposes of the Scheme for the Year FY2010[Formulation of Biomass Town Concept]
Improve the quality of draft Biomass Town Concept based onadditional survey and local needs,and finalize the Concept.
[Holding of International Symposium on Biomass Town Concept]
Holding International Symposium on Biomass Town Conceptinviting neighbouring countries such as ASEAN countries andpromote understanding on Biomass Town Concept and thebackground of the Project. By doing so, networking of people inthe biomass field and awareness raising on Biomass TownConcept is expected
Implementation strategy for the FY 2010 scheme•Strategy 1 Assist counterpart countries in terms of “promotion of Biomass Town Concept”•Strategy 2 Assistance will be given based on the situation of the project site (capacity of counterparts, local needs, local potential, & local administration system)•Strategy 3 International Symposium will be held with the focus on attracting participants on Biomass Town Concept, so participants can positively consider
introduction of Biomass Town Concept in their own countries
Implementation for the year 2010/11 scheme
FY 2010/11 East Asia Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project
Assistance for formulation of Biomass Town ConceptPromotion of autonomous actions by the counterpart in terms of Biomass Town Concept Promotion
Assistance on establishment/strengthening of framework for Biomass Town Concept formulation and promotion
Assistance on improvement of draft Biomass Town Concept
Consensus building by local stakeholders on Biomass Town Concept
Consideration of process of Biomass Town Concept formulation in the object countries
Further involvement of counterparts who were invited to Japan in the first project year
Holding of International Symposium on Biomass Town Concept[Principal target]Eight ASEAN countries, international organizations, local municipal organizations,Japan’s study committee members, education and research organizations, privateentities, media and so on[Content of the Symposium] Introduction of “Biomass Town Concept”, Introductionof Biomass Town Concept and formulation process in Thailand and Vietnam,
Presentation by Japan government (MAFF) on Biomass Towns in Japan and prospectsin East Asia, Panel discussion by the participants.
[Schedule of International Symposium and implementation]13th to 16th December, 2010Preparation was sharedbetween DOA and Japanese side
Promotion of Biomass Town Concept in Counterpart Countries and other areas of East Asia
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2. Preparation of and Organizing the International Symposium 2.1 Outline
As an outcome of "the Biomass Town Concept promotion project" which has been undertaken for the last three years, we organized the International Symposium and site visit during December 13-16, 2010. We held the International Symposium at Grand Miracle Hotel on December 14 and about 100 participants from ASEAN countries (most of them are responsible personnel of biomass projects in their own countries), ASEAN secretariat, international organizations such as Asian Development Bank, committee members from Japan, academic institutes from inside/outside the targeted area countries, private sector and the mass media.
Counterparts from both Thailand and Vietnam presented their Biomass Town Concepts in their countries followed by the key note lecture in the morning session. In the afternoon session, Counterparts from both countries, members from Japanese committee for the Biomass Town project and members from MAFF of Japan we invited as panelists and a discussion on efficiency of Biomass Town project, potential and essential issues and future prospection of the project was held.
About 40 participants from ASEAN countries and Japan together with members of staff from DOA, MOAC of Thailand moved from Bangkok to Udon Thani by air and visited Biomass Town model project sites at Na Duang Village on the following day (December 15, 2010). Participants visited sites, where stakeholders were implementing projects based on the Biomass Town Concepts. Projects include biodigester where liquid fertilizer is produced from pig excrement, wood vinegar extracting, composting and palm plantation and palm oil extracting facility in small scale which is a typical example for this area.
Table 5 Schedule of Invited ASEAN Participants Day Time Program
Day1 Arrival of Participants in Bangkok from Origin 19:00-21:00 Welcome Reception Accommodation Miracle Grand Hotel (Bangkok) Day2 Breakfast
Tea / Coffee Break 09:00-11:30 International Symposium [AM] (Refer to Table 7 for more detail) 11:30-13:00 Lunch 13:00-14:30 International Symposium [PM] (Refer to Table 7 for more detail) 14:30-15:00 Tea / Coffee Break 15:30- Transportation from Hotel to Airport Flight from Bangkok to UdonThani 20:00-21:00 Dinner Accommodation Centara Hotel Udon Thani (Udon Thani)
Day3 06:00- Breakfast 07:00-17:30 Site Visit (Refer to Table 9 for more detail) 20:00-21:00 Flight from Udon Thani to Bangkok Accommodation Miracle Grand Hotel (Bangkok)
Day4 Departure Departure of Participants
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2.2 Participants International Symposium on East Asia Biomass Town Concept Promotion was co-hosted by DOA,
MOAC of Thailand, and MAFF of Japan. Participants for the Symposium include officers in charge of biomass-relevant area of ASEAN countries (including Thailand) and ASEAN secretariat, embassies of ASEAN countries, international organizations located in Bangkok such as Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Asian Development Bank (ADB), Mass Media and Japanese private companies. The list of participants is as shown in Table 6.
Table 6 List of Participants Organization Position / Title Pax
ASEAN countries (excluding Brunei, Singapore and Thailand) Cambodia Dept. of Agriculture and
Livestock promotion, MOA Director, Dept. of Livestock Development and other
2
Indonesia Research and Service Center for Forest Productivity, Ministry of Forestry
Director & Senior staff 3
Technical Center for Engineering Design, Ministry of Forest
Chief of Center
Philippines Ministry of Agriculture Senior Staff 2 Laos Farmland Research Center 2
Dept of Livestock Malaysia University of Putra 1 Myanmar Dept. of Agricultural Irrigation 2 Vietnam Ministry of Agricultural & Rural
Development 2
ASEAN Secretariat ASEAN Secretariat Director and others 2 from Japan Committee Chairman & Committee 2 MAFF Director-General & Others 3 Biomass Town Concept concerning parties from Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City DARD 1 DOST Director and Other 1 HCMUT 2 Cu Chi Peoples Committee 2 Host party from Thailand MOAC DOA Director and Others 18 Biomass Town Project concerning parties from Thailand Community Presidnet 2 Local Administration Na Duang Village Village Chief 1 Na Duang Distrct Office Chief of DOAE 1 Loei Provincial Office Representative for Governor 1
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Table 6 List of Participants (continued) Royal Thai Government MOAC DOAE Experts 2
Dept. of Land Development Experts 2 Office of Agro Economy Experts 4 Dept. of Livestock Development Experts 3 Dept. of Cooperative Promotion 5 Dept. International Cooperation 2 Secretariat 2 Ministry of Environment Experts 2 MOE DEDE Engineer 2 Embassies in Thailand Embassy of China Attache 1 Embassy of Japan First Secretary 2 Embassy of Malaysia Attache 1 Embassy of Philippines Second Secretary 1 Embassy of Indonesia Second Secretary 1 Embassy of Vietnam Third Secretary 1 International Organization FAO Field Officer 1 UNID Officer 1 ADB Officer 1 Private Sector Mitsubishi Material Co., Ltd.
Procurement Div. Manager 1
Nagase (Thailand) Co., Ltd. New Business Creation Div. Manager and Other 2 Academic Institutes Kasesart University Professor 2 Suranaree University Associated Professor 2 Chiang MaiUniversity Institute for Energy
Development Deputy Chief 1
PachamkaoUniversity Engineer 2 National Center for Engineering and Biotechnology
Farm Village Development Unit Technical Staff 1
Total 95
2.3 International Symposium (1) Program
International Symposium was held as per the program indicated in table on December 14, 2010.
Table 7 Program of International Symposium Time Program
09:00 09:15 Opening Address by Dr.Jirakorn Kosaisawe, Director General, DOA, Ministry of Agriculture & Cooperatives, Thailand
09:15 09:20 Opening Address by Mr. Kunio Oguri, Director General from MAFF, Japan 09:20 09:40 Key Note Address by Dr. Yokoyama, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo,
Chairman of the Committee, Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project, Japan
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Time Program SESSION I : PRESENTATION
09:40 10:05 Introduction of Biomass Town in Japan by Mr. Kunio Oguri, Director General from MAFF, Japan
10:05 10:40 Introduction of Biomass Town Project in Thailand by Dr. Pacharee Niamsrichand,, Senior Expert, Dept. of Agriculture, Thailand
10:40 11:00 Tea / Coffee Break 11:00 11:30 Introduction of Biomass Town Concept in Vietnam, Dr. Ha, Lecturer from Ho Chi
Minh University of Technology, Vietnam 11:30 13:00 Lunch
SESSION II : PANEL DISCUSSION 13:00 14:20 Panel discussion
~Effectiveness and Issues to be Addressed for Development of East Asian Biomass Town~
14:20 14:30 Closing Remarks 14:30 15:00 Tea / Coffee Break
< Distributed Material > Guidebook of International Symposium on East Asia Biomass Town Concept Promotion Presentation material of the key note address “The Role of Biomass for Sustainable Agriculture”
(English) Presentation material of “Introduction of Biomass Town in Japan” (English, Japanese) Presentation material of “Introduction of Biomass Town Project in Thailand” (English, Japanese,
Thai) Presentation material of “Introduction of Biomass Town Concept in Vietnam” (English,
Japanese) Biomass Town Concept in Na Duang Village, Loei Prefecture, Thailand (English, Japanese,
Thai) Biomass Town Concept in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam (English, Japanese)
(2) Opening Speeches
The following speeches were given by Mr. Kunio Oguri, Director-General, Technical Affairs, Minister's Secretariat, MAFF and Mr. Jirakorn Kosaisawe, Director-General, DOA of MOAC.
Speech made by Mr. Jirakorm Kosaisawe, Director-General, DOA of MOAC
There are food and energy problems and demand for sustainable technology. Biomass Town Project is worth trying as one of the methods which we can implement at community level. Advantages from Biomass Town projects are that the community can utilize biomass not only as an energy source but also as a raw material for other products. We also can expect to find out the way to solve global environmental issues by reducing the consumption quantity of fossil fuel through usage of bio fuels, such as bio-ethanol, which are made from sugarcane, cassava, and biodiesel.
Despite being optimistic about natural resources in the future, it is important to apply biomass
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related technologies in a way that suits the characteristic of areas in under development countries. It is important to reduce the consumption quantity of fossil fuel in East Asia and I would like to let people know about our efforts in this direction. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will promote Biomass Town Project together with MAFF of Japan.
Summary of the speech made by Mr. Kunio Oguri, Director-General, Technical Affairs,
Minister's Secretariat, MAFF Thank you all the participants from Thailand and other countries who came and participated in the International Symposium for Biomass Town Project. Regarding the Biomass Town Project in East Asia, the parties concerned have agreed on cooperation for promoting Biomass Town project in East Asian countries at AMAF+3 meeting in 2008. We, both Thai and Vietnamese parties concerned, could announce the Biomass Town Concept in each country today. We expect to have significant lectures and a panel discussion titled "Expectation and Development of the Biomass Town Project in East Asia" in the afternoon session. I hope all the participants would be satisfied with today's program.
Opening remarks by Mr. Oguri
Opening remarks by Dr. Jirakorn
(3) Summary of Presentations
Introduction of Biomass Town in Japan, Thailand and Vietnam is summarized as follows:
Presentation 1 [Key Note Address] The Role of Biomass for Sustainable Agriculture Speaker Chairman of the Committee, Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project, Japan,
Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo Summary Consumption of rice in Japan has decreased by one third since 1950’s and
Production of rice is also on a decreasing trend. The number of farmers (household) was 20% of the total population 50 years ago but now it is only 3 %, while the yield has increased by 5 times since 1880 through efforts of farmers, development of technology and financial support by the Government for farmers. However, cultivated area has increased. In general, according to the increase of GDP per capita, the number of farmer
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decrease. Hence Thailand is expected to experience the same trend in the near future.
Advanced energy conversion technology such as thermal chemical conversion and chemical conversion, enable us to utilize agricultural residue or excess energy. Gasification is one of the conversion technologies. Gasification technologies are also of various types. However, selection of the technology is important considering the advantages and disadvantages of each technology.
Bio-ethanol production technology has been developed from the first generation which uses sugar and starch as raw material into the second generation. It is very important for bio-fuel industry not to compete for land or raw materials with food supply. Animal waste, palm residue, garbage can produce biomass energy which can be used also as vehicle fuel.
Thailand is rich in biomass and it is reported that not effectively utilized biomass such as bagasse, sugarcane residue, palm residue and rice straw can produce 16 % of total electricity consumption of Thailand.
From the viewpoint of sustainability, Greenhouse gasses (GHGs) is also an important factor to be taken into account. If the forest is destructed for the purpose of development of sugarcane production for bio-ethanol, GHG emission will be largely increased compared to the continuation of the forest. Hence, land use change, energy required for converting the raw material into fuel should be considered for assessment of the sustainability of bio-fuel.
When promoting the sustainable agriculture, condition and context of each country or each region must be considered. When it is implemented appropriately, benefits such as income generation, job creation, regeneration of rural communities by new industry development, energy production from wastes, GHG emission reduction and international networking are obtained.
There are many technologies that can be effectively used, and hence, useful activities are expected to be implemented through materialization of Biomass Town Concept.
Presentation 2 Introduction of Biomass Town in Japan Speaker Mr. Kunio Oguri, Director-General from MAFF, Japan Summary The Government of Japan has been promoting biomass utilization through
Biomass Nippon Strategy, the Fundamental Low of Promoting Usage of Biomass, the Basic Promotion Plan for Biomass Utilization (draft) and large scale plant experiment projects.
Shimokawa Biomass Town demonstrates an example of sustainable forest management. They produce wood pellet from left over timber in the forest, timber residue from saw mills and use it as boiler fuel at public bath facility
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and nursery. Through these activities, 65 new jobs were created. They are also interested in carbon offset of the community and collaborate with private entities and municipal government.
Motegi Biomass Town utilizes local biomass such as cow dung, food residue from households, fallen leaves in hilly area, rice husk and wood residue as raw material of compost. The produced compost is named as “Midori Compost” and sold to local farmers and is highly popular. They introduced certification system of the agricultural products using Midori Compost and the proportion of the certified products is as much as 60%. This is a unique example that biomass utilization activities bring various benefits to the communities not only for economic aspects but also environmental aspects.
Maniwa Biomass Town has been successful to attract 15,000 tourists to see their biomass utilization activities. Their main activities are to utilize wood biomass in various ways such as power generation, bio-ethanol production and pellet fuel production.
Ooki Biomass Town is a good example of biogas power generation from methane fermentation of garbage and sewage. It is notable that 94% of the households positively participate in segregated collection of household waste and the waste management cost such as waste combustion was reduced because of the segregated waste collection system. Liquid residue of methane fermentation is used as good liquid fertilizer for paddy fields. This achievement made Ooki town famous and they receive 4,000 visitors every year.
Hita City is rich in biomass availability such as animal waste, sewage, garbage. These wastes are collected and put into methane fermentation facility for electricity generation and liquid fertilizer production. Electricity and heat generated from biogas is used for facility operation and liquid fertilizer is used for paddy field. Hita city is famous for wood production and they also generate power using fuel wood to supply power to public facilities.
As introduced in the presentation, MAFF would like to expand such successful cases of Biomass Town to East Asia and has been promoting East Asian Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project for three years.
Presentation 3 Introduction of Biomass Town in Thailand Speaker Dr. Pacharee Niamsrichand, Senior Expert, DOA Summary Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project was initiated in 2008 according
to the agreement at AMAF + 3 between the Government of Japan and Government of Thailand. After its initiation, three years have passed.
It is important to develop Biomass Town Concept according to the social context and actual situations of the Community such as characteristics of
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the Community, agricultural statistics, biomass generation situations, relevant actors (local government agencies and community people as implementers of the proposed projects)
Na Duang village has various needs for biomass utilization. However, due to lack of marketing, financing for initial investment, quality control of the products, utilization is not effectively promoted. In trying to solve these barriers, specialists dispatched from Japan and DOA officers have been providing support to initiate experimental biomass utilization in Na Duang village.
Biomass tends to be discussed from energy aspects, however, DOA would like to contribute to promote biomass utilization as compost and liquid fertilizer for achieving sustainable agriculture.
Furthermore, Task force was formed within DOA to promote the Biomass Town Project in Na Duang village and intergovernmental central committee was also formed to promote Biomass Town Concept throughout the country. DOA will further continue to promote Biomass Town Projects in Thailand. In order for us to do that, we expect the Government of Japan to provide further assistance, especially in areas of technology transfer and opportunity of collaborative research. We would like to suggest the introduction of a revolving fund scheme for materialization of Biomass Town and further promotion of it.
Presentation 4 Introduction of Biomass Town in Viet Nam Speaker Dr. Nguyen Thi Van Ha, Lecturer, HCMUT
Phan Minh Tan, Director, DOST Summary At the beginning of the presentation, Dr.Tan (DOST) made short speech using
video clip explaining how the Biomass Town Concept in Cu Chi district has been developed with assistance from Japan through “East Asia Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project” and the importance of promotion of the concept of Biomass Town in Viet Nam.
Explanation on outline of Biomass Town Concept in Cu Chi District such as geographic information, Social indicators, livestock industry, biomass availability, biomass utilization target.
Information on existing biomass utilization activities such as vermi composting, mushroom cultivation, bio-digester, biogas power generation, bio-diesel production experiment and chlorella production was provided.
Explanation on biomass availability assessment method, background information on the activities of Biomass Town Concept Promotion Project in previous years, comments acquired by stakeholders and statistical analysis of it, priority of biomass utilization projects, implementation framework of Biomass town promotion in Ho Chi Minh City, and relevant policies.
Challenges for further promotion of the Concept such as low recognition level
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for importance of biomass utilization projects and financial incentives in renewable energy, financing and organic fertilizer.
Various benefits are expected by the implementation of Biomass Town Concept such as contribution to sustainable development including building recyclable society, promoting renewable energy and reducing environmental pollution and GHG emissions, and promoting sustainable agriculture, income generation, job creation, adding values of local resources and enhancing international cooperation etc.
The conclusions are the following four items: 1) The main component of the Cu Chi Biomass Town is livestock industry, 2) The most important thing is consensus building among local stakeholders, 3) International technology transfer is necessary for the successes of the Biomass Town Concept and 4) Environment friendly projects incorporated in the Biomass Town Concept will have significant benefit for Cu Chi area.
As policy decision making is necessary for further promotion of Biomass Town Concept in Vietnam, we would like to promote involvement of Central Government stakeholders for this initiative.
Keynote address by Dr. Yokoyama,
Professor Emeritus, the University of Tokyo Presentation by Dr. Pacharee,
DOA, Thailand
Dr. Jirakorn, being interviewed by Thai media Participants
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Presentation by Dr. Tan, DOST, Vietnam Presentation by Dr. Ha, HCMUT, Vietnam
(4) Summary of Panel Discussion
90 minutes panel discussion was conducted by panelist as shown in Table 8 with two moderators, Dr. Masafumi Inoue of the University of Tokyo and Dr. Kanchana Sethanan of Kohn Kaen University. The main discussion topics are the following two themes. An active and fruitful discussion with participation from the floor was carried out:
Topics for the Panel Discussion
Effectiveness of Biomass Town in East Asian Countries Obstacles and necessary support to develop Biomass Towns in East Asia
Table 8 Members of Panel Discussion
Name Organization Country 1) Moderator Dr. Masafumi Inoue Member of the Committee, Biomass Town Concept
Promotion Project, Japan Associate Professor, University of Tokyo
Japan
Dr. Kanchana Sethanan Associate Professor, Kohn Kaen University Thailand 2) Panelist Mr. Kunio Oguri Director General, MAFF, Japan Japan Dr. Shinya Yokoyama Chairman of the Committee, Biomass Town Concept
Promotion Project, Japan Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo
Japan
Dr. Pacharee Niamsrichand
Senior Expert, DOA Thailand
Mr. Montree Jampasiri Representative, Community group of Na Duang village Thailand Dr. Phan Minh Tan Director, DOST Viet Nam Dr. Nguyen Thi Van Ha Lecturer, HCMUT Viet Nam
Panel Discussion was carried out on the two topics mentioned above. The summary of the discussion is as follows:
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Effectiveness of Biomass Town in East Asian Countries There are many biomass utilization facilities in Thailand from small scale to large scale.
Probably biomass utilization industry in Thailand may be more advanced compared to Japan. However, what Biomass Town in Japan impressed me was the way they use biomass resources under the concept of Biomass Town. That means, in Biomass Town Concept, “biomass was used as a system not by single activity”. biomass utilization at single site may be much more advanced in Thailand compared to Japan, but, the concept of Biomass Town is not just to promote the utilization of Biomass, but to promote biomass utilization as a system to achieve sustainable agriculture, or rural community development, reducing the gap between urban areas and rural areas, which I think other countries including Thailand should learn and benefit to solve their local problems.(Moderator/Dr. Kanchana)
According to Japanese experience, it is very important for the leaders of the communities to take major roles and when the local people understand the concept of Biomass Town, it becomes a successful case. Also, when coordination between biomass emitters and users is successfully maintained by the municipal governments, such a Biomass Town becomes a successful one. (Mr. Oguri/MAFF)
Based on my personal experience, “Mutual understanding among stakeholders”, “Existence of an influential leader who can take initiative”, and “Identification and selection of the most appropriate technology” are the three most important components. (Dr. Yokoyama/University of Tokyo)
The most important challenge in Thailand will be to have a clear policy and strategy for biomass utilization from the Government of Thailand. Once the policy become clear, it will be easier for local stakeholders to have relevant strategy and action plans. We would like to continue to work on this matter at national level. (Dr. Pacharee/DOA)
Collaboration between the Government and farmers is very important in order to promote Biomass Town Concept in Vietnam. At this moment, as not many people understand the importance of this concept, awareness raising activities for farmers and government officials is also important. There is no policy to purchase renewable electricity with premium in Vietnam, which becomes a big barrier for promotion of renewable energy. Lack of technology is also an issue in addition to lack of awareness of the people.
For the first discussion topic, three components are considered as key issues. If these factors are ensured and utilized effectively, Biomass Town Concept is expected to contribute to local society effectively:
1) Government having a clear policy 2) Financial assistance for implementation 3) Measures for implementation of Biomass Town as a system
(Moderator/Dr. Kanchana)
Obstacles and necessary support to develop Biomass Towns in East Asia Difficulties for production of Biomass Town Concept in Thailand and Vietnam
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(Moderator/Dr. Kanchana) 1) Ensuring the budget, 2) Ensuring involvement of stakeholders, 3) Difficulties related to
data acquisition (most of activities of Biomass Town are in rural areas and it is not easy to collect necessary data to assess biomass generation and utilization). (Dr. Ha/HCMUT and Mr. Montree/Na Duang Community)
As Government officials, what kind of support do you expect in order to overcome the obstacles to realize Biomass Towns in your country? (Moderator/Dr.Kanchana)
Awareness-raising among farmer group regarding the importance of Biomass Town Concept is important. It is also important for decision making governmental officers to understand the significance of the Biomass Town Concept in Thailand and introduce appropriate policy or support to promote it. It is highly important for the community, government, municipal governments and private entities to collaborate from the initial stage to have a holistic plan of Biomass Town including the network from upper stream to downstream. (Dr. Pacharee/DOA)
Pilot project is important since a successful case is considered as a good practice that can be followed by other towns, and hence it can convince people about the advantages of Biomass Town by the actual case.(Dr. Tan /DOST)
Upon hearing the opinions of the two government officials from Thailand (Dr. Pacharee) and Vietnam (Dr. Tan), what kind of support can the Japanese Government provide? (Moderator/Dr. Kanchana)
According to my personal experience, the following three items will be effective: 1) Provide information on how Japanese Biomass Towns were developed, 2) Dispatch specialists from Japan, 3) Organize training (technology transfer) in Japan. Perhaps, technology transfer can be done by collaborating with JICA+JST scheme like Vietnam case of this project. (Dr. Yokoyama/University of Tokyo)
Regarding the support that Japan can provide, unfortunately it is becoming a difficult option for Japan to directly provide financial support for construction of infrastructures including facilities considering the recent financial situation. Therefore, the main support that we can provide will be technical information and training for human resource development. Regarding technical information, information useful for financial analysis will be also effective to evaluate financial benefit of biomass utilization project. If financial benefit by reduction of waste management cost is large enough, investment becomes possible. In addition, introduction of new regulations to control construction waste or animal waste is also one of the effective measures to be considered, (Mr. Oguri/MAFF)
Comments were received regarding financial support, I would like to have a comment from ADB in this regard.(Moderator/Dr. Inoue)
ADB has a financial support scheme of as much as USD 150 million for biodigester promotion using Chinese technology in Greater Mekong Sub-region such as Lao PDR, Cambodia and Viet Nam. In addition, we are conducting a project targeting climate change issues. (Participant/ADB)
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Questions from the floor It is a very good idea to have a showcase. The system to produce various kinds of products by
holistic approach is more beneficial than the system to produce only one product. Malaysian Government is promoting such holistic approach. I would like to know if Vietnam Government does the same? (Participant from Malaysia)
The important point of Biomass Town is to focus on “village” itself and not on each component such as rice, pig, cow separately. Also it is important to focus on possible options such as recycle, reuse and disposal. In order to involve local farmers, support for providing information on new technology, waste collection method, proper disposal method and recycle/ reuse method is important. Moreover, collaboration with municipal government, especially engineers are effective. It is inevitable to show farmers the actual benefits by showing them the actual sale of the produced commodities. (Dr. Tan/DOST)
I would like to know the biomass resource procurement strategy of the Government of Japan from the viewpoint of sustainability. (Participant from Indonesia)
The most important biomass resource in Japan is waste biomass. Introduction of new regulations is effective in this regard. Second is unused biomass from forestry, premier incentive to purchase at higher price is important. New cultivation of energy crops is not considered as a realistic option as land availability in Japan is very limited while exporting biomass recourses will be a good option for ASEAN countries just like export of food commodities. (Mr. Oguri/MAFF)
Comments by each panelist Income generation for the farmers is very important. It is important to make use of Biomass
Town for enhancing the farmers’ quality of life.(Dr. Yokoyama/University of Tokyo) Increasing the added value of the by-products are important in order to increase the income of
farmers. (Dr. Ha/HCMUT) We have to let farmers know the objectives for what they are doing now and let them
understand they do those under the community. (The farmers shall understand the objectives of the activities and cooperate with their farmers’ group, not go alone, so that they might expect to have better income from any of those activities in the group) (Mr. Motree/Na Duang Community)
Symposium like this is very effective. I hope to meet you in Ho Chi Minh City next year. I would like to expand the network of Biomass Town and connect people who are working in this area. (Dr. Tan, DOST)
Department of Agriculture will continue to support the activities done and to be done by Mr. Montree’s Farmers’ Group by offering cultivation technologies, such as organic cultivation. As there are some tourist spots nearby, there is a chance of developing the area as a part of what we call “Eco-Tourism”. (Dr. Pacharee/DOA)
By observing the difference between successful case and unsuccessful case of Biomass Town in Japan, successful case has a core of the activities. The core can be utilization of unused
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forest resources, garbage, or animal waste. I believe that to start from something that can be a core, building small success can lead to a big success. (Mr. Oguri/MAFF)
It is very important to understand everything about the community including culture and technology. In general the needs of local people are various, however, understanding every need and increasing the ownership of the local people is important. The message that “this is your project” is important. (Moderator/Dr. Kanchana)
I would like policy makers of each country to understand that “Biomass Town Concept” can be one of many useful policy tools to address the important issues of each country such as countermeasure against climate change, energy security, food security, rural development and waste problems. I should say that Biomass Town is just a concept and there is no fixed format or methodology for each locality. It is depend on the strategy of policy makers, whether the Concept of Biomass Town can be utilized effectively or not. Although it cannot be expected to solve all these issues by Biomass Town Concept, it can be one of the policy tools. I would like policy makers of East Asian countries to understand this point.(Moderator/Dr. Inoue)
Panel Discussion 1 Panel Discussion 2
Questioner from the floor
(5) Biomass Town Site Visit Program at Na Duang
About 40 members including invitees from ASEAN countries, participants from Japan and members of staff from Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives had a site visit to Na Duang village
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on December 15th, 2010, of which details are shown in the table 9 below.
Table 9 Sites Visit Program at Na Duang Village Time Itinerary
Start End Transport 06:00 06:45 Breakfast 06:00 07:00 Check out 07:00 09:30 Bus Udon Thani – Na Duang Village 09:30 11:30 Welcome Reception by Na Duang village
Site visit at Na Duang Rice Farming Group's Community Center - Biodigester - Small scale bio diesel refinery - Mushroom cultivation house - Composting house - Wood vinegar extracting facility
11:30 12:10 Bus Na Duang Village – Loei Palace Hotel (Lunch) 12:10 13:30 Lunch 13:30 15:00 Bus Palm Oil extracting facility in small scale
Palm Plantation in Small Scale 15:00 17:30 Bus Na Duang Village – Udon Thani 17:30 18:30 Dinner 18:30 19:00 Bus Hotel – Udon Thani Airport 20:00 21:00 TG015 Udon Thani Airport - Bangkok Airport 21:40 22:00 Bus Bangkok Airport – Hotel
The stakeholders from the area organized welcome reception for the delegates at Na Duang village. Some key persons gave speeches and exchanged memorial gift among the parties.
Summary of the speech made by the representative of the village:
We learnt a lot from Biomass Town project and project did a lot to support residents in the area.
Summary of the speech made by Dr. Pacharee, Senior Expert, Department of Agriculture: We would like to express our warm welcome for Mr. Kunio Oguri, Director-General of MAFF and all the members of delegate to Na Duang Village
Summary of the speech made by Mr. Kunio Oguri, Director-General for Technical Affairs, Minister’s Secretariat, MAFF of Japan: I feel happy and comfortable when I see a lot of women joining the ceremony today, as I believe that women’s contribution to support farm villages is large. I am looking forward to take this opportunity to visit Thailand since I was reported that there would be another Biomass Town project under planning other than Japan. My first image of Thailand is that Thailand is a major source of rice, but I can see that there are many varieties of crops, plants such as cassava, sugar cane and so on. I can assume that a large variety of biomass will be generated in this area. I hope this site visit will be good example for the participants from other ASEAN countries.
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Summary of the speech made by Professor Emeritus Dr. Shinya Yokoyama: I wish all the farmers in the area earn more income and become happier by joining Biomass Town project
Summary of the speech made by Director of Dr. Somsak, ASEAN Secretariat: It is my pleasure to visit pilot project site of Biomass Town project. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the members of staff from the Royal Thai Government, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and other concerning authorities, organizations and entities. I would like to visit other project site in Vietnam and if possible Malaysia and Indonesia too.
The delegate visited Biodigester, where the stakeholders for the Biomass Town Concept project plan to collect digestive liquid as liquid fertilizer, wood vinegar extracting facility, composting house under the Biomass Town project along with other characteristic places in the area, such as palm plantation in small scale, palm oil extracting facility in small scale and biomass resources in the area.
Table 10 Site visit at Na Duang village Facility/site Outline
Biodigester (for Pig excrement treatment)
This facility under construction is designed for producing digestive liquid from pig excrement as liquid fertilizer and plan to gather approximately 30 heads of pigs to the place. Department of Agriculture express their intention that they would rather concentrate on analysis of raw material, liquid fertilizer, which they use and expect to have from the biodigester as well as cultivation experiment for various kinds of commercial crops and plants by utilizing the liquid fertilizer from the facility, as research on agricultural field is one of the Department of Agriculture’s main activities.
Wood Vinegar This facility is designed to collect wood vinegar from the fruits wood with ages or other renewable wood resources. Wood vinegar produced from the house is used in farmland nearby for soil improvement purpose.
Mushroom Cultivation
This Mushroom cultivating house is designed for mushroom cultivation by utilizing palm empty fruits bunch. The owner of the house has just completed preparation for cultivation, when we visit the site.
Composting This Compost manufacturing house is designed for manufacturing compost from agricultural residues from farmland near the house. Compost manufactured at this house is utilized at palm plantations as well as farmlands in the area.
Biodiesel Refinery
Ministry of Energy of Thailand is the owner of the unit. As there is no electricity supply to the installed zone, the user is operating the unit with power generator so far.
Palm Oil extracting unit
As a family planned business, extraction of palm oil from fresh palm nuts supplied by the farmers in the area including Na Duang village is being done. Crude Palm Oil (CPO) produced from their extracting unit are utilized as fuel for
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Facility/site Outline agricultural equipments, trucks etc. Processing Chart for Palm Oil extraction is as; sorting heating extracting and then deposition.
Palm Plantation Oil Palm trees are planted in the area as a part of the Royal Projects. Although the area is beyond the northern limit of the plant’s growable latitude as generally recognized, palm trees in the area seem to be growing well so far. There seem some without enough quantity of fruits and this is said that caused by the time difference of flower blooming between male and female. We also found that there was an natural irrigation system by utilizing water pressures from the water in high position such as mountains nearby. There are other type of crop cultivation, such as cassava and rubber.
Rubber Plantation
Rubber plantation area in Na Duang village is rapidly increasing because of the steep rise of raw rubber price in the market. Rubber planting farmers enjoy more income from the market trend.
Speech by Vice Village chief
Speech by Mr. Oguri, Director General, MAFF
Speech by Director of ASEAN Secretariat Welcome Reception 1
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Welcome Reception 2 Welcome Reception 3
Memorial Planting of Palm Tree Memorial Planting of Palm Tree
Biodigester under construction Biodigester under construction with panel
Wood Vinegar Collection Compost
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Mushroom Cultivation (1) Mushroom Cultivation (2)
BDF Refining Unit of MOE Delegates
Oil Palm Fresh Fruit Bunch
Crude Palm Oil from Roasted Palm Nut Extracting Unit
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Refining Unit Crude Palm Oil
Site Visit at Farmland Rubber Tree
3. Summary of Participants’ Evaluation As this is the final year of the three year project, we distributed and collected questionnaires from the participants of the Symposium and summarized our findings from the questionnaire (as per Annex 2). In the questionnaire, we put forward questions relating to questioned (1) Relevance & necessity (2) effectiveness (3) efficiency (4) impact (5) possibility of self-development. As a result, we were able to obtain insight on Biomass Town and effectiveness of the Symposium from the participants. We came to know that East Asian Countries with participants in the Symposium have a high expectation from the concept of Biomass Town. We estimated that most of the participants understood the concept of Biomass Town, the process for setting up Biomass Town and impacts on socio-economical issues in the area. Followings are summary result from the questionnaire survey. 1) The relevance and necessity of the Symposium
Q Do you think the contents and outcomes of the Symposium were relevant in terms of the situation and needs of your country?
0 no answer, 1 very poor, 2 poor, 3 good, 4 excellent
Regarding relevance and necessity, 100% of the answers are positive. This result indicates high
expectation of the participants for Biomass Town Concept.
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Figure 4 Evaluation on relevance, necessity
Valid response:30
Main comments
The Symposium gives us hints to solve the problems we have by utilization of biomass resources as we have similar biomass in our country (Researcher, Government Research Institute, Philippines)
It was a good opportunity for exchange of information and mutual learning regarding the experience of biomass utilization efforts of each participant country - Japan, Thailand and Viet Nam (Government official, Vietnam)
2) The effectiveness of the Symposium
Q Do you think the knowledge and know-how you acquired at the Symposium will be useful in your country?
Regarding effectiveness of the Symposium, more than 96% of answers are excellent or
good. The comments show that the knowledge and know-how acquired by the Symposium will be useful in the context of the countries of the participants.
Figure 5 Evaluation on effectiveness
Valid response:30
33%
67%
4 excellent
3 (good)
2 (poor)
1 (verypoor)
0
23%
73%
4%
4 excellent
3 (good)
2 (poor)
1 (verypoor)0
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Main comments
Biomass Town can be an approach to solve environmental problems in rural areas (Government official, Vietnam)
Useful information regarding biomass relevant projects was obtained (many answers) The information obtained in the Symposium will contribute to promote biomass utilization
technology for small scale livestock farmers (Government research institute, Philippines) This concept can provide useful information and examples as one of the effective tools to
mitigate global warming and treat climate change issue. (Government official, Indonesia) We hope that more information and actual examples regarding Biomass Town Concept
especially on forestry will be provided in the near future. Forestry biomass has large potential and therefore, such information will be very useful for Indonesia. (Government official, Indonesia)
Indonesia promotes “Desa Mandiri Energi (self energy sufficient village)” as a national program to utilize biomass for energy purpose. Biomass Town Concept can be used for this program. (Government official, Indonesia)
The challenges will be the lack of policy to purchase biomass based energy from sources like small scale power plant, financial assistance and engineers for biomass utilization in rural areas.(Government official, Vietnam)
The most difficult issue is how to develop and materialize this Concept.(Government official, Vietnam)
A big challenge is to promote understanding and recognizing for the local people that they can generate income through biomass utilization projects. (Government official, Viet nam)
I would like to suggest the development of a network within ASEAN countries for the people who are interested in biomass.(Government official, Vietnam)
3) Questions about the efficiency of the Symposium
Q Do you think the implementation method and length of the Symposium was appropriate for the quality and quantity of the content provided during the Symposium (presentations, knowledge, relevant information, etc)?
Regarding efficiency of the Symposium, more than 90 % answered excellent or good. The
comments of negative answers are “Symposium was too short”, and these answers can be considered as constructive negative answers, which do not devalue the significance of the Symposium.
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Figure 6 Evaluation on efficiency
Valid response:30
Main comments
Schedule was very well planned and efficient. (Government official, Indonesia) The composition of the Symposium was very good and coordination was excellent.
(Government official, Indonesia) The distributed material was latest and useful. Site visit to Na Duang village was good
although it would be even better if biodigester pilot plant was completed. (Government official, Vietnam)
When the opportunity comes to share the knowledge acquired during this event in Myanmar, the participation in this Symposium will truly bear its fruits. (Government official, Myanmar)
2 days is appropriate to understand the Concept (Government research institute, Philippines)
2 days are too short for training (Many answers)
4) The impact of the Symposium
Q Do you think application of Biomass Town Concept would contribute to the policy target of your country such as rural development and mitigation of global warming?
Regarding efficiency of the Symposium, more than 93 % answered excellent or good. It is
notable that 43% of the answers are “Excellent” which indicate most of the participants consider the Biomass Town Concept as a useful tool to contribute to their policy target.
17%
73%
10% 4 excellent
3 (good)
2 (poor)
1 (verypoor)0
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Figure 7 Evaluation on impact
Valid response:30
Main comments
It is an effective approach to solve waste issues in rural area of Vietnam.(Government official, Viet Nam)
It was not clear if the framework is appropriate for Thailand or not.(University, Thailand)
5) The applicability of the project
Q Do you think the knowledge you acquired at the Symposium would be a useful reference in your country?
Regarding the applicability of the Symposium, 100 % of answers indicated that they can
continue to utilize the acquired knowledge.
Figure 8 Evaluation on Applicability
Valid response:30
Main comments
A similar program is about to start in Indonesia through collaboration with municipal government and this information is useful in the context.(Government official, Indonesia)
43%50%
7%4 excellent
3 (good)
2 (poor)
1 (verypoor)0
37%
63%
4 excellent
3 (good)
2 (poor)
1 (verypoor)0
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Q Do you think there is appropriate framework for transferring the knowledge and know-how you acquired at the Symposium in your country?
Regarding the existence of organizational structure in their countries for a self reliant
expansion of the knowledge obtained from the Symposium, about 90 % of answers indicated that they had appropriate framework to utilize the acquired knowledge in their countries.
Figure 9 Evaluation on existence of organizational structure
for a self reliant expansion of the concept Valid response:30
Main comments
No comment was provided
10%
77%
3%
3%7% 4 excellent
3 (good)
2 (poor)
1 (verypoor)0
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4. Conclusion ~Outcome of the International Symposium and Issues towards Further Promotion of Biomass Town Concept~
4.1 Evaluation (1) Evaluation of the significance of International Symposium and its outcome
“The International Symposium on East Asia Biomass Town Promotion” is the final activity of the three-year East Asia Biomass Town Promotion Project and the core activity of this year’s project. As mentioned earlier, the outcome of the Symposium exceeded expectations due to sincere cooperation of the participants from ASEAN countries, DOA who co-hosted the Symposium with MAFF, the presenters, the panelists of the Panel discussions and guests from Japan.
In the Symposium, presentations were made on “promoting biomass resource utilization for the
Community (not for the individual or small group) as one of the measures of community development under the collaboration of the various stakeholders “Built-up the biomass resource utilization system within the community” and “taking advantage of the characteristics of the Community”, which is the essence of the Biomass Town Concept. This concept has been emphasized throughout the activities carried out during the three-year project period. From the presentations and the remarks made at panel discussions, the concept was clearly understood by the Counterparts of both the countries.
In addition, from the Symposium, panel discussion, questionnaire collected from the participants and direct communication with them, it was clearly observed that the concept of Biomass Town that “Utilize biomass systematically and make use of it as one of the measures to solve the local problems” was accepted as an effective concept by the ASEAN countries, although there is recognition that awareness building programs will be necessary to promote further understanding for government officials and local farmers.
(2) Evaluation as human resource development project
As a result of the three-year project, through support for production of two Biomass Town concepts in Thailand and Vietnam by conducting the seminars and workshops and support for forming the government framework to further promotion of the Biomass Town in both countries, promotion of understanding has been pursued mainly for the Counterparts who were invited to Japan in 2008 for attending the workshop. It was observed that the achievement of the project was very fruitful and exceeded expectations due to the continuous and sincere commitments of the Counterparts and relevant people.
On the other hand, there is a recognition that understanding of Biomass Town Concept for local
farmers who will be the direct beneficiaries and government officials of the relevant agencies who will be the policy decision makers remain to be further promoted. In general, human resource development for the ultimate beneficiaries (farmers) needs to be looked at from a long-term view of approximately 10 years. In this context, the concept needs long-term input to be adopted by the
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local communities by involving the farmers as a movement.
The three-year activities can be considered as “Training for trainers”, which was regarded as highly successful. The next target will be to further promote the concept for a wider range of human resource development through the Counterparts, who fully understood the significance and the essence of the Concept.
(3) Evaluation on achievement of objective The basic objectives of this three-year project were: “promoting Biomass Town Concept as a tool
to pursue the benefit of the Community and not only of the individual” and “encouraging the East Asian countries to autonomously initiate Biomass Towns in their countries”. The international Symposium was held in Thailand and it would not have been successfully implemented without the continuous cooperation of the DOA. From another Counterpart country, Vietnam, comment expecting to have this kind of symposium in Vietnam in the future was received. It is expected that this kind of movement for expansion of Biomass Town will expand to other countries.
Future prospect of the community
Rural communities are expected to be vitalized through the implementation of Biomass Town Concept which has the following fundamentals:
- Utilize the characteristics of the community to the maximum under a private-public-academia partnership
- Develop a biomass utilization system that seeks to maximize community benefits - Contribute to solve/mitigate local problems, and - Benefit for the local community and its stakeholders
Concrete measure for community involvement
This project is the first effort to disseminate Biomass Town Concept in East Asia. As a result of all the effort and continuous and active cooperation by the Counterparts in Thailand and Vietnam, it is observed that the concept is being gradually understood and taking root among stakeholders including decision makers on policy issues. However, this is only the start of introduction and dissemination of the concept. It is highly expected that the governments of East Asian countries will understand the benefits of the concept and start building framework to promote it. As the Counterparts pointed out in the Symposium, strong initiative by the governments will be necessary as without strong direct or indirect support by the governments the future of the Biomass Town Concept cannot be promising. In addition, introducing examples of successful projects is also important. The role of the community will be to discuss the advantages (benefits) and disadvantages of adoption of Biomass Town Concept among stakeholders based on adequate understanding of the policies of their countries.
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(4) Contribution to the broader concept of Biomass Town Concept Evaluations of contribution to the broader concepts of Biomass Town Concept Promotion (which
includes prevention of global warming, vitalization of agricultural community, formulation of a cyclic society and nurturing industries) are as follows:
Prevention of global warming Reduction of methane emission through introduction of biodigesters and composting facilities were promoted by the project. Hence it is evaluated that the project was successful to a certain degree in contributing to prevent global warming
Vitalizing agricultural community
Although the project has not yet shown results in terms of income generation or attracting investment, the project’s contribution to vitalize agricultural community can be positively evaluated as an activity in the planning stage.
Formulation of a cyclic society Through the development of utilization plans of biomass resources for the targeted communities that have not yet been effectively utilized, it is evaluated that the project has made contributions to the formulation of a cyclic society.
Nurturing of industries
Several experimental projects such as installation of bio-digester and mushroom cultivation facility were introduced as a result of the project. Hence it is evaluated that the project contributed to nurturing industries to a certain extent.
(5) Evaluation on effectiveness as a foreign diplomacy tool This project provides an assistance tool that solely aims to benefit counterpart countries and the
communities and is not based on providing direct benefit of Japan. In addition, broader concepts such as prevention of global warming, vitalizing agricultural community, formulation of cyclic society and nurturing industries are common and universal issues, and hence this project can be regarded as an effective foreign diplomatic tool.
(6) Evaluation by the government of Thailand and Vietnam and the participants of the
Symposium As shown by result of the questionnaire for policy evaluation, the Biomass Town Concept and its
contribution was understood by the Counterparts and the participants of the Symposium and there was a high expectation towards the Concept. As the next step, it is important to gather the evaluation of the stakeholders in Thailand and Vietnam to feedback their evaluation for future planning.
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Table 11 Summary of project evaluation Criteria Evaluation (achievements/ challenges)
(1) Evaluation of the significance of international Symposium and its outcome
Dissemination of concept of Biomass Town and its efficacy
It can be evaluated that the concept of Biomass Town is taking root in the related people as profound understanding of the concept was observed among the Counterparts
Awareness raising of Biomass Town Concept formulated in Thailand and Vietnam is to be promoted
Initial objectives were achieved through introduction of Biomass Town Concept, resulted in understanding of the idea
Evaluation of International Symposium
The International Symposium was successful as is seen in the high evaluation drawn from the policy evaluation survey, which is the first step for the wider dissemination of Japan-origin Biomass Town Concept
(2) Evaluation as human resource development project
Human resource development of key personnel
Highly successful
Human resource development of decision makers
Human resource development to higher leveled decision makers ( Ministers, Deputy minister) and decision-makers at practitioner level (department chief) is required to achieve sufficient understanding of the Concept
Human resource development of local community
Further human resource development of the Counterparts who are already active is desired through a long-term (decade-long) training
(3) Evaluation on Achievement of Objective
Future prospect of the Community
Establishment of Biomass Town is desired that can maximize the community’s benefit, as well as provide solution to local issues through formulation of local and optimum biomass utilization system under the public-private-academia partnership.
Concrete measure for the community involvement
The idea of Biomass Town Concept is taking root in the project site countries, including decision-makers, thanks to the active participation of the Counterparts. Community members shall discuss their participation with the consideration to the national policy and support framework to be provided for such activities.
(4) Contribution to the Prevent global warming It has contributed to mitigation of global
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Criteria Evaluation (achievements/ challenges) broader concept warming by promoting measures to
mitigate emission of Methane gas, one of the GHG, through introduction of biodigester and composting facility
Vitalize agricultural community
It can be evaluated as a plan which can lead to actual activities that can stimulate investment and income rise of farmers.
Formulate recyclable society
It can be evaluated in terms of offering a means to promote utilization of unused biomass.
Nurture industries strategically
It can be evaluated as the Concept creates opportunities to nature new industries which require investment from outside, such as biodigester and feeder manufacturing facilities.
(5)Evaluation on effectiveness as a Foreign Diplomacy
Contribution for assistance for developing countries
A direction for the utilization of the Concept as a tool to support ‘community’ or ‘counterpart country’ was defined, rather than a means to secure resource of own country.
Contribution to benefits of Japan
It must be evaluated with significance where infrastructure-based assistance is becoming difficult, the Concept have given a way to Japan’s assistance policy as a ‘tool for assistance’ to create opportunity to introduce a Japan-originate standard or an initiative in the biomass utilization field. It is also cost-effective.
(6)Evaluation by counterpart countries
Government of Thailand and Vietnam
The evaluation was high according to the remarks by the Director-general
Counterpart While the activities of the project may have burdened counterparts’ regular workload, the evaluation was significant according to the policy evaluation survey and remarks made during the International Symposium.
Symposium participants (ASEAN Countries)
Highly evaluated
4.2 Future Challenges (1) Know-how acquired and suggested improvements through implementation of the
three-year project Through the experience of implementation of the three-year project, the following improvements
are considered to be necessary for further promotion of Biomass Town project to other countries.
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Appropriate method of conducting Government to Government projects Biomass Town is a concept to promote locally originating initiatives and hence a bottom-up approach is considered to be important in developing the concept. However, for a project that is implemented under an agreement between the governments (with assistance from the Government of Japan), it is important to build a consensus with the counterpart government’s decision makers while paying respect to the input from the community. In addition, it is very important for the success of the Biomass Town Concept that the counterpart governments understand the effectiveness of the concept as a tool to achieve their policy targets, and hence it is necessary to design the support of the Japanese government in accordance with the policy targets of the counterpart governments.
Selection procedures of the Counterpart
From the viewpoint of consensus building with the counterpart governments, Counterparts of the project should preferably be at a position where he/she can coordinate with the government decision makers or are directly recommended by the decision makers themselves. However, the capability of the personnel such as the ability to understand the essence of the concept, leadership to take initiative to disseminate the concept and ability to understand English language (where dispatched Japanese specialists do not have enough command of the local language) are also considered to be important factors. In conducting the three-year project, three Counterparts of each participating countries (Thailand and Vietnam) were selected considering both the factors of personal capability and recommendation of the central government. It is concluded that the success of the three-year project was significantly attributed to the high quality of the selected Counterparts. For the future expansion of the concept, selection of the Counterpart will be significantly important for the success of the activities and the above factors (institutional context and individual capability) need to be carefully considered.
Assistance with a Japanese flag
In this project, a Japanese coordinator located in Thailand took the important role in communicating and coordinating with the Counterpart of Thailand on a day to day basis, which helped to build trust and collaborative relationship with the Counterpart. One of the major objectives of this project is human resource development, and therefore the role of the project is to assist the Counterpart to take initiative to develop Biomass Town Concept. In assisting the Counterpart, it is important to recognize that if Japanese experts only visit the Counterpart every month or two and put responsibility on the Counterpart to maintain their schedule, the assistance may not be effective and may result in the counterpart becoming overloaded. Therefore it is important to provide daily support to the Counterpart and have many discussions with them which will enable a closer communication and results in development of mutual trust.
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Importance of providing continuous support This project is different compared to the conventional assistance with a large budget whose result is clearly visible. This project aims to promote understanding of the Biomass Town Concept which originated in Japan and to effectively disseminate the Concept to be utilized as an effective tool to achieve policy targets of East Asian Countries. In order to achieve the objective, it is not sufficient only to promote understanding among a few counterparts which was carried out through this three-year project. This three-year activity can be considered as a “Training for Trainers” activity by promoting understanding to the selected Counterparts as key persons to disseminate the Concept within their countries. It is very important to develop a common awareness among local stakeholders, mainly the community people and the government decision makers, in order to install the Concept and to establish a basis for promoting Biomass Town Concept. Hence, a continuous and long-run support is very important.
(2) Technical information necessary for development of Biomass Town Concept
Providing know-how and technical information which is necessary for Biomass Town Concept development has been carried out through the activities of this three-year project which include selection of the Counterparts, Seminar and workshop for the Counterpart conducted in Japan and Thailand, and support for the Counterpart to develop Biomass Town Concept. Understanding of the Concept was developed through activities in a form of “on the job training” which involved actual work related to project site selection and Biomass Town Concept development and detail designing of the proposed projects considering the differences between the conditions of Thailand and Japan such as infrastructure components (grid electricity, pipe water and roads etc), climate, geography and biomass resources generation.
Table 12 Discussions regarding Biodigester Installation at Na Duang village Subject Points considered Discussion in Detail
1) Laws and Regulations on Biomass generated in the area
There are laws & regulations, present in Japan such as Regulations on Waste Disposal, Food Recycle, Construction Recycle and Water Pollution Protection, to dispose biomass cost much for business operators. However it seems that no such regulations are enacted in the newly industrializing economies and developing countries except for general environmental protection laws. Therefore only a handful of business operators have the idea that biomass disposal also means additional cost.
Minimize cost & manpower in biomass disposing operations (collection and converting facility) for example, decentralization by setting up facilities in small size at multiple locations or centralization by gathering as many heads of animal feeding in the area as possible at one location.
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Subject Points considered Discussion in Detail 2) Marketability of
Biomass Products There is market for products made from biomass (for example compost) in Japan. However, it is either difficult to sell any such products or even if sellable it is of a less value in Thailand and might be the same in other countries
Same as above 1)
3) Promotion It seems to be common that data and information dissemination is mixed up and intricate. Therefore it is necessary to set up a model case with accurate information, which can be a good example for farmers
We tried to maximize impact of the project by adding other factors (vegetable cultivation experiment, composting from solid waste from biodigester and biogas stove (planning in future)) on major activity or collecting liquid fertilizer,
4) Infrastructure The area where we were going to install biodigester was not electrified. Therefore we have to select suitable system for non-electrified zone
We had proposed biodigester model with mixing unit operated by tractor’s engine. (ultimately rejected by the local engineering company)
5) Technologies, Capability, Capital
It was required to select suitable system for the area in terms of cost, maintenance, by taking operators’ capability, financial standing into consideration.
Tried to find a structurally simple but durable.
Other necessary support to be provided and factors to be considered during development process of Biomass Town Concept are described as follows:
Table 13 Points to be considered for planning Biomass Town Concept Supports Required Points to be considered
6) Involvement of stakeholders (Central Government, Local Administration, Community, Private Sectors and Academic Institutes)
It is desirable to gain a consensus from not only farmers in target areas but also the central government and local administration
It is desirable to correspond on administration or organizational basis (not personnel basis) to prevent loss of effort and knowledge due to transfer of personnel in the government
It is required to find the best way of communication by considering the situation of the counterpart to prevent delay, as it sometime takes longer time than expected because of administrative procedure
For counterpart personnel, work load for this project may be added to the usual work load of that personnel. Hence, it is worth considering to provide additional support on their
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Supports Required Points to be considered activities including the deployment of personnel for the project to support that personnel
7) Formulation of policies by the Central Government
Governmental supports on planning of Biomass Town Concept and implementation of any projects in Biomass Town project planned. Publicity is also required to be done well.
Strategy for supports on projects’ implementation, budget allocation and implementation of each project
Establishment of policymakers’ committee, task force for project implementation and so on.
8) Research on quantity of existing biomass and Biomass utilization in the area
It is necessary to involve any organizations, such as cooperatives, who have data and information regarding farmers in the area
Check source of information (There is a possibility that some organizations manage only some specific type of agricultural products)
Appropriate approach to farmers is essential when conducting interviews during research
Show consideration towards biomass which is already being utilized for other purpose
9) Research on demand for biomass products
It is important to check whether the potential users have intention to use biomass products or not and pay for those or not.
10) Technologies to be considered and know-how on production of biomass products
Development of products needs to be matched with demand in the market
Consideration of cost & expenses and manpower
11) Technologies to be considered and know-how on biomass product storage and utilization
Providing technical information regarding denitrification, offensive odor and water protection during storage
Providing technical information and options for low cost and low labor intensive biomass utilization methodology in order to match with population ageing in farming societies.
12) Equipment and tools to be used in operation (production, storage and utilization)
Provide information on equipments and/or tools to reduce viscosity and offensive odor, Improvement of sealing for biomass products (especially those with denitrification) storage, liquid fertilizer spreader and cultivator for mixing compost with soil.
(3) The Role of Japan and Multi Support for Further Promotion of the Biomass Town
Concept This three-year project can be considered as the initial step of the promotion of the Biomass Town
Concept in East Asia. Further awareness-raising activities are required targeting a wider variety of stakeholders to make them understand how the concept can be beneficial to their communities and countries. It is highly expected that the Counterparts of Thailand and Vietnam and the ASEAN countries’ participants in the Symposium will take positive roles to promote the recognition of the
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Biomass Town Concept and utilize it effectively for developing biomass utilization systems along with the concept in each countries.
This three-year project was a good opportunity to re-acknowledge the common issues (vitalization
of rural community, influence of global economy to agriculture etc) that East Asian countries including Japan are facing. Japan as an originator of the Concept, has to recognize the expectation from ASEAN countries to take an important role in future promotion activities.
Based on the above recognition, not only bilateral cooperation between each country and Japan,
but also multilateral collaboration including relevant countries and international organizations under the initiative of Japan, such as formation of biomass information platform or community of the biomass specialists will be necessary to ensure the sustainability of the promotion activities.
The future role of Japan, as the originator of the Biomass Town Concept, is to take initiative to continuously promote the Concept by means of dispatching specialists, forming information platform and building human resource networking through collaboration with JICA and international donor agencies.
