1 Million Ton Greenhouse Emission from Tofu Waste

Indonesian tofu industries is one of the significant contibutor for greenhouse emission in this country.

There is about 84 thousand units tofu homeindustries in Indonesia, with production capacity more than 2.56 million ton of tofu a year. 80 percent of Indonesian tofu industries located on Java Island.

This industry produced liquid wastes that up to 20 millions cubic meter per year, with about 1 million ton greenhouse emission produced.

Kyoto protocol arranged six kinds of greenhouse gases, that is carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrogen oxide (N2O), and other three industrial gases that contained fluoride (HFC, PFC,dan SF6). 70 percent greenhose emission volume is carbon dioxide, then followed by methane, nitrogen oxide, etc.

For tackling this problem, Indonesian Environmental Technology Center for Technology Assessment and Application (BPPT PTL), developed liquid waste management technology that turn tofu wastes into bio gas fuel.

Pilot project for this technology set at Banyumas Regency, Cental Java Province. There is about 2 thousand tofu industries exist in Banyumas Regency.

BPPT researcher, Widiatmini SW, said that liquid waste treatment can reduce environmental pollution and help to meet community need for energy.

With liquid waste management technology, people can produce 6,500 liter bio gas from 1 meter cubic of tofu liquid wastes. For this process BPPT PTL placing Fixed Bed Reactor in Kalisari Village and Cikembulan Village, Banyumas Regency, with funding from Research and Technology Ministry

From pilot project in that two villages, 50 households already using generated biogas to replace LPG. They savings about 90 tons of LPG per year, and reducing 184 tons of CO2 emissions a year.