SMC champions rice husks to address clean energy, food security dilemmas

The San Miguel group is looking at energy from rice husks as part of a plan to convert two of its coal-fired power plants into biomass facilities as a means to harness cleaner electricity while boosting the agriculture sector.

San Miguel Corp. (SMC) president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said in a statement the conglomerate, through its energy subsidiaries, would convert its existing power plants that use circulating fluidized bed, or CFB  technology into biomass power facilities.

SMC Global Power owns and operates two such power facilities—one in Limay, Bataan rated at 450 megawatts (MW) and another in Malita, Davao, at 300 MW.

“Instead of burning or dumping rice husks, we want to fully utilize this agricultural waste product both as energy source for our power plants and income source for our rice farmers,” Ang said.

“This way, we reduce our emission further, encourage more farmers to increase rice production, make their lives better and help address a perennial food security challenge,” he added.

The Limay and Malita facilities are equipped with CFB combustion technology, which SMC describes as being among the world’s most advanced pollution-mitigating technologies used in power plants.

According to SMC, the emissions from these power plants are “way, way below” the limits set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and even the standards set by the World Bank.

SMC noted emissions from rice-husk based fuel were expected to be even lower.

Ang said SMC was also willing to put up the infrastructure and facilities needed to support collection of husks brought in by farmers.

“If we encourage more farmers to plant rice by providing them additional sources of income, our rice sufficiency and food security improves,” Ang said. “At the same time, we use palay husks to generate more environment-friendly energy.”

“Ultimately, what we want is for our farmers to get the support they need; for farming to be a viable option again for many Filipinos and, maybe someday, for our country to be able to produce what we need and more,” he said.