Waste to Watt
In an outbuilding at Lok Sear’s rice milling operation in Kandal province, two four-meter-high cylindrical machines vibrate and hum as the occasional chicken and duck pecks near the concrete blocks holding them up. While they do both feature a thinck band of aluminium around their midsections, they don’t look much like knights in shining armor. Still, Lok Sear has no doubt that these two rice husk gasifiers-in effect, small power plants-came to his rescue. “Rice husk energy has saved my business,” he said. … While the exact number of Cambodian millers using rice husk gasification is not available, around 40 have invested in SME machines to power their businesses and others are using different makes of equipment. The advantages are clear: lower electricity costs than with expensive diesel as well as clear benefits for the environment. … These alternative energy source recently made the news Soma Group, a leading Cambodian industrial conglomerate, signed a deal with GE Energy at a US-ASEAN Business Council meeting in Siem Reap in July to power a new rural rice husk biomass-energy project. Located in Kampong Cham, the project will generate about 1.5 megawatts of green energy. …
