Upholding rice husks potential for environmental security
To ensure stable environmental quality and human well-being including poverty alleviation and prosperity, ecosystem services of forests are essential
SHISHIR REZA
Bangladesh is one of the densely populated countries in the world. In our country, population heaviness has imposed relentless strain on non-renewable and conventional energy resources like fossil fuel (coal, petroleum, natural gas) and mineral resources iron, copper, lead etc. The increasing consumption of fossil fuel for domestic, industrial needs, transport has generated air pollution, health hazards, forest insecurity and climate aggression. Energy Policy, (1996) mentions Ensuring environmentally sound sustainable energy development programs causing minimum damage to environment.
In 2010, natural gas consumption was 14.2%, oil 5.9%, coal 0.6% and renewable 0.2%. Natural gas, oil, coal and renewable energy consumption will be more in 2030. Energy exaction around the world has been escalating rapidly, generally in the developing countries. Obviously, environmental security will be in danger.
In Bangladesh, rice husk has a great potential to be used as a foundation of renewable biomass energy. About 50 new varieties of rice including the recently developed one are on hand in Bangladesh.
Rice husk is unvarying; small in corporeal size and it is a hulking substance. A variation in the substance of volatile matter, fixed carbon has been observed in different types of husks. Global annual rice husk production is 137 million tones. Bangladeshs production is 9 million tons annually. Out of 38.75 million tones of total biomass produced from agro-residues, rice husk is about 26% by mass. The major portion of rice husk is consumed by burning in traditional rice parboiling boilers. Some portion is used from a king briquette fuel.
Rice husk briquette is an alternate of wood fuel, we use. It is a common figure that, there is an extra heaviness on the forest resources due to the high growth of population every year in our country. It can be condensed by using rice husk briquette as alternative of wood fuel substation, thus saving 25.41 thousand hectare forest land and resources alike once a year.
To ensure stable environmental quality and human wellbeing including poverty alleviation and prosperity, ecosystem services of forests are essential. The economic value of carbon sequestration becomes increasingly recognized and qualified in the global marketplace. Forests are playing enormous responsibility in securing human health benefits through provisioning clean drinking water, maintenance of the medicinal plants and prevention of various diseases.
In Bangladesh, 80% of tribal (Bawm, Chak, Chakma, Marma, Murong, Thanchunga, Bhome, Pangkhoa, Kheyang, Rheyang, Lushai, Kuki, Khumi, Tripura, Garo, Monipuri, Santal) communities depends on medicinal plants growing in forests for their treatment of illness. Hilly people depends on completely on natural flows of streams originated in forests for their water, values of such ecosystem is the construction for structures made for supplying water to city dwellers.
But, the land use pattern of Bangladesh is changing very rapidly due to alterations in physiographic and socio-economic conditions, climatic change adaptation and population growth. Land use conversion affects both the amount and spatial pattern of forest habitat, which in turn can affect the ecological function and future development of remaining forest lands. Habitat fragmentation and transportation corridors have been created migration barriers or inhospitable habitats for wildlife and interfere with other ecological processes. In addition, land encroachment and alien species cultivation in forest are created ecological insurgencies in forest.
But this forest creates a carbon sink by renewing 7.8 million tons of CO2 equivalents per annum. If we use rice husks potential as a substitute of wood fuel, forest faculties will be high to sink more carbon, thus would lead to sustainable development of forest resources in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is a guiltless sufferer of climate change and global warming. We are passing days with development and environment conflict. People are suffering by environmental crisis, land and water pollution, riverbank erosion and natural disaster flood, cyclone, drought etc. Agricultural systems are intensifying in the name of green revolution but agro-ecology is currently under intimidation. Desertification is escalating; people of coastal areas are struggling with salinity intrusion and toxic crops.
In this context, rice husk biomass can generate an enormous opportunity for energy production and value-added part to clean energy production; can be use as bio-material for daily purposes and lend a hand on forest resources to enhance capacities for ecological, climate and environmental security.
The writer is an environment analyst and Associate Member of Bangladesh Economic Association
