Khon Kaen: Forums on sugar-tied power plant postponed

[webfact]

Forums on sugar-tied power plant postponed

By CHULARAT SAENGPASSA, 
KAWINTRA JAISEU 
THE NATION 

 

Locals fly banners last month to express opposition to sugar and biomass |power-plant projects in Khon Kaen’s Ban Phai district out of concerns that the industrial operations will hurt the environment, their health and way of life.

 

Khon Kaen residents fight against project due to concerns over health and ecology.

 

PLANNED PUBLIC forums on a project to build a biomass power plant alongside a sugar factory in Khon Kaen province have been postponed indefinitely in the face of growing opposition. 

 

Initially, the forums were to be held from May 21 to 23 in the province’s Non Sila, Ban Phai and Channabot districts, but a consultant is looking to delay them.

 

“The consulting firm, hired by Mitr Phol Group, has said that it needs more time to promote public understanding of the project,” Panupong Srithananuwat, a core member of the Hak Ban Kerd Group in Ban Phai, said yesterday. 

 

According to him, the letter from the consulting firm reached his group last week. 

 

Since early this year, Hak Ban Kerd Group has been raising awareness among locals of the project’s possible adverse impacts. It has also successfully nudged the Khon Kaen governor into establishing a joint committee to study the project. On the committee are representatives of both the government and people’s sectors. 

 

The group also submitted a complaint with the government about reported intimidation against prominent opponents of the project. 

 

The Cane and Sugar Board’s 10-year strategy (2015–2026) aims to boost the biomass-power production from 1,542 megawatts to 4,000 megawatts.

 

The board has also approved at least 29 projects related to new sugar plants or capacity increases in old plants in the Northeast. 

 

Such industrial projects, however, have raised concerns among locals who fear the associated sugarcane plantations will hurt their environment, given the intense use of agrochemicals in such plantations as is widely known. 

 

In Roi Et province, the Tambon None Sawan Conservation Club yesterday called for the cancellation of a recent public forum on a project to set up a sugar factory and a bagasse-fuelled power plant in their hometown. 

 

If it materialises, the project will be the largest industrial operation in Thung Kula Ronghai area, the basket of one of the world’s most renowned strains of jasmine rice. This area covers 1.27 million rai (203,200 hectares) of land in the provinces of Roi Et, Maha Sarakham, Yasothon, Si Sa Ket and Surin. 

 

Held on May 16, the forum was criticised for paying each participant Bt300. 

 

“Such industrial plants will hurt our local way of life and hurt the reputation of our jasmine rice,” Nupa Kaewpila said, as representative of the Tambon None Sawan Conservation Club.

 

She submitted a petition of more than 2,000 signatures to deputy Roi Et governor Lertbus Kongthong in support of a call for the forum to be cancelled. 

“We also hope the Roi Et governor will cancel the second public forum that is scheduled to take place on May 23,” Nupa added. 

 

As an organic farmer, Nupa said she could not stay still when such a big project threatened the jasmine rice they grow and the local way of life. 

 

She added that she would try to find allies for the cause of protecting the Thung Kula Ronghai rice. 

 

The project, under Banpong Sugar Co Ltd, has reportedly drawn huge opposition from locals.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30369773

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-05-22

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[colinneil]

Last thing this area needs is this sugar factory.

PWA cannot provide a decent supply of water here, yet big business wants to build a bloody BIG factory here.

If it is allowed to happen there will be no water for residents.

[farmerjo]

This company is as professional as you get in agriculture here.

Why would the locals not want jobs for their kids,better power supply,help support other local business.

Save on freight,harvest quicker,paid quicker.

The sugar is already planted in the area.

It's a win win.

 

[geoffbezoz]

Guess someone will get a "Sweetner",  problem solved ????

[colinneil]

1 minute ago, farmerjo said:

This company is as professional as you get in agriculture here.

Why would the locals not want jobs for their kids,better power supply,help support other local business.

Save on freight,harvest quicker,paid quicker.

The sugar is already planted in the area.

It's a win win.

 

You dont live here, you dont have no water for days on end.

There is very little sugar grown around here, but there are company reps offering bribes to farmers to change over to sugar cane.

We have already had 1 auto washing machine buggered because of the bar stewards cutting off the water with no warning.

[Srikcir]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

locals who fear the associated sugarcane plantations will hurt their environment, given the intense use of agrochemicals in such plantations as is widely known. 

Unlike the intense use of toxic agrochemicals in their own crops?

Given that the Thai government has no objection to banning toxic agrochemicals in Thailand?

A little hypocrisy here by the locals.

[william76]

I cannot understand the worries about the environment.  It is already so polluted half of the year with the field burning. 

I hate sounding negative but the best is to leave and let the locals sort out their problems. 

There are so many countries where you are treated better. 

[farmerjo]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

You dont live here, you dont have no water for days on end.

There is very little sugar grown around here, but there are company reps offering bribes to farmers to change over to sugar cane.

We have already had 1 auto washing machine buggered because of the bar stewards cutting off the water with no warning.

We lived like that 15 years ago,government water only 6 hours a day.Only so much water allocated.

You filled your storage pool in the bathroom so you had enough till it was turned back on again.

If the supply was off for a period you waited for the Amphur to come around and fill your Ongs.

Is your supply from a lake or a bore. 

[colinneil]

14 minutes ago, farmerjo said:

We lived like that 15 years ago,government water only 6 hours a day.Only so much water allocated.

You filled your storage pool in the bathroom so you had enough till it was turned back on again.

If the supply was off for a period you waited for the Amphur to come around and fill your Ongs.

Is your supply from a lake or a bore. 

We have a 500 ltr storage tank which usually fills overnight, but no water during the day, and it was still cut off during the night ( unknown to us) wife puts on the washing machine first thing in the morning, unaware we had no water.

Me being still confined to my bed so i could not check, first thing i knew was when my wife came and said, something wrong with washing machine.

I have 4 1000ltr tanks for use outside, not for the house, sometimes i have to pump water from them to supply the house.

We are connected to mains water, and the supply is abysmal, nobody wants another big factory here as if that comes the water situation will be even worse than now.

[spidermike007]

This is a big sugar cane growing area, there is a tremendous amount of burning done, and the air quality is horrific for a few months of the year, as a result of that. And yet, they talk about quality of life? 

 

The cane trash (the part of the cane that is traditionally burned, can be used for biofuel. This would be a tremendous improvement to the environment. If the army was serious about improving the quality of life here, and the air quality, they would focus alot of time, effort and money on making this happen. This is not rocket science. The air quality in Thailand could be improved dramatically by focusing on reducing cane trash burning, and regulating poorly maintained diesel engines, and diesel burning power plants. 

 

Recovery of cane trash implies a change from traditional harvesting methods; which normally consists of destroying the trash by setting huge areas of sugarcane fields ablaze prior to the harvest.  There are a number of major technical and economic issues that need to be overcome to utilize cane trash as a renewable energy resource. For example, its recovery from the field and transportation to the mill, are major issues.

 

Alternatives include the current situation where the cane is separated from the trash by the harvester and the two are transported to the mill separately, to the harvesting of the whole crop with separation of the cane and the trash carried out at the mill. Where the trash is collected from the field it maybe baled incurring a range of costs associated with bale handling, transportation and storage. Baling also leaves about 10-20% (1-2 tons per hectare) of the recoverable trash in the field.

A second alternative is for the cane trash to be shredded and collected separately from the cane during the harvesting process. The development of such a harvester-mounted cane trash shredder and collection system has been achieved but the economics of this approach require evaluation. A third alternative is to harvest the sugarcane crop completely which would require an adequate collection, transport and storage system in addition to a mill based cleaning plant to separate the cane from the trash.

 

A widespread method for cane trash recovery is to cut the cane, chop into pieces and then it is blown in two stages in the harvester to remove the trash. The amount of trash that goes along with the cane is a function of the cleaning efficiency of the harvester. The blowers are adjusted to get adequate cleaning with a bearable cane loss.

On the average 68 % of the trash is blown out of the harvester, and stays on the ground, and 32 % is taken to the mill together with the cane as extraneous matter. The technique used to recover the trash staying on the ground is baling. Several baling machines have been tested with small, large, round and square bales. Cane trash can be considered as a viable fuel supplementary to bagasse to permit year-round power generation in sugar mills.

 

Thus, recovery of cane trash in developing nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America implies a change from traditional harvesting methods, which normally consists of destroying the trash by setting huge areas of cane fields ablaze prior to the harvest. To recover the trash, a new so-called “green mechanical harvesting” scheme will have to be introduced. By recovering the trash in this manner, the production of local air pollutants, as well as greenhouse gases contributing to adverse climatic change, from the fires are avoided and cane trash could be used as a means of regional sustainable development.

 

https://www.bioenergyconsult.com/tag/sugarcane-biomass/

[farmerjo]

The worst offenders are the cutting contractors who burn when coming into local areas.

It will only be a matter of time where burnt cane will not be accepted at the mills.

A sugar factory and power plant would supply thousands of jobs to the area as well as improve the standard of living.

Of course if not wanted the company could just take their money and expand their Chinese operations and result in lower prices for all of Thailand's cane growers.

 

[farmerjo]

25 minutes ago, colinneil said:

We have a 500 ltr storage tank which usually fills overnight, but no water during the day, and it was still cut off during the night ( unknown to us) wife puts on the washing machine first thing in the morning, unaware we had no water.

Me being still confined to my bed so i could not check, first thing i knew was when my wife came and said, something wrong with washing machine.

I have 4 1000ltr tanks for use outside, not for the house, sometimes i have to pump water from them to supply the house.

We are connected to mains water, and the supply is abysmal, nobody wants another big factory here as if that comes the water situation will be even worse than now.

Sounds like your community could do with a cash injection from a multi national company to improve infrastructure. 

[emptypockets]

12 hours ago, colinneil said:

Last thing this area needs is this sugar factory.

PWA cannot provide a decent supply of water here, yet big business wants to build a bloody BIG factory here.

If it is allowed to happen there will be no water for residents.

Sugar factories produce more water than they use.  Cane is typically 50% water.