Bamboo-Powered Plants gone Offline
Monday, 7 September 2020
Biomass gas power plants in three villages in Mentawai stopped operating in less than a year after being officially opened. Their engines often broke down and residents were reluctant to supply bamboo as fuel because of how little they were paid. This report was done with the support of the Rainforest Journalism Fund in cooperation with the Pulitzer Center.
THE time of the clove harvest season had come in Saliguma village, Central Siberut, Mentawai Islands Regency, West Sumatra, at the end of last July. As is customary, locals go to the plantations to pick cloves from morning until night. At night they separate the clove flowers from the stems. However, as of last June, they can no longer work at night because the biomass gas power plant in Saliguma stopped providing electricity. “We can only
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