By Augustine Ignatius Doronila
IT IS not unusual to see, read or hear about environmental problems these days. Pollution has become so common that we appear resigned to the fact that this is part of modernization.
At times, it may seem that the cleanup would require a very expensive and highly sophisticated process. Have you ever thought that we could use plants to clean up contaminated soil and water?
Increased interest
Over the past 20 years there has been interest in using a series of technologies called phytoremediation (phyto = plant and remediation = providing a remedy) to provide a solution to many polluted areas.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has encouraged research on using plants to remediate manmade contaminants through several mechanisms.
Some plants destroy organic pollutants by degrading them directly through the production of acids and enzymes which attack these compounds. Other plants aid in degradation indirectly by supporting microbial communities in the soil which will decompose the pollutants. There are other plants that take up inorganic contaminants such as heavy metals from soil or water and concentrate them in the plant tissue or root.
Extraction technique
Using different plants, phytoremediation can be applied as a containment measure for decomposition of the pollutant or as a removal or extraction technique.
Through the development and evaluation of new, soft, appropriate and efficient biological processes, it is possible to remove, contain or render harmless environmental contaminants (toxic metals and difficult-to-destroy organic pollutants) in waste waters and sites heavily affected by industrial, mining or urban activities.
Attractive technology
The technology is attractive because the cost of phytoremediation techniques is estimated to be from 20 to 50 percent less than the highly engineered physical, chemical or thermal techniques.
Moreover, there are limited funds available for environmental cleanup. This alone is relevant to less economically developed countries which have suffered a legacy of chemical pollution and are unable to provide substantial funding to immediately remove the pollutant source.
Phytoremediation is still a young technology that seeks to harness the metabolic capabilities and growth habits of higher plants. Delivering a cheap, soft and safe biological treatment applicable to specific contaminated sites and wastewaters is a relatively recent development.
Low cost, low impact
The European Union through its COST Action 837 program, which presented its major findings in October 2009 in Ascona, Switzerland, showed that there was still a significant need to pursue both fundamental and applied research to provide low-cost, low-impact, visually benign and environmentally sound remediation strategies.
It is well-suited for use at very large sites where other methods of remediation are not cost-effective or practicable; at sites with low concentrations of contaminants where only “polishing treatment” is required over long periods of time; and in conjunction with other technologies where vegetation is used as a final cap and closure of the site.
The concept of using plants to clean up contaminated environments is not new. Approximately 300 years ago, plants were proposed for use in the treatment of wastewater in Berlin, Germany. Plant species have been discovered to accumulate metals to such high concentrations, usually 1,000 times, considered toxic to a typical plant.
European plant species
They have been called metal hyperaccumulating plants. At the end of the 19th century, two European plant species, the penny cress (Thlaspi caerulescens) and a small violet (Viola calaminaria), were the first plant species documented to accumulate high levels of metals in leaves.
In 1948, Tuscan scientists Minguzzi and Vergnano identified plants able to accumulate up to 1 percent Ni (nickel) in shoots which is 10,000 times more than what a typical plant would have in leaf tissues.
Bronze Age
Some unusual plants have been discovered to grow in soils which are naturally rich in metals as well as in ancient and abandoned mining sites from the time of the Bronze Age circa 3000 BC.
Toxic
Important metals for our modern lifestyles such as nickel, copper, zinc and lead are also invariably toxic if they become dissolved in water.
The idea of using plants to extract metals from contaminated soil was subsequently revived about 30 years ago and developed by Utsunamyia (Japan) and Chaney (US). The first field trial on zinc and cadmium phytoextraction was conducted in 1991 by Baker and his colleagues.
There has been extensive research in the past two decades with major developments occurring in the technologically advanced nations. Despite significant success, the understanding of how a plant does metal extraction is still emerging. The agronomic practices to improve the extraction are still being optimized.
Growing market
According to the EPA, the US phytoremediation market has grown significantly. It expanded from $30 million in 1995 to $49 million in 1999. This may also become a technology of choice for remediation projects in developing countries because it is cost-efficient and easy to implement.
It has only been in the past 10 years that phytoremediation studies have been undertaken in tropical regions. These are invariably emerging markets which are experiencing major pollution problems due to rapid industrialization. The countries which have taken the lead in harnessing this green technology are China, Thailand, Brazil, Chile and India.
Spectacular discovery
One of the most spectacular discoveries of a hyperaccumulating plant occurred in China in 1999. Prof. Tongbin Chen and his team from the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Science discovered a species of Chinese brake fern (Pteris vitatta) [a species of pacô] which can grow healthily in arsenic-rich soils.
Before this discovery no plant in the world had been found able to hyperaccumulate arsenic to a concentration of more than 1,000 milligrams per kilogram. So far, Chen’s team has identified a total of 16 native Chinese plants able to absorb arsenic, lead, copper and other heavy metals from soil.
By 2005, Chen’s research program in the southern Chinese province of Chenzhou had achieved success. The team conducted a field trial in Dengjiatang, a township in Hunan’s Chenzhou, where land was polluted by an arsenic smelter.
As a result of heavy arsenic pollution, two people died and most of the grains harvested in the area were contaminated.
Mei Lei, one of the researchers, reported that the arsenic level in the heavily polluted soil had dramatically decreased by half. The cost of using the fern to clean up the contaminated soil was at most one-tenth of the chemical cleaning methods.
Philippine plants
What about the Philippines? Our archipelago also has metal hyperaccumulating plants. In 1986, a British scientific expedition led by Proctor and Baker discovered four nickel hyperaccumulators.
One of these plant species, Phyllanthus balgooyi, accumulated Ni to very extreme concentration of 88,000 milligrams per kg or 8.8 percent. The metal was concentrated in a jade-green sap in a layer of wood just beneath the bark.
It has been recognized that the country may actually harbor many more of these hyperaccumulator species because of the unique geology of the nickel-rich rocks where these species can be found.
Biodiversity
Some world authorities such as Baker and Reeves feel that we are on the cusp of something significant because their intuitions from work in other parts of the world strongly suggest that our country is the habitat of a very large number of these specialized species.
The other biodiverse regions for these plants are in Cuba and New Caledonia.
Zambales
At the end of February 2009, I went on a field trip with Rene Claveria, a geologist and chair of the Department of Environmental Science, Ateneo de Manila University, and two graduate students to a nickel-rich area in Acoje, Zambales.
The mine operator, Rusina Mining, provided us generous logistic support. That initial survey resulted in a discovery of a new Ni hyperaccumulator which has sparked fresh enthusiasm to systematically discover these unique species which belongs to the genus Breynia in the plant family Phyllanthaceae.
It was a thrill to follow on from my mentor, Professor Emeritus Alan Baker, after their pioneering expedition and discovery in Palawan 24 years ago.
The Ateneo environmental scientists have subsequently followed up the initial find with a series of field trips to study the ecology. They also have initiated studies to understand its propagation and the molecules synthesized by the plants to accumulate the metal.
The analytical work has showed that this species will significantly accumulate Ni with concentrations of up to 0.9 percent in the leaf dry matter. The soils from which the plants were collected only had a third of the Ni concentration of the dry leaf matter. Bear in mind that the economic minerals underneath the vegetation contains at least 1.2 percent Ni.
Fast growing
These fast-growing high biomass plants may provide a harvestable valuable “metal crop from spent mineral resources” for post-mining communities. There is an urgent need to discover plants that can be used for the phytoextraction system.
In a recent conversation with journalist Maridel Andanar-Martinez, of the Australian Multicultural Special Broadcasting Service-Filipino program “Radyo SBS,” she aptly described these plants as “[mga] tanim na sumisipsip ng nikel sa ilalim ng lupa (plants that suck nickel from the soil).”
Understanding why and how these plants tolerate toxic conditions is important in providing a better way to restore highly disturbed areas.
Sustainable land use
There are rare examples in the tropical world and the Philippines has had very few of these species discovered in a systematic way. This initial finding and several recent discoveries by other Filipino research teams provide a window of opportunity for research and development of methods which may create novel avenues for long-term and economically sustainable land uses for local communities affected by mining.
(Augustine Doronila Ph.D. is a 2009 balikscientist awardee, research fellow, biogeochemist, restoration ecologist and post-mining reclamation expert. He is connected with the Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Research Group, School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Australia.)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Hot coal from coco waste spells cold cash for couple
By Maricar Cinco
SILANG, Cavite – Juan Marquez and wife Celia are not ashamed to call themselves “mag-uuling” (charcoal maker) and “basurero” (garbage collector).
The work they do, they say, brings in the cash.
But being a long-time environmentalist, Marquez believes that recycling agricultural wastes, particularly coconut that is abundant in Cavite, helps “minimize [harmful] impact on the environment.”
In 2006, Marquez was joined by fellow Rotarians in Silang town to put up 1M (culled from his initials – Juan Marquez) Agro-fuel Development Ventures Inc.
Due to his work on charcoal production from coconut wastes, with the assistance of Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau in Los Baños, Laguna, Marquez in 2007 was named one of 10 winners in research and development by the Philippine Business in Development, the local counterpart of The Netherlands-based non-government organization Business in Development.
Charcoal production
Both active in the town’s waste management program, Marquez and his wife were alarmed in 1996 when they learned that coconut wastes made up 60 percent of the biodegradable trash generated in Silang.
“These were disposed in creeks that clogged canals and caused floods,” says Celia.
It also takes years before coconut waste decomposes.
Turning the problem to an advantage, the couple collected the husks and shells of coconut from traders in Silang and later, from nearby towns. They received 10 to 15 tons of coconut wastes at their plant each day.
Marquez describes the procedure to recycle the wastes: The coconut husks must be dry, with only 30 percent of moisture, before they are charred in the kilns for three days. Later, the charcoal is cooled down for two days, ground, and finally molded into briquettes.
Marquez has also devised condensing pipes that trap and condense the smoke emitted from the kilns. The vapor is condensed into another byproduct – “pyroligenous acid” or liquid smoke.
The plant has 10 kilns, each capable of producing 500 kilos of coal and about 500 liters of liquid smoke per production.
Cheaper, safer
Coconut charcoal is found to have higher heating value. It is smokeless and odorless as compared with wood charcoal, Marquez says, adding that it is three times hotter.
“Eight pieces of briquettes could be used for two hours of cooking. A kilo [of charcoal] may be used to grill five kilos of pork meat and two bangus [milkfish]. We’ve tried that,” he says.
1M supplies coconut charcoal to poultry growers in Manila and Cavite. Most poultry raisers use liquefied petroleum gas. But a ton of charcoal can be used in a poultry farm of 30,000 heads of chicken, enabling growers to cut down on fuel expenses.
Liquid smoke, on the other hand, may be used as insect and pest repellent, odor eliminator and disinfectant. 1M supplies liquid smoke to farmers, factories and hospital waste treatment facilities.
Vic Marasigan of KLT Fruits Inc. in Dasmariñas City says he uses liquid smoke to remove odor from the factory’s fruit wastes.
“We [also] tried spraying it [at] a passion fruit plantation, and insect infestation was reduced,” he says.
Also known as “wood vinegar,” the refined liquid smoke has medicinal uses – it may be applied to disinfect open wounds and cure arthritis.
The Department of Agriculture Cavite office has also tested liquid smoke in vegetable plantations.
1M’s pack of 30 briquettes, equivalent to a kilo, costs P19. It is also sold per sack – about five kilos – to poultry growers for P90. The liquid smoke, branded as Norture Liquid Smoke, is sold for P120 per liter.
Replication
With coconut wastes as their primary material, the couple worries about the depleting coconut plantations in the town.
“In 10 years, coconut plantations could be gone and converted into subdivisions. We just have to replant and replace the losses,” says Celia.
But Marquez says they can also use mango wastes, pineapple stalks or skin of durian to produce charcoal, depending on presence of the crops in certain regions.
He says he is willing to transfer the technology and begin the charcoal industry in other communities.
“There is a high demand for coal. We are being required two container vans of coal per month,” he says.
He says that 1M is now considering prospects of exporting its products abroad.
SILANG, Cavite – Juan Marquez and wife Celia are not ashamed to call themselves “mag-uuling” (charcoal maker) and “basurero” (garbage collector).
The work they do, they say, brings in the cash.
But being a long-time environmentalist, Marquez believes that recycling agricultural wastes, particularly coconut that is abundant in Cavite, helps “minimize [harmful] impact on the environment.”
In 2006, Marquez was joined by fellow Rotarians in Silang town to put up 1M (culled from his initials – Juan Marquez) Agro-fuel Development Ventures Inc.
Due to his work on charcoal production from coconut wastes, with the assistance of Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau in Los Baños, Laguna, Marquez in 2007 was named one of 10 winners in research and development by the Philippine Business in Development, the local counterpart of The Netherlands-based non-government organization Business in Development.
Charcoal production
Both active in the town’s waste management program, Marquez and his wife were alarmed in 1996 when they learned that coconut wastes made up 60 percent of the biodegradable trash generated in Silang.
“These were disposed in creeks that clogged canals and caused floods,” says Celia.
It also takes years before coconut waste decomposes.
Turning the problem to an advantage, the couple collected the husks and shells of coconut from traders in Silang and later, from nearby towns. They received 10 to 15 tons of coconut wastes at their plant each day.
Marquez describes the procedure to recycle the wastes: The coconut husks must be dry, with only 30 percent of moisture, before they are charred in the kilns for three days. Later, the charcoal is cooled down for two days, ground, and finally molded into briquettes.
Marquez has also devised condensing pipes that trap and condense the smoke emitted from the kilns. The vapor is condensed into another byproduct – “pyroligenous acid” or liquid smoke.
The plant has 10 kilns, each capable of producing 500 kilos of coal and about 500 liters of liquid smoke per production.
Cheaper, safer
Coconut charcoal is found to have higher heating value. It is smokeless and odorless as compared with wood charcoal, Marquez says, adding that it is three times hotter.
“Eight pieces of briquettes could be used for two hours of cooking. A kilo [of charcoal] may be used to grill five kilos of pork meat and two bangus [milkfish]. We’ve tried that,” he says.
1M supplies coconut charcoal to poultry growers in Manila and Cavite. Most poultry raisers use liquefied petroleum gas. But a ton of charcoal can be used in a poultry farm of 30,000 heads of chicken, enabling growers to cut down on fuel expenses.
Liquid smoke, on the other hand, may be used as insect and pest repellent, odor eliminator and disinfectant. 1M supplies liquid smoke to farmers, factories and hospital waste treatment facilities.
Vic Marasigan of KLT Fruits Inc. in Dasmariñas City says he uses liquid smoke to remove odor from the factory’s fruit wastes.
“We [also] tried spraying it [at] a passion fruit plantation, and insect infestation was reduced,” he says.
Also known as “wood vinegar,” the refined liquid smoke has medicinal uses – it may be applied to disinfect open wounds and cure arthritis.
The Department of Agriculture Cavite office has also tested liquid smoke in vegetable plantations.
1M’s pack of 30 briquettes, equivalent to a kilo, costs P19. It is also sold per sack – about five kilos – to poultry growers for P90. The liquid smoke, branded as Norture Liquid Smoke, is sold for P120 per liter.
Replication
With coconut wastes as their primary material, the couple worries about the depleting coconut plantations in the town.
“In 10 years, coconut plantations could be gone and converted into subdivisions. We just have to replant and replace the losses,” says Celia.
But Marquez says they can also use mango wastes, pineapple stalks or skin of durian to produce charcoal, depending on presence of the crops in certain regions.
He says he is willing to transfer the technology and begin the charcoal industry in other communities.
“There is a high demand for coal. We are being required two container vans of coal per month,” he says.
He says that 1M is now considering prospects of exporting its products abroad.
Builders say nature cannot be ignored
By Tessa Salazar
TAKE NATURE INTO CONSIDERATION, and the rewards will be plenty. Ignore nature, and the consequences are certain to be dire. The country’s top builders say they have always built on this principle.
Architect and environmental planner Henry L. Yap, vice president of Robinsons Land Corp.’s design and planning department, says the onslaught of the recent calamities has proven how ruthless the environment can be to the unprepared.
“We shall continue to do our share in responsible citizenship by making sure that we regularly clean our large drainage systems and continue to periodically assess its state/condition. The transfer of best practices that focuses on maintenance, repair and upgrade which greatly come in play with our in-house engineers will be continued and even be enhanced,” says Yap, who is also the general manager of the RLC office buildings division.
Yap adds that the typhoons had shown that RLC’s use of proper site considerations, including the evaluation of the ecological/environmental factors in arriving at its designs and decisions, “actually served us well as seen by the minimal effects on our projects. RLC will continue to ensure that we assess each location that we consider based on exhaustive site selection criteria/factors. Understanding the site profile will greatly influence our decision and will limit the negative impacts on the environment.”
Environmental sustainability
Thomas F. Mirasol, head of marketing and sales of Ayala Land Premier, says: “I can say with confidence that Ayala Land is the leader as far as environmental sustainability is concerned.
“We were the first (and might still be the only one) to set up sewage treatment plants decades ago. Decades ago, too, we emphasized open and green spaces. We respected areas that should never be developed either because of the impact on the land or the flora and fauna that lived there. We harvest rainwater. We reuse treated wastewater for irrigation. We recycle building materials and contain the effects of development. I think Nuvali in Laguna is the leading example of all of these best practices being put to good use today,” Mirasol says.
Benjamarie Therese N. Serrano, director, president and chief operating officer, and Ricardo B. Tan Jr., senior vice president-finance and chief information officer, of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., says their team believes it has a “very good record” in terms of giving something back to the environment.
Vista Land, which counts among its projects Brittany, Crown Asia, Camella and a host of various condominium developments in the country, says it maintains a major tree nursery and had planted over one million trees since the establishment of its “pioneering” company three decades ago.
“Where possible, we refrain from cutting down trees in our developments, for example, in our Georgia Club subdivision in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, we designed the layout taking into account the existence of many hardwood trees, and we declared the area a bird sanctuary,” Serrano says.
Close ties
Vista Land claims it has maintained close ties with the Villar Foundation which was established by its principals. Serrano says the Foundation has made significant progress in cleaning up the river in Las Piñas, while at the same time creating livelihood and employment for the community. She cites another project to convert kitchen waste to organic fertilizer, which promotes garbage segregation and will hopefully lessen the use of landfills.
Both Vista Land executives say that in general, developers in 2010 will be more conscious of how their actions affect the environment.
“Mitigating adverse impact to the environment,” Serrano continues, “is one way the company is taking a hard look at its carbon footprint. We should never look at it as a choice between preserving nature and giving people their dwelling spaces. It can be, it should be, a healthy balance.”
Nerissa N. Josef, vice president for project development of Alveo Land, says the company has been conscientious in taking a long-term view on property, adding, “We know that when we build, we build not only for the present but also for the future. Thus, concern for the environment and economic and social sustainability has always been considered from the time we plan up to execution and operation of facilities. Even before ‘green’ had become a trend, Alveo had been ‘greening’ its developments.”
She cites Verdana Homes Bacoor, which segregates its garbage, and maintains a tree nursery; TCAA which has natural ventilation; Two Serendra which maintains a 65-percent “green space” with the largest “green roof” in the area, adding that the gardens on the ground floor of the low-rise sections is the “green roof” for the basement, covering about 2.5 hectares of open space for Two Serendra, and its breezeways.
Josef also cites Celadon Park and Senta, which also have green roofs; Treveia, as part of Nuvali, has sustainable features further enhanced. She cites bioswales, a retention pond which serves both as a feature and sustainability element, trees, provision for double piping, and “gray” water. It also supports the social sustainability efforts of Nuvali by hiring skilled labor in the area.
TAKE NATURE INTO CONSIDERATION, and the rewards will be plenty. Ignore nature, and the consequences are certain to be dire. The country’s top builders say they have always built on this principle.
Architect and environmental planner Henry L. Yap, vice president of Robinsons Land Corp.’s design and planning department, says the onslaught of the recent calamities has proven how ruthless the environment can be to the unprepared.
“We shall continue to do our share in responsible citizenship by making sure that we regularly clean our large drainage systems and continue to periodically assess its state/condition. The transfer of best practices that focuses on maintenance, repair and upgrade which greatly come in play with our in-house engineers will be continued and even be enhanced,” says Yap, who is also the general manager of the RLC office buildings division.
Yap adds that the typhoons had shown that RLC’s use of proper site considerations, including the evaluation of the ecological/environmental factors in arriving at its designs and decisions, “actually served us well as seen by the minimal effects on our projects. RLC will continue to ensure that we assess each location that we consider based on exhaustive site selection criteria/factors. Understanding the site profile will greatly influence our decision and will limit the negative impacts on the environment.”
Environmental sustainability
Thomas F. Mirasol, head of marketing and sales of Ayala Land Premier, says: “I can say with confidence that Ayala Land is the leader as far as environmental sustainability is concerned.
“We were the first (and might still be the only one) to set up sewage treatment plants decades ago. Decades ago, too, we emphasized open and green spaces. We respected areas that should never be developed either because of the impact on the land or the flora and fauna that lived there. We harvest rainwater. We reuse treated wastewater for irrigation. We recycle building materials and contain the effects of development. I think Nuvali in Laguna is the leading example of all of these best practices being put to good use today,” Mirasol says.
Benjamarie Therese N. Serrano, director, president and chief operating officer, and Ricardo B. Tan Jr., senior vice president-finance and chief information officer, of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., says their team believes it has a “very good record” in terms of giving something back to the environment.
Vista Land, which counts among its projects Brittany, Crown Asia, Camella and a host of various condominium developments in the country, says it maintains a major tree nursery and had planted over one million trees since the establishment of its “pioneering” company three decades ago.
“Where possible, we refrain from cutting down trees in our developments, for example, in our Georgia Club subdivision in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, we designed the layout taking into account the existence of many hardwood trees, and we declared the area a bird sanctuary,” Serrano says.
Close ties
Vista Land claims it has maintained close ties with the Villar Foundation which was established by its principals. Serrano says the Foundation has made significant progress in cleaning up the river in Las Piñas, while at the same time creating livelihood and employment for the community. She cites another project to convert kitchen waste to organic fertilizer, which promotes garbage segregation and will hopefully lessen the use of landfills.
Both Vista Land executives say that in general, developers in 2010 will be more conscious of how their actions affect the environment.
“Mitigating adverse impact to the environment,” Serrano continues, “is one way the company is taking a hard look at its carbon footprint. We should never look at it as a choice between preserving nature and giving people their dwelling spaces. It can be, it should be, a healthy balance.”
Nerissa N. Josef, vice president for project development of Alveo Land, says the company has been conscientious in taking a long-term view on property, adding, “We know that when we build, we build not only for the present but also for the future. Thus, concern for the environment and economic and social sustainability has always been considered from the time we plan up to execution and operation of facilities. Even before ‘green’ had become a trend, Alveo had been ‘greening’ its developments.”
She cites Verdana Homes Bacoor, which segregates its garbage, and maintains a tree nursery; TCAA which has natural ventilation; Two Serendra which maintains a 65-percent “green space” with the largest “green roof” in the area, adding that the gardens on the ground floor of the low-rise sections is the “green roof” for the basement, covering about 2.5 hectares of open space for Two Serendra, and its breezeways.
Josef also cites Celadon Park and Senta, which also have green roofs; Treveia, as part of Nuvali, has sustainable features further enhanced. She cites bioswales, a retention pond which serves both as a feature and sustainability element, trees, provision for double piping, and “gray” water. It also supports the social sustainability efforts of Nuvali by hiring skilled labor in the area.
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