Modeling Burned Areas in Indonesia: The FLAM Approach

Sea level rise and climate change acting as interactive stressors on development and dynamics of tropical peatlands in coastal Sumatra and South Borneo since the Last Glacial Maximum

Southeast Asian peatlands, along with their various important ecosystem services, are mainly distributed in the coastal areas of Sumatra and Borneo. These ecosystems are threatened by coastal development, global warming and sea level rise (SLR). Despite receiving growing attention for their biodiversity and as massive carbon stores, there is still a lack of knowledge on how they initiated and evolved over time, and how they responded to past environmental change, that is, precipitation, sea level and early anthropogenic activities. To improve our understanding thereof, we conducted multi-proxy paleoecological studies in the Kampar Peninsula and Katingan peatlands in the coastal area of Riau and Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The results indicate that the initiation timing and environment of both peatlands are very distinct, suggesting that peat could form under various vegetation as soon as there is sufficient moisture to limit organic matter decomposition. The past dynamics of both peatlands were mainly attributable to natural drivers, while anthropogenic activities were hardly relevant. Changes in precipitation and sea level led to shifts in peat swamp forest vegetation, peat accumulation rates and fire regimes at both sites. We infer that the simultaneous occurrence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and SLR resulted in synergistic effects which led to the occurrence of severe fires in a pristine coastal peatland ecosystem; however, it did not interrupt peat accretion. In the future, SLR, combined with the projected increase in frequency and intensity of ENSO, can potentially amplify the negative effects of anthropogenic peatland fires. This prospectively stimulates massive carbon release, thus could, in turn, contribute to worsening the global climate crisis especially once an as yet unknown threshold is crossed and peat accretion is halted, that is, peatlands lose their carbon sink function. Given the current rapid SLR, coastal peatland managements should start develop fire risk reduction or mitigation strategies.

Opportunities to Optimize the Palm Oil Supply Chain in Sumatra, Indonesia

Significant amounts of biomass residues were generated in Indonesia. While untreated, residues emit greenhouse gases during the decomposition process. On the other hand, if efficiently utilized, these residues could be used to produce value-added products. This study investigates opportunities for harnessing the full potential of palm oil residues (i.e., empty fruit bunches, kernel shells, fiber, and mill effluent). As far as we are aware, the study is the first attempt to model the palm oil supply chain in a geographically explicit way while considering regional infrastructures in Sumatra Island, Indonesia. The BeWhere model, a mixed integer linear programming model for energy system optimization, was used to assess the costs and benefits of optimizing the regional palm oil supply chain. Different scenarios were investigated, considering current policies and new practices leading to improved yields in small-scale plantations and power grid connectivity. The study shows that a more efficient palm oil supply chain can pave the way for the country to meet up to 50% of its national bioenergy targets by 2025, and emission reductions of up to 40 MtCO2eq/year. As much as 50% of the electricity demand in Sumatra could be met if residues are efficiently used and grid connections are available. We recommend that system improvements be done in stages. In the short to medium term, improving the smallholder plantation yield is the most optimal way to maximize regional economic gains from the palm oil industry. In the medium to long term, improving electricity grid connection to palm oil mills could bring higher economic value as excess electricity is commercialized.