THE NEGLECTED RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCE FROM BAMBOO IN INDONESIA

Elizabeth A. Widjaja
PROSEA Association, Bogor, Indonesia & Botany Division, Research Centre for Biology –LIPI, Cibinong, Indonesia. click here

Based on Yudodibroto (1987):

 118 Origin species in Indonesia
   88 Endim species in Indonesia

Sumatra:       76 species
Java:             59 species
Bali:              36 species
Papua:          32 species
Sulawesi:      25 species
Kalimantan:  23 species
Lesser Sunda Island: 17 species
Moluccas:     14 species

Building with Bamboo: Dendrocalamus asper. Name in Indonesia: Bambu Betung.

Bali Bamboo Design

3 pics: Dendrocalamus asper on Java height above 25 meter

diameter 24 cm

Pictures from a chocolate factory in Bali.

BALI, Indonesia -- Off Bali's beaten track, past a towering banyan tree and next to an ancient Hindu temple, the world's largest bamboo commercial structure is slowly taking shape: a chocolate factory.

The three-story, 23,000-square-foot building – made from more than 3,000 long, flexible poles – is crowned with a graceful, sloped ceiling nearly 50 feet high.

Frederick Schilling, co-owner of the Big Tree Farms factory, calls it his "bamboo cathedral."

The tropical plant, favored in the West for flooring, furniture and household accessories, is increasingly being touted as the construction material of choice by green advocates from South America to Africa.

Bali is leading the charge, attracting carpenters, architects and designers from across the globe to use bamboo in building everything from a school and luxury villas to exclusive resorts.

The plant, found in almost every equatorial nation, can grow up to 4 feet in a single day, reaching the height of a giant oak in less than six months. Some species are strong enough to be used for construction in five years.

Cheap – costing just $3 to plant and maintain one piece until it's ready to go – tough as concrete, with the ability to bend, and incredibly abundant, the possibilities are almost limitless.

"Bamboo is definitely regarded as one of the most sustainable building materials in the world," said Schilling, whose factory is scheduled to start pumping out four to six varieties of rich organic chocolate bars in January.

"As a bonus, it's also very beautiful to work with."

In Oct. 6, 2011 photo Frederick Schilling, right, from Ashland, Ore., and Ben Ripple, from Hartford, Conn., stand in front of their unfinished bamboo chocolate factory in Bali, Indonesia. Next 4 Picture Bamboohouse Green Village, Bali.

Bamboo, a tough, flexible plant which can grow up ... to four feet a day, is being used to build everything ...

from schools and luxury villas to exclusive resorts.