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Environmentally Friendly Educational Tourism at UI Teaches Waste Management Technology and Utilization of Renewable Energy

Garbage accumulation and environmental damage are still major problems in Indonesia. How could it not be, the community still doesn’t have extensive knowledge about waste management. They seem indifferent and don’t care. Sad isn’t it? Poor waste management is a potential driver of climate change.

Determined to be part of the solution to this big problem, the Community Service Team at the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (Pengmas FTUI) led by Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DTSL) FTUI, Dr. Cindy Rianti Priadi, and supported by the Directorate of Community Service and Empowerment (DPPM) UI, organized an eco-friendly energy educational tour for Taufiqurrahman II Beji Depok Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) students. This educational tour was held for the first time in the Parangtopo Laboratory of the UI Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), in early 2023 and is planned to be held on an ongoing basis in the future.

The collect-and-dispose system still dominates waste management in Indonesia. This management system increases the release of methane gas into the atmosphere from the accumulation of waste and increases climate change. The contribution of non-optimal waste management to greenhouse gases reaches 14% globally, after motor vehicles. For this reason, to reduce the potential for climate change due to the waste sector and the development of renewable energy.

“We feel the need for early education to trigger behaviour change. We have made MI Taufiqurrahman the target of community service workers this time because it is a pilot school in Depok that has integrated character education content through learning waste management. This educational tour aims to increase knowledge and awareness of the importance of mitigating climate change through managing waste into energy and using renewable energy technology from an early age,” said Dr. Cindy Rianti Priadi.

This educational tour activity also presented FTUI lecturers and students as material providers. The activity began with an introduction to material regarding types of waste and technology for processing various types of waste. The material was presented by FTUI Environmental Engineering Lecturer, Ayik Abdillah MSc., who has experience in the anaerobic digester field.

“This waste-to-energy system can provide broad insight into properly processing organic waste. An anaerobic digester is an alternative that can be applied to household waste processing, such as food waste. However, this technology is not widely known among the general public, especially for elementary school students who have limitations in understanding the proper form of waste management,” said Ayik Abdillah.

This lesson was also supported by Parangtopo Laboratory FMIPA UI through a live demonstration of how to process organic waste using anaerobic digester technology. The Parangtopo FMIPA Laboratory is a living laboratory for a Waste Power Plant (PLTSa) in collaboration with PT Paiton Energy. This PLTSa has 8 units of biodigester machines that aim to reduce the amount of organic waste and increase the potential for new renewable energy (EBT) in Indonesia.

In addition to an introduction to anaerobic digesters, students are also introduced to Solar Power Plants (PLTS) through technology simulations presented by Subhan Petrana, ST., MT., a Doctoral Program student in the Department of Electrical Engineering (DTE) FTUI who is under the guidance, Dr. Eko Adhi Setiawan.

The activity ended with enjoyable games activities through charades with the theme of environmentally friendly energy objects. During this activity, the students were very enthusiastic about participating in the game. Their understanding of the material presented is also very good.

This educational tour received positive responses from the students and teachers of MI Taufiqurrahman II. Irfan, a student at MI Taufiqurrahman II, said that he was very happy to take part in this event because it can add to his knowledge about organic waste processing. MI Taufiqurrahman II teacher representative, Ms. Rani, hopes that her school can implement anaerobic digester processing because it can attract students’ interest in processing organic waste and serve as a model for other schools. In addition, the anaerobic digester can be a solution to the waste problem to address the challenges of climate change due to the ever-accumulating waste. The enthusiasm and openness of the teachers at MI Taufiqurrahman II to increase students’ knowledge and environmental awareness from an early age is the key to forming a generation of young people who care about the environment.

Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, ST., M.Eng., IPU said “The introduction of various materials regarding the management and utilization of waste into renewable energy carried out by Community Service Units of FTUI is a form of knowledge contribution possessed by lecturers and students to the target community. In addition, the introduction of PLTS technology to students was carried out because FTUI is currently developing a PLTS based on bifacial technology which is claimed to be the first in Indonesia. This technology allows both sides of the solar panel to absorb sunlight. The first side absorbs direct sunlight, while the other side absorbs light reflected by the water. Through this system, it is hoped that the efficiency of PLTS will increase.”

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Bureau of Public Communications
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia

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