PROFESSOR  LEXIS  BELONIO:  RICE  AND  SHINE

[PHOTO AT LEFT - L’arte d’arrangiarsi — the art of making something out of nothing, is what 48-year-old Ilonggo Professor Alexis Belonio has mastered.]

MANILA, OCTOBER 7, 2009 (STAR) PEOPLE ASIA - Using Asia’s most abundant agricultural waste, Belonio invented a clean efficient biomass gas stove fuelled by rice husks, a feat deemed impossible by other scientists. The benefits of this invention to the Philippines’ poor are not only immediate but infinite, awakening hope for the millions looking for a viable solution to help them through the devastating economic crisis.

The world produces over 115 metric tonnes of rice husks each year and the Philippines – as one of the major rice-dependent countries – contributes immensely to this number, reports Belonio, the first Filipino to receive the Rolex Awards for Enterprise for his invention.

Numerous scientists had already thought of utilizing these abundant wastes before, but the flames produced from their prototypes were sooty, unhealthy, and could not generate enough heat to cook food. On the other hand, Belonio – an associate professor at the Central Philippine University of Iloilo City – came up with the idea to convert rice husks into gas after attending a technical workshop on wood gasification in Thailand. He wanted the flame that would be produced to be hotter and cleaner for cooking.

By a stroke of luck or sheer genius, Belonio’s first attempt at a top-lit, updraft, and biomass gas stove was a success. “I didn’t know why and how it worked, I just knew that it was successful because of the flame it emitted — it was blue!” tells Belonio, letting out a boisterous laugh bigger than his small frame, his eyes crinkling with boyish glee.

The Nutty Professor

His wife Salvacion shares that like any “nutty professor” who gets consumed by his ideas, her husband at times can’t avoid bringing work to bed. “While I would be sleeping, he would be in bed beside me drawing circles and computing imaginary equations in the air.”

And when the idea gets the best of him and he can’t wait for morning, he’d get out of bed, grab a sheet of paper and start drawing. Not surprisingly, he’d have his new invention manufactured in their shop the next day. This, she says, was the typical birth of all his ideas.

Belonio explains that he does not invent to claim exclusivity of an idea but rather he wants to share and urge others to find ways to solve ecological and social problems. He posts all of his blueprints on the Internet for free, even providing short summaries and pictures to attract businessmen who have the means to produce these stoves.

Belonio’s rice husk stove is not only cheap and simple to produce, it is also easy to operate. Small and cylindrical, the fan at its base was the ingenious element that dictated his prototype’s success, converting rice husks into gas.

The stove is also eco-friendly, cost-effective and it minimizes greenhouse gas emissions. The char that is left can be recycled to improve soil. With just a few handfuls of rice husks, it can produce enough energy to boil water in 6-9 minutes.

With gas and energy prices increasing, this humble gas stove can help solve the energy crisis by providing 415 lit. of petrol or 378 lit. of kerosene for every ton of rice husks.

Belonio explains, “I invented (the gas stove) because of the need, the need for efficient and sustainable energy, the need to reduce environmental pollution and the need for the disposal of waste. Not for money.”

The Spirit Of Enterprise

As an Associate Laureate awardee, Belonio was given a Rolex chronometer and $50,000 to help fund his new endeavour. “I was awarded this (Rolex Award for Enterprise) not because of the invention of the stove but for the spirit of enterprising, sharing what I know and helping others.”

Though $50,000 is an amazing figure, wouldn’t he have profited more if he patented his invention and sold his product? Belonio shares that he had considered this and that there were actually offers from businessmen who wanted to buy the rights of his invention. It was discussed in the negotiations that not only would he get a hefty sum for selling the rights but that Belonio would also earn P100 from every unit sold. “Everything was set and ready to be signed but I prayed to God if this was what He really wanted… this of course did not push through.(I realized) I will not go into business… I do not want to profit from this because I want to share what I have learned and inspire others.” Now, he enjoys a more fulfilling success by teaching and exchanging ideas with clients and students, both foreign and local.

He reveals that there was one European student whom he had never met before but was very interested in Belonio’s ideas. The European wanted to take the gas stove a step further and to discover a means to liquefy the gas. The professor remembers telling him, “That’s impossible!” but then Belonio realizes that nothing is impossible since his own dream stemmed from that, having done what was deemed impossible.

Currently Belonio is working on seven innovations and several other projects that are not gasifiers. He also plans to use the monetary reward from Rolex to set up a center in Iloilo where he will conduct trainings and seminars.

A scientist but more so a religious man, he said he invented the stove because it was time. “There’s a time for everything so it was time that this was to be discovered.” – Kristel Dacumos