P. Shanmughavel and K. Francis [5] had researched the
growth of bamboos that were utilized as raw material in
generating electricity for over six years. The results found
that in the fifth month, the height of bamboo had increased by
about 30 cm (without rain), as shown in Table I.
TABLE I: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF BAMBOO IN INDIA OVER 6 YEARS
Characteristics
of Bamboo
Year
1 2 3 4 5 6
Amount of
bamboo
(per 0.4 Acre)
Diameter breast
height (DHB)
(cm)
Average Height
(m)
1250
2.3
1.44
2250
3.3
3.26
3000
4.3
9.6
3500
4.8
21.8
4000
6.3
27.2
4250
8.3
28.5
Source: Adapted from P. Shanmughavel and K. Francis [5]
A. Arunachalam and K. Arunachalam [6] found that the
heating value of bamboo was 16 MJ/kg, while a 13% relative
humidity at a constant value of carbon and sulphur content in
fuel is not traceable. Therefore, it can be concluded that
sulphur was not a problem. From the experiment, it showed
that bamboo was a good fuel for generating energy when
compared with other plants. The ash and volatile contents of
tested bamboo were about 5% and 30%, respectively, which
was less than other woody biomass materials