JAKARTA – The Indonesian Biodiesel Producers Association (APROBI) Chairman Parulian Tumanggor said that biodiesel has been used in Indonesia since 2006 as part of efforts to cut the import of oil fuels (BBM) and reduce the carbon emissions, which are significantly contributed by the use of fossil fuels.
He pointed out that the reasons behind the decision to use the biodiesel in Indonesia are the facts that the country had become a net importer of crude and oil fuels and the abundant production of crude palm oil (CPO) in the country.
“How grateful we are that God bless us with abundance of palm oil production and that we are the world’s largest producer of palm oil. Not all countries can grow the oil palm trees. We need to highly appreciate the palm oil and the use of palm oil-based biodiesel in this country,” Tumanggor, who is familiarly called Pak Tum, told a webinar on ‘Strategy and Opportunities to Manage Biodiesel based on Bio-hydrocarbon for Indonesian Benefits’ in Jakarta on Thursday, 15 October 2020.
He also noted that the use of palm oil-based biodiesel will meet the green requirements of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions as already agreed in the Kyoto protocol. The palm oil production also has a big potential to realize Indonesian energy resilience. “We can use our palm oil production to realize our national energy security and help eradicate the poverty through development of the palm oil and biodiesel. These are our strong reasons why the biodiesel use should be implemented in Indonesia,” he asserted.
Tumanggor also took the chance to convey his greatest appreciation to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and his administration for a strong commitment to implement the biodiesel programs of B30, B40, and B100. “There is no need for biodiesel users to worry about. The quality of B30 has proven to be quite good,” said Tumanggor.
According to him, in the biodiesel production the APROBI with its 19 member companies only function as tailors. APROBI as the producer of biofuel purchases the CPO from the oil palm companies and smallholders. They use the CPO as the raw material to produce fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), which is then blended with diesel fuel to produce the biodiesel. The biodiesel production is sent to stations which are appointed by the ministry of energy and mineral resources (MEMR) and PT Pertamina.
“I need to underline that APROBI and member companies are just tailors. This is to clear the misinformation among the general public as if the huge amount of fund, around 15 – 20 trillion rupiahs from the oil palm plantation fund management board (BPDPKS), is only enjoyed by our 19 member companies. Currently, as tailors we only got cost of production at around US$90 per ton. And the fund received by APROBI is not from the state budget, but from the BPDPKS which receives fund from the palm oil exporters,” he said.
BPDPKS Fund Distribution Director Edi Wibowo said during the webinar that the government fully supports the development of the palm oil-based biofuel due to its huge benefits to the Indonesian people. (*)
Source: Sindonews.com | Featured image via asianagri.com
