JAKARTA – The Indonesian government has been trying to reduce the use of fossil fuels, which are not ecofriendly and now declining in reserves, by utilizing the palm oil and hazelnut oil as raw materials to produce renewable energy in line with the global climate change convention.
“The agriculture ministry through its agriculture research and development board (Balitbangtan) has been continually conducting researches and innovations in developing bioenergy,” Balitbangtan Head Fadjry Djufry said in a press release issued on Sunday, 07 August 2022.
Fadjry said that the palm oil is the most potential and appropriate source of renewable energy in Indonesia, which is the world’s largest producer of palm oil.
The agriculture ministry’s Industrial and Purifying Plants Research Agency (Balittri) has managed to develop bioenergy from palm oil, called B-100, which has undergone three stages of test.
Balittri had conducted a road test of B-100, during which it compared it with Pertadex. The test result shows that the emission of B-100 is better than that of Pertadex, with a resulted efficiency and power being equal to that of Pertadex.
Besides, one liter of B-100 enables the used vehicle to travel up to 13.1 kilometer or 26.7% more efficient than the use of fossil fuels at the same volume.
Ballittri has also used the locally known “kemiri sunan”, a kind of hazelnut (Reutealis trisperma) for the bioenergy production. The hazelnut has a high productivity, with extraction rate reaching more than 50% and its averagely low level of free fatty acids.
The hazelnut has a deep system of rooting with wide leaves, and can grow in dry and marginal lands like the one in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province, so that it is also good for conservation and reforestation and able to absorb carbon emission at high level.
The sunan hazelnut can also be used to rehabilitate post-mining areas. The derivative products that can be developed from the hazelnut oil include glycerol, free fatty acids, turpentine, and other oleo-chemicals that have high economic values.
Being non-edible and poisonous, the oil from sunan hazelnut can be used as raw material to produce bio-pesticide. For example, biotris, which is developed by Balittri from the hazelnut to control cocoa pod borers.
Source: sindonews.com | Featured image via carsdirect.com
