Jakarta – The used cooking oil (UCO) as the waste of frying process in households and local industries in Indonesia is very potential to be used as alternative raw material to produce biodiesel, which is usually produced from palm oil.
The Traction Energy Asia’s Research Manager Refina Muthia said that as the world’s largest producer and consumer of palm oil, from which the cooking oil is produced, Indonesia has an abundant supply of UCO that allows the country to export it to Europe. “The UCO can contribute around 8-10 percent for the national production of biodiesel,” Refina said during a virtual discussion on Tuesday, 28 March 2023.
She said that it is also potential to increase every year. Based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), during the period of 2015 – 2020 Indonesia’s household consumption of cooking oil increased by 2.32 percent every year.
Refina said that based on the study conducted by Traction Energy Asia in several regions of Java and Bali, there is a potential of 204,000 kiloliters of UCO every year in the two islands alone.
“Based on our study in Jabodetabek (Greater Jakarta), Bandung, Semarang, Surakarta, Surabaya, and Denpasar, total potential UCO from households and from micro, small and medium businesses can reach up to 204,000 kiloliters per year in Java-Bali,” she said.
According to her, at national level the potential availability of UCO supply can reach up to 1.2 million kiloliters per year, which can be derived from households and the micro, small and medium businesses across the country.
In the sector of households, potential reduction of UCO as raw material for biodiesel production can reach up to 40 percent, while in the sector of micro, small and medium businesses the potential decrease can reach up to 30 percent. “From such potential, if we use it as raw material to produce biodiesel, there will be a potential loss of around 10 percent,” she said.
Based on the study conducted by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), the potential supply of UCO in Indonesia is around 715 kilotons per year. But the potential supply is only based on the calculation in big cities. “If it is calculated in all cities of Indonesia, the potential supply of UCO will surely be much higher. But unfortunately, it is not yet incorporated into the national biodiesel program,” Tenny Kristiana, a researcher of the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) said during a virtual discussion on Wednesday, 29 March 2023.
Tenny said by including the UCO as alternative raw material of biodiesel production, it can get fiscal and non-fiscal incentives from the government. “By including the UCO into the national biodiesel program and by providing the incentives, then investments for biodiesel production from UCO will increase. As a national program, it will also get subsidy. It will be produced based on SNI, the standard of biodiesel delivered to the government, so that the quality is ensured,” she said. (*)
Source: wartaekonomi.co.id
