JAKARTA – The House of Representatives (DPR), through its Commission IV, has underlined the importance of increasing the national production of palm oil as the main foundation to support the mandatory program of biodiesel 40 percent (B40), which has been implemented since early this year.
Commission IV Deputy Chairman Panggah Susanto said that the increase of national production of palm oil is necessary to strengthen the national energy resilience and reduce Indonesia’s reliance on imports of diesel fuel. “Our abundant supply of palm oil should be optimized as the raw material for production of biodiesel,” he said.
“We have big potential in palm oil sector. We have to maximize it for the production of B40, but without harming our interest in the food sector,” he said in a press statement on Wednesday (25/06/2025).
The government has upgraded the implementation of mandatory program of biodiesel from B35 to B40 since 01 January 2025. It is stipulated in the decree of energy and mineral resources (ESDM) minister No. 341.K/EK.01/ MEM.E/2024 with the financial support from the oil palm plantation fund management board (BPDPKS).
Panggah said that the implementation of the B40 program should be supported with concrete steps to strengthen the upstream palm oil sector, including the increase of productivity of smallholders’ plantations through the replanting program.
The DPR also urged the agriculture ministry and other related institutions to accelerate the implementation of intensification and extensification programs of palm plantations in order to ensure the supply of crude palm oil (CPO), which is needed at around 15.6 million kilolitres per year to support the B40 program.
“If palm oil production is not increased, then we’ll be facing a dilemma, supporting the renewable energy program or fulfilling the public need of cooking oil. The two sectors should not clash with each other,” he said.
He further said that the need of CPO will further increase as the government will upgrade the implementation of B40 to B50 next year. “All stakeholders, especially the agriculture ministry in the upstream sector and ESDM ministry in the downstream sector, should strengthen their synergy to ensure the sustainability of CPO supply for the biodiesel program,” he said.
In addition to that, DPR has also reminded the need for maintaining the stability of palm oil price and preventing price fluctuations due to the increase of CPO consumption for energy. (*)
