BERLIN – Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita made a visit to two German companies during his working visit to Europe last week as part of efforts to establish partnerships in developing downstream palm oil industries in Indonesia.
The first German company he visited is Ecogreen Oleochemicals, which produces fatty acid and other downstream palm oil products with advanced technology. The company’s products are used by other industries as raw materials to produce detergents, skin care and cosmetics, agricultural chemicals, textile industries, printing, foods, and medicines.
“Downstream industries can increase the added value of palm oil commodity. We see that the technology used by Ecogreen Oleochemical can support the development of downstream palm oil industry in Indonesia. We discussed it with Ecogreen Oleochemical to open such business opportunity,” the industry minister said in Berlin, Germany, last Friday, 27 May 2022.
During the last 10 years, Indonesia’s export of palm oil derivative products has increased significantly from 20% in 2010 to 80% in 2020. Currently, 168 products of downstream palm oil industries are produced in Indonesia, as compared to only 54 kinds of products in 2011.
In 2020, its exports of palm oil products reached US$19.89 billion, which then rose by 56.63% in 2021. The palm oil industries employ directly 4.20 million workers and indirectly 12 million workers.
Indonesia’s B30 mandatory program, which is part of the downstream palm oil industry, has reduced its import of diesel fuel by 9.02 million kiloliter in 2021. With the B30 production, Indonesia can save foreign exchange at US$4.54 billion or around Rp64.45 trillion, and cut greenhouse gas emission at around 24.4 million tons of CO2 equivalent.
In conjunction with the annual event of the World Economic Forum 2022 on new and renewable energy, the industry minister had also met with the APUS Group, which initiates the APUS Zero Emission. As an agency designing the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), APUS Group conducted a research on how to use hydrogen safely and economically.
“The results of researches and experiences from various projects and cooperation in producing APUS i-2 and APUS i-5 had been applied to develop high performing airplanes with hydrogen electric-hybrid system,” said the minister in a press release issued on Sunday, 29 May 2022.
Hydrogen is an alternative energy source that can be applied for industries, transportation, power plants, and other sectors.
The Indonesian government has initiated the use of hydrogen for power generation, transportation (land, sea and air). The hydrogen as a replacement of fossil fuels is being developed for the sector of power plants. Its technology is a hybrid one with a combination of hydrogen and natural gas (grey hydrogen), which still causes carbon emission. “We hope to make it to a blue hydrogen for the next step,” said the minister.
Based on the national automotive industry roadmap, the industry minister has set the target of 20 percent for the use of battery-based electric cars in 2025. “It includes the hydrogen-based fuel cell for the industry of environmentally friendly electric cars,” he said. (*)
Source: kemenperin.go.id | Featured image via setkab.go.id
