JAKARTA – Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said the government is now preparing the biofuel industry to support the implementation of B50 program by the next government under President-elect Prabowo Subianto.
“Based on direction from President Joko Widodo, we’re now preparing the companies that will produce the B50 under the next administration of Prabowo Subianto,” Minister Amran said in Jakarta on Friday (19/07/2024).
But Minister Amran did not elaborate about the preparations of the B50 program , which is expected as an upgrading of the current program of B35 until the end of this year and later B40 program next year. He only stated that the B50 program is aimed to reduce Indonesia’s reliance on import of diesel fuel by replacing it with the use of biofuel which is the mixture diesel fuel and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) from crude palm oil (CPO).
Currently, according to Amran, Indonesia’s production of biofuel reached 46 million tons per year, of which around 26 million tons are exported to global market, while still importing around 5.3 million tons of diesel fuel every year.
“Our biofuel production now reaches 46 million tons. We export 26 million tons. But we still import 5.3 million tons of diesel fuel. It means we can still raise our biofuel production to replace the imported diesel fuel. With that we expect the increase of CPO price, which will certainly benefit our smallholders,” he said.
He added that it will also raise the price of CPO at global market, which will then benefit Indonesia as the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil with a global market share of 58 – 60 percent.
Meanwhile, the ministry of energy and mineral resources (MEMR) and state-owned company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) started the test of B40 use in trains on Monday (22/07/2024).
The trial of using the B40, a mixture of 60 percent fossil diesel fuel and 40 percent FAME from CPO, is conducted on the train of KA Bogowonto serving the route of Lempuyangan (Yogyakarta) – Pasar Senen (Central Jakarta).
The MEMR’s Director General of Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, Eniya Listiani Dewi said that the trial is aimed to test the durability of the generator engine of KA Bogowonto for 1,200 hours.
“This is the first kick off for the trial of B40 in trains,” Eniya said in Lempuyangan station, Yogyakarta.
With the estimated round trip of KA Bogowonto from Lempuyangan to Pasar Senen at 22 hours, it is estimated that it will need 50 round trips or around two months to realize a total test hour of 1,200 hours.
The trial in KA Bogowonto is part of test program in train sector, and heavy equipments in agricultural and mining sector. Previously, the government had conducted the same test for vehicles in the transportation sector. (*)
Source: sawitku.id
