JAKARTA – Bioavtur or Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from palm oil is a strategic solution for Indonesia to reduce its dependence on imports of fossil-based avtur and to tackle the environmental challenges, especially in reducing carbon trace in air transportation sector.
The Palm Oil Agribusiness Strategic Policy Institute (PASPI) Monitor (2025) said in its report titled “Pengembangan SAF Sawit untuk Langit yang Lebih Hijau” (Development of Palm-based SAF for Greener Sky) also asserted the SAF is a strategic solution for Indonesia to reduce its dependence on the imports of fossil-based avtur and to resolve the environmental challenges. Following is an elaboration on the palm-based SAF as a strategic solution:
Reducing Avtur import reliance
The air transportation sector plays a very vital role for the economy of Indonesia, which is an archipelagic country. The growth of population, the increase of middle class, the increase of public income and power purchase, and development of tourism sector, have pushed up the national and global flights in terms of number of passengers and volume of cargo transportation. The condition has generated the consumption growth of avtur as aviation fuel.
Data from the ministry of energy and mineral resources (KESDM) and PT Pertamina shows that the consumption of avtur in Indonesia increased from 3.53 million kilolitres in 2010 to 5.0 million kilolitres in 2023. To fulfil the rising consumption of avtur, Indonesia had to import fossil avtur (HS 2710.19.81).
The import volume of fossil avtur increased from 201.7 thousand tons to 1.4 million tons. Along with the growth, its import value rose from US$95.1 million or Rp1.56 trillion (Rp16,400 US dollar) to US$1.08 billion (Rp17.71 trillion). During the period of January–June 2025, import volume and value of fossil avtur had reached 50 percent of the total import in 2024.
The rising trend of import volume shows that Indonesia has been relying on the fossil avtur. The condition has caused the increase of deficit in the country’s oil-gas balance and potential to make Indonesia’s air transportation vulnerable to the global geopolitical turbulence that could lead to instability of socio-economy in the country.
To repeat the success of implementing the biodiesel mandatory program (PASPI, 2023; PASPI Monitor, 2023b; 2024a; 2024b; 2025c), the blending of fossil avtur with bioavtur at certain rate will reduce the consumption of fossil avtur that is potential to save the country’s foreign exchangne.
Reducing carbon emission
The global society has been increasingly aware on the global climate change and global warming as a result of the increase of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in the atmosphere that had exceeded its natural concentration (PASPI, 2023). The energy sector based on fossil fuels is the main contributor of global GHG emission.
Within the sector, the air transportation as user of fossil avtur contributed 2.3 percent to the total global GHG emissions in 2020.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), as the global authority in transportation sector, is committed to reducing the GHG emissions towards realizing the target of global net zero emission (NZE) in 2050. The commitment is realized through the formation of Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
One of main programs in the CORSIA is to realize the reduction of carbon emissions in the international transportation sector through the application of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or bioavtur as substitution to fossil avtur that causes higher emissions.
As a member country of ICAO, Indonesia has not only used the SAF in the transportation sector, but has also developed its own national industry of SAF by utilizing its local potential natural resources, mainly palm oil, its derivative products and its wastes (liquid and solid) as feedstock or raw material to produce the SAF (PASPI, 2025).
The use of palm oil-based SAF can reduce the emissions in the aviation sector. Many publications have reported the SAF has the capacity to reduce the carbon emissions at between 65 percent (IATA, tt) to 80 percent (Airbus, tt), if compared to the use of fossil-based avtur. (*)
The study of Millatie et.al. (2023) has compiled many studies related to the reduction of carbon emissions from the use of SAF (bioavtur) compared to fossil avtur with a relatively high percentage of 36-85 percent (Liu et.al., 2021); 38,9-65,2 percent (Zhu et.al., 2022); and 63,7 percent (Zhang et.al., 2022).
Sawitindonesia.com. SAF Sawit Atasi Ketergantungan Impor dan Kurangi Emisi Karbon. https://sawitindonesia.com/saf-sawit-atasi-ketergantungan-impor-dan-kurangi-emisi-karbon/. 12 September 2025
