Indonesia government keen to boost domestic biodiesel consumption for the needs of mining and railway sector, an official has said.
Director General for New and Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Rida Muylyana, was quoted by Tribunnews.com as having said at the office of the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, that the two sectors are hoped to contribute an increase of 400,000 kiloliters of biodiesel consumption this year.
Mulyana said that the mining sector, which uses B10, or fuel with a 10 percent mixture of biodiesel, is hoped to account for 90 percent while the railway sector is expected to account for the remaining 10 percent. State-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia, he said, is currently testing the use of B5, or fuel with a 5 percent biodiesel mixture.
“I have earlier reported that for the land transportation sector, it would be PT KAI,” Mulyana was quoted as saying at the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy on March 20, 2018.
“Rather than wait for six months, why should they not just do it, whatever amount they can at the moment. Yesterday, their GEMD engine could only consume B5 from their manufacturer. Then, let us use B5 first,” added.
Mulyana said that the government has already coordinated with developers and heavy machinery suppliers in the mining sector, so that they use B10 as fuel.
“How much do they usually consume per annum. Yesterday, I asked how much (is consumed) to our friends in mining, and how much Pertamina is supplying,” Mulyana said.
Biodiesel is currently already used for other land transportation such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses.
Indonesia is keen to increase its biodiesel consumption, which is produced with Crude Palm Oil. It has already raised its targeted consumption for this year from previously 2,5 million kiloliters to 3.5 million kiloliters.
Exports of Indonesian CPO and related products have been facing increasing barriers overseas with some of its main markets, such as the European Union planning to ban CPO as raw material for its renewable energy program, while the United State, is considering slapping anti-dumping duties on palm oil from Indonesia.