Presidential hopefuls pledge energy self-sufficiency via palm oil
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s two presidential candidates pledged to achieve energy self-sufficiency by boosting the use of bioenergy, particularly fuelled by palm oil, to cut costly oil imports.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest palm oil producer, has been pushing for all diesel fuel used in the country to contain biodiesel to boost palm consumption, slash fuel imports and narrow a yawning current account gap.
In a televised election debate, President Joko Widodo said if he won a second term, the government planned to implement a B100 programme, referring to fuel made entirely from palm oil, after last year making it mandatory to use biodiesel containing 20 per cent bio-content.
“We hope 30 per cent of total palm production will go to biofuel. The plan is clear, so we will not rely on imported oil.”
Agreeing on the importance of bioenergy for self-sufficiency, his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, said if elected, he would also “boost the use of palm oil, palm sugar, cassava and ethanol from sugar (cane)”.
The challenger did not elaborate on his bioenergy plan, but his campaign team has proposed using millions of hectares of degraded land to cultivate palm sugar to produce energy.
Oil imports have contributed to Indonesia’s widening current account deficit and the volatility of the rupiah currency.
Meanwhile, environmental group Greenpeace criticised both candidates for failing to ensure that the biofuel programmes they promised will not cause further erosion of forests, peatlands and mangrove, due to potentially higher demand for palm oil that is mixed with the fuel.
By 2030, the global demand for biofuels would reach 67 million tonnes from the current 10.7 million tonnes, which could potentially result in 4.5 million hectares of deforestation, it said.