Energy conservation lacks govt support: Experts<\/p>\n
Berni K. Moestafa and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
More than two decades of having an official energy policy did
\nlittle to raise public awareness about energy conservation, as
\nthe absence of political will and regulations have rendered the
\npolicy ineffective, experts said on Monday.<\/p>\n
In 1980 the government founded the Energy Coordination Body
\n(Bakoren) to, among other things, promote energy conservation.
\nIts message though is either unheard-of or unheeded by the public
\nat large.<\/p>\n
Indonesians use 200 million light bulbs every year that
\nconsume five times the amount of energy of fluorescent lights,
\naccording to state-owned electricity company PT PLN.<\/p>\n
On the roads, the steady rise in fuel prices has not motivated
\nmotorists to cut back their fuel consumption.<\/p>\n
Whatever the government was aiming for when it launched the
\n1980 energy conservation policy, it has yet to show any results
\n22 years later.<\/p>\n
One expert said ideas on conservation should not stop at
\nconcepts but must transpire into clear regulations and standards.<\/p>\n
\"A concept on energy conservation will remain a concept, no
\nmatter how well designed it is,\" said Achmad Safruddin, chairman
\nof a government joint team to eradicate the use of leaded fuel.<\/p>\n
He said concepts demanded regulations for them to work.<\/p>\n
To this end, the presence of an energy law is imperative, said
\nTitovianto Widyantoro.<\/p>\n
Titovianto is in charge of implementing energy conservation
\npolicies at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.<\/p>\n
\"All our policies are non-binding. If you want people to stick
\nto them we need a law,\" Titovianto said.<\/p>\n
Bakoren was set up to be a meeting point between energy,
\nenvironmental and economic interests. Coordination was intended
\nto ensure energy policies did not stir conflicts among the three
\ninterest areas.<\/p>\n
According to Titovianto, energy conservation is one of the
\nthree main policies outlined under Bakoren's first policy.<\/p>\n
The other two are energy diversification and intensification,
\nwhich deal with expanding the country's energy resources.<\/p>\n
Now Bakoren has five main policies, a pricing policy and an
\nenvironment policy in addition to the original three, he said.<\/p>\n
But as Bakoren jostles with five different interest groups,
\nAchmad said, conservation often loses out against the other four.<\/p>\n
\"The government keeps prioritizing regulations that only serve
\nshort term economic interests,\" he said.<\/p>\n
This approach, according to him, came at the expense of
\nregulations that support sustainable development.<\/p>\n
Achmad said the absence of regulations had caused the
\ngovernment to treat the entire energy issue half-heartedly.<\/p>\n
Bakoren energy policies served as a guideline for industries
\nthat lack the legal power of enforcement, Titovianto added.<\/p>\n
Plans for an energy law surfaced about six years ago, but they
\nnever came through, because \"apparently nobody thinks it is
\nurgent\".<\/p>\n
The government did submit an energy bill to the legislature
\nabout a year ago, he said, but its fate remains unclear.<\/p>\n
He said the law essentially meant arming the energy policy
\nwith legal teeth. Government regulations would provide details
\nfor effective implementation.<\/p>\n
But Titovianto said it was unclear whether the birth of an
\nenergy law would also mean the end of Bakoren's policies.<\/p>\n
\"The law is by itself of a higher rank than the policies,
\nhowever, that doesn't mean we must abandon them,\" he said.<\/p>\n
With the energy bill already proceeding slowly, energy
\nconservation has fallen further behind on the government's
\npriority scale as no budget has been set aside this year to
\nfinance public campaigns.<\/p>\n
\"Other ministries handle similar campaigns. We still have a
\nsay but no longer control the budget,\" Titovianto said.<\/p>\n
But overall, the entire budget on energy conservation does
\nappear small.<\/p>\n
Titovianto is one of just three officials handling the
\ncountry's energy conservation issue nationwide.<\/p>\n
\"Obviously, there aren't enough of us,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
His three-man team took advantage of rising energy costs since
\nthe 1997 economic crisis, to get public awareness on energy
\nconservation snowballing.<\/p>\n
Pressured by a tight state budget, the government has been
\ncutting back on fuel subsidy spending since 1997 through a series
\nof price hikes.<\/p>\n
Industries pay their fuel at 75 percent of market prices, and
\nthe government expects to completely phase out fuel subsidies by
\n2004.<\/p>\n
Titovianto said this situation has driven companies to seek
\nother energy sources and increase efficiency in fuel usage.<\/p>\n
Using seminars and workshops to introduce the concept of
\nsaving energy, industries picked up the issue and made it their
\nown.<\/p>\n
Forums of different industries emerged to exchange information
\non how to use energy efficiently. Now Titovianto and his two
\npartners have trouble coping with the rising information demand.<\/p>\n
\"We're more like coordinating this, and we help forums hold
\ntheir own seminars,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
But Achmad emphasized that we should not expect people to
\ndevelop awareness about energy conservation on their own.
\n\"Basically people like to do what they want, so we have to impose
\nstandards and strict regulations for them to comply with,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/energy-conservation-lacks-govt-support-experts-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}