If the world is a stage, oil is the lead actor that always demands a\nhigh fee, even before performing. As soon as there\u2019s a conflict in the\nMiddle East, oil prices surge like chilli prices before Eid al-Fitr.<\/p>\n
At that point, Indonesia seems like a student who has quietly been\nsaving rice in a back granary. It doesn\u2019t panic, but is ready to cook,\nbecause energy difficulties are not new to us. It\u2019s like an annual\nillness.<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s announcement of the 50% biodiesel policy\u2014alias\nB50\u2014which will soon be mandatory in the middle of this year, is not just\na technocratic experiment. President Prabowo Subianto boldly affirmed it\nat an economic meeting in Japan.<\/p>\n
This is like a family head\u2019s decision who is tired of buying\nexpensive gas and starts planting trees in the yard. Through B50, half\nof our diesel will come from palm oil.<\/p>\n
That means every truck speeding along the North Coast Road isn\u2019t just\ncarrying goods, but also a bit of the aroma from palm plantations in\nSumatra and Kalimantan. Every ship sailing the seas and heavy\nconstruction equipment will also get a share of that aroma.<\/p>\n
On paper, the numbers are enticing. Through the use of B50, fuel\nsubsidy savings in 2026 are estimated to reach around Rp48 trillion in\njust half a year of implementation. That means double in a full\nyear.<\/p>\n
Fossil fuel use can be reduced by around four million kilolitres per\nyear. For comparison, with the previous B40 scheme alone, diesel imports\nhad dropped by about 3.3 million kilolitres.<\/p>\n
That resulted in foreign exchange savings of up to Rp130 trillion,\nand emissions reduced by up to 38.88 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.\nIf B50 runs consistently, the impact is clearly not small. This is not\njust about saving, but a shift in energy structure.<\/p>\n
However, beyond the numbers, there\u2019s one social phenomenon that\u2019s no\nless interesting: the public doesn\u2019t believe it. Many people are\nconvinced that petrol prices\u2014especially Pertamax\u2014will definitely rise\nstarting this April.<\/p>\n
Memes are everywhere, from subtle jabs to ones spicier than devil\u2019s\nchilli. The logic is simple. So far, we\u2019ve been too dependent on energy\nimports that choke the budget.<\/p>\n
Moreover, there are rumours that two Pertamina tankers were briefly\nheld in the Strait of Hormuz\u2014a narrow chokepoint where even a slight\ncough can send global oil prices into a high fever. So it\u2019s\nunderstandable if the public thinks: \u201cAh, it\u2019ll rise anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
And this is exactly where B50 starts to come in as the explanation\nthat\u2019s been missing so far. For the first time, the public sees that\nthere\u2019s a new variable in the national energy equation.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s true that B50 hasn\u2019t touched petrol like Pertamax yet. It\u2019s\nstill playing in the diesel realm. But don\u2019t underestimate diesel. It\u2019s\nthe main blood of logistics: trucks, ships, heavy equipment.<\/p>\n
When diesel costs can be curbed through palm oil substitution,\ndistribution costs also drop or at least are held back. This is where\nthe balancing effect emerges. Energy prices may not drop drastically,\nbut not rising is already good news.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth remembering that B50 didn\u2019t emerge from a vacuum. It\u2019s the\ncurrent final step in Indonesia\u2019s long biodiesel journey. We went\nthrough the B5 phase, when palm oil mixtures were just small\nexperiments.<\/p>\n
Then up to B10, B15, to B20 which started being implemented\nnationally in earnest. The peak before this was B30 and then B40, which\nhave proven able to suppress imports and save foreign exchange on a\nlarge scale.<\/p>\n
So B50 isn\u2019t a reckless leap, but a logical continuation of a long\nexperiment that\u2019s slowly turning into permanent policy. Like learning to\nride a bike, we\u2019ve fallen many times at B5 and B10, and started\nbalancing at B20, and now cruising more steadily at B50.<\/p>\n
That President Prabowo Subianto announced B50 in Japan is because\nenergy was being discussed there. When Indonesia talks B50 in Tokyo,\nit\u2019s like sending a subtle message: \u201cWe\u2019re learning to be independent,\nbut still open to cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, if there\u2019s a common thread, it\u2019s not in production, but in\nbargaining position. Indonesia no longer comes just as an energy buyer,\nbut as a player that\u2019s starting to have its own strategic reserves.<\/p>\n
Now, amid all that, one term emerges that sounds like the name of a\nsci-fi film project: RDMP East Kalimantan. But this is real, concrete,\nand smells not futuristic, but of diesel.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sovereign-from-palm-oil-1775134254", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }