Every morning, people need a way to get to work. Some ride\nmotorcycles, some drive cars and others take public transport. Their aim\nis the same: to arrive on time at an affordable cost. Yet the amount of\nenergy used for those journeys can vary.<\/p>\n
At petrol stations, travel needs are reflected in purchases of petrol\nand diesel. In government planning, those purchases become figures for\nconsumption, import requirements and refinery capacity. But people buy\nfuel so that they can travel. Using more petrol does not necessarily\nmean that journeys have become easier or cheaper.<\/p>\n
This opens up a broader discussion about energy security. We need to\nensure supplies are available when required, while also finding ways for\npeople to travel and carry out their daily activities using less\nenergy.<\/p>\n
The scale of Indonesia\u2019s supply needs is evident in its oil trade. In\na report updated on 25 August 2025, the US Energy Information\nAdministration (EIA) recorded Indonesia\u2019s imports of crude oil and\ncondensate at about 354,000 barrels per day in 2024. In the same year,\nimports of petroleum products reached 791,000 barrels per day.<\/p>\n
The two figures represent different needs. Crude oil is a feedstock\nfor refineries, while petroleum products include processed goods such as\npetrol, diesel, LPG and other products. Therefore, not all petroleum\nproduct imports are vehicle fuels. The EIA recorded that petrol and\nblending components accounted for about 45 per cent of Indonesia\u2019s total\npetroleum product imports in 2024.<\/p>\n
Strengthening production, refining, reserves and distribution remains\nnecessary. But increasing supply should go hand in hand with an\nassessment of rising consumption. Are people travelling more often and\nbusiness activity expanding? Or are the vehicles and equipment they use\nstill wasting energy?<\/p>\n
The steady-state concept helps us consider how society\u2019s needs can be\nmet without continually increasing resource use.<\/p>\n
Understanding the steady state<\/strong><\/p>\n Ecological economist Herman Daly developed the concept of a\nsteady-state economy to describe an economy that maintains population\nand the stock of physical capital at relatively stable levels, while\nkeeping material and energy use low. Quality of life can continue to\nimprove, but resource use must remain within the environment\u2019s capacity\nto regenerate resources and absorb waste.<\/p>\n This idea is different from simply having a stable energy supply.\nRefineries operating continuously or petrol prices remaining unchanged\ndo not in themselves represent a steady state. The concept concerns the\namount of resources used across all economic activity, not merely the\nreliability of supply.<\/p>\n Daly distinguishes improvements in quality of life from increases in\nmaterial and energy use. Knowledge, technology and the organisation of\neconomic activity can improve without necessarily requiring greater\nresource use.<\/p>\n The distinction is easy to imagine in the journey to work. More\nreliable public transport can help someone arrive on time. A shorter\njourney can reduce time spent on the road. The benefit lies in making\ntravel easier, not in buying more petrol.<\/p>\n Indonesia still needs to increase energy supply to support\ndevelopment. Households, schools, health facilities and businesses need\nenergy. However, every increase in supply should be accompanied by\nefforts to reduce waste.<\/p>\n The steady-state idea can be used to assess the direction of that\ndevelopment. Does an investment help people meet their needs? How much\nenergy does it require? Can resource use and its environmental impact be\nsustained over the long term?<\/p>\n Reducing supply requirements<\/strong><\/p>\n Energy savings are closely linked to supply security. In its ASEAN\nEnergy Security Review, the International Energy Agency (IEA) explains\nthat efficiency and demand management can curb the growth in energy\nneeds, reduce import dependence and improve a system\u2019s ability to adapt\nto change.<\/p>\n If the same journey requires less fuel, the amount of supply that\nmust be secured is also lower. Procurement and storage remain necessary,\nbut savings help reduce the scale of demand that needs to be met.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, more fuel-efficient vehicles will not necessarily bring\ndown national fuel consumption immediately. Total consumption can still\nrise if the number of vehicles and distance travelled increase faster\nthan efficiency improves.<\/p>\n The government should therefore monitor two measures together: fuel\nused per kilometre travelled, and the total amount of fuel consumed by\nall vehicles. A fall in the first measure does not guarantee a fall in\nthe second.<\/p>\n The same principle applies to industry. Machinery may use less energy\nto produce a unit of goods. But total energy use across all factories\ncan still increase as production grows.<\/p>\n This is where efficiency differs from a steady state. Efficiency\nmeasures the energy required to produce goods or carry out a particular\nactivity. A steady-state approach, by contrast, examines total resource\nuse. In Daly\u2019s thinking, increasingly efficient technology still needs\nto be accompanied by controls on the total amount of resources used.<\/p>\n Sustainability must also be assessed separately from the source of\nsupply. Domestic energy can help reduce dependence on external\nsuppliers. But we must still consider resources depleted, waste produced\nand environmental impacts.<\/p>\n Daly emphasises that renewable resources should be used at a rate\nconsistent with their ability to regenerate. The use of non-renewable\nresources should be balanced by the development of replacement energy,\nwhile waste must remain within the environment\u2019s capacity to absorb it.\nThese principles provide a strong basis for assessing energy resilience\nover the long term.<\/p>\n Choosing the right investments<\/strong><\/p>\n Indonesia can bring these questions into its investment assessments.\nBefore deciding to add capacity, the government should identify the main\nneed to be met, then compare different ways of meeting it.<\/p>\n In transport, for example, the primary need is people\u2019s mobility.\nInvestment assessments can focus on how many people can travel, journey\ntimes, fares and energy use. These measures help compare the benefits of\nbuilding roads, improving public transport and other transport\noptions.<\/p>\n Supply planning should also use several scenarios. For example, one\ntest scenario could assume current travel patterns. Another could\ninclude assumptions about better public transport, more fuel-efficient\nvehicles and greater use of electric vehicles.<\/p>\n Each scenario should set out its assumptions and cost details. The\nuse of electric vehicles, for instance, must be included in calculations\nof national electricity demand. Assessments should consider changes in\noverall energy needs, rather than stopping at a reduction in petrol\npurchases.<\/p>\n These calculations will help determine investment choices. If fuel\ndemand remains high, additional processing and storage capacity may\nindeed be needed. But if some demand can be reduced by improving the\ntransport system, that option should be assessed on an equal footing\nwith the costs of expanding supply.<\/p>\n Scenario testing should also cover potential disruptions. For\nexample, if fuel deliveries from one supplier are delayed for two weeks,\nhow long could workers\u2019 commutes, food deliveries and business activity\ncontinue? Are alternatives available? How quickly could supplies be\nrestored?<\/p>\n With this approach, energy resilience is measured by the ability to\nkeep society\u2019s activities running. Stock levels remain important, but\nthe value of those reserves depends greatly on the scale of demand and\nthe ability to distribute them.<\/p>\n Budgets and incentives can then follow the results of these\nassessments. Every proposed investment should specify the need it\naddresses, the cost to the public, changes in energy consumption and\nenvironmental impacts over its lifetime.<\/p>\n Reducing consumption must not come at the expense of accessibility.\nPeople must not lose the ability to work simply because they have no\nchoice of transport. Households also continue to need energy for\nlighting and everyday appliances. Savings should come from improving how\nneeds are met, not excluding those needs from the calculation.<\/p>\n The steady-state principle provides a basis for asking whether\nimprovements in quality of life must always be accompanied by greater\nresource use. For Indonesia, this question can complement efforts to\nstrengthen energy production, reserves and distribution.<\/p>\n For people travelling to work, the results are tangible: transport is\navailable, fares are affordable and workplaces remain accessible even\nwhen supply disruptions occur. If those journeys require less energy,\nthe amount of fuel that must be secured also falls. That is where energy\nresilience can go hand in hand with sustainability.<\/p>",
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