Biodiesel fuel could free Jakarta from pollution
<p>Biodiesel fuel could free Jakarta from pollution</p><p>Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta</p><p> To reduce air pollution due to emissions from public buses and
trucks that run on diesel fuel, the Jakarta administration plans
to develop biodiesel fuel as an alternative to the fossil fuel
burned in the diesel-fueled engines.</p><p>"We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Agency
for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) to
develop biodiesel for use in Jakarta," said head of the Jakarta
Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), Kosasih Wirahadikusumah,
on Thursday on the sidelines of a biodiesel seminar.</p><p>"We also plan to cooperate with Riau provincial administration
as it has a biodiesel plant. We will ask Riau to provide the fuel
for Jakarta."</p><p>According to the official web site www.biodiesel.com,
biodiesel is biodegradable, nontoxic and essentially free of
sulfur and aromatics. It is a renewable resource, based on
soybean and other oil crops that are grown each year.</p><p>"We can find over 50 kinds of plants for biodiesel raw
materials here in Indonesia. There is the potential to develop a
commercial industry in this country," said one of the speakers,
Tatang H. Soerawidjaja of the Indonesian Biodiesel Forum (FBI).</p><p>He said that biodiesel fuel produced almost no sulfur, only 15
parts per million (ppm), in its emission and had more lubricant
while the best fossil fuel Indonesia produced 500 ppm and the
worst could even put out 3,000 ppm.</p><p>"The world emission standard, Euro II, rules that vehicular
emissions should be below 350 ppm," said Tatang.</p><p>Another advantage is that biodiesel is compatible with the
fossil diesel fuel and both can be mixed to lower the toxic
exhaust emissions so there is no need to change the engine
specifications.</p><p>Tatang said it was not complicated to set up a biodiesel fuel
factory and only required modest funds.</p><p>"This factory can be handled by local technicians and will
absorb a huge amount of manpower," he said.</p><p>Another speaker, Soni Solistia Wirawan of BPPT, said there
were three schemes in using biodiesel as an alternative fuel.</p><p>"We can use 100 percent biodiesel as fuel, blend 5 percent to
30 percent biodiesel with fossil fuel, and use biodiesel as an
additive," he said.</p><p>BPLHD and PT Energy Alternatif Indonesia, a biodiesel
supplier, made a joint experiment on 10 public buses in the
capital. The result confirms that blending biodiesel with diesel
fuel increases the bus engine performance and at the same time
reduces toxic exhaust emissions.</p><p>"We blended only 5 percent to 10 percent of biodiesel to the
10 buses for normal operation. We found that the blend reduces
the emission opacity level by 60 percent, noise level by 5
percent to 6 percent and makes the bus more economical," said
another speaker Bambang Tribudiman of PT energy Alternatif
Indonesia.</p><p>In the future, Jakarta will have a bigger pilot project for
public buses to blend biodiesel with diesel fuel on a daily
basis, Kosasih said.</p><p>However, there are several obstacles to commercialize
biodiesel because its raw materials are more costly than fossil
diesel fuel.</p><p>"The biodiesel costs up to Rp 5,000 (59 U.S. cents) per liter,
depending on the raw materials used, higher than the subsidized
diesel fuel price which is Rp 1,650. In Germany, biodiesel is
only Rp 6,000 per liter compared to fossil diesel fuel which is
Rp 8,000 per liter. They subsidize biodiesel instead," said
Tatang.</p><p>"The government must support the biodiesel project. Nothing
has been done so far due to the strong lobbying from the oil and
gas industry and many still question the benefit and feasibility
of biodiesel. FBI will keep on trying to promote it," he added.</p><p>
I-box
Fuel Raw Material Selling Price Emission
Fossil diesel fuel Crude fossil Rp 1,650 CO, CO2,</p><p> oil Sulfur,</p><p> other</p><p> gases</p><p>Biodiesel fuel Vegetable oil, Rp 4,000- little</p><p> palm, soybean, Rp 5,000 toxic gas</p><p> and fifty other and O2</p><p> plant varieties</p>
trucks that run on diesel fuel, the Jakarta administration plans
to develop biodiesel fuel as an alternative to the fossil fuel
burned in the diesel-fueled engines.</p><p>"We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Agency
for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) to
develop biodiesel for use in Jakarta," said head of the Jakarta
Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), Kosasih Wirahadikusumah,
on Thursday on the sidelines of a biodiesel seminar.</p><p>"We also plan to cooperate with Riau provincial administration
as it has a biodiesel plant. We will ask Riau to provide the fuel
for Jakarta."</p><p>According to the official web site www.biodiesel.com,
biodiesel is biodegradable, nontoxic and essentially free of
sulfur and aromatics. It is a renewable resource, based on
soybean and other oil crops that are grown each year.</p><p>"We can find over 50 kinds of plants for biodiesel raw
materials here in Indonesia. There is the potential to develop a
commercial industry in this country," said one of the speakers,
Tatang H. Soerawidjaja of the Indonesian Biodiesel Forum (FBI).</p><p>He said that biodiesel fuel produced almost no sulfur, only 15
parts per million (ppm), in its emission and had more lubricant
while the best fossil fuel Indonesia produced 500 ppm and the
worst could even put out 3,000 ppm.</p><p>"The world emission standard, Euro II, rules that vehicular
emissions should be below 350 ppm," said Tatang.</p><p>Another advantage is that biodiesel is compatible with the
fossil diesel fuel and both can be mixed to lower the toxic
exhaust emissions so there is no need to change the engine
specifications.</p><p>Tatang said it was not complicated to set up a biodiesel fuel
factory and only required modest funds.</p><p>"This factory can be handled by local technicians and will
absorb a huge amount of manpower," he said.</p><p>Another speaker, Soni Solistia Wirawan of BPPT, said there
were three schemes in using biodiesel as an alternative fuel.</p><p>"We can use 100 percent biodiesel as fuel, blend 5 percent to
30 percent biodiesel with fossil fuel, and use biodiesel as an
additive," he said.</p><p>BPLHD and PT Energy Alternatif Indonesia, a biodiesel
supplier, made a joint experiment on 10 public buses in the
capital. The result confirms that blending biodiesel with diesel
fuel increases the bus engine performance and at the same time
reduces toxic exhaust emissions.</p><p>"We blended only 5 percent to 10 percent of biodiesel to the
10 buses for normal operation. We found that the blend reduces
the emission opacity level by 60 percent, noise level by 5
percent to 6 percent and makes the bus more economical," said
another speaker Bambang Tribudiman of PT energy Alternatif
Indonesia.</p><p>In the future, Jakarta will have a bigger pilot project for
public buses to blend biodiesel with diesel fuel on a daily
basis, Kosasih said.</p><p>However, there are several obstacles to commercialize
biodiesel because its raw materials are more costly than fossil
diesel fuel.</p><p>"The biodiesel costs up to Rp 5,000 (59 U.S. cents) per liter,
depending on the raw materials used, higher than the subsidized
diesel fuel price which is Rp 1,650. In Germany, biodiesel is
only Rp 6,000 per liter compared to fossil diesel fuel which is
Rp 8,000 per liter. They subsidize biodiesel instead," said
Tatang.</p><p>"The government must support the biodiesel project. Nothing
has been done so far due to the strong lobbying from the oil and
gas industry and many still question the benefit and feasibility
of biodiesel. FBI will keep on trying to promote it," he added.</p><p>
I-box
Fuel Raw Material Selling Price Emission
Fossil diesel fuel Crude fossil Rp 1,650 CO, CO2,</p><p> oil Sulfur,</p><p> other</p><p> gases</p><p>Biodiesel fuel Vegetable oil, Rp 4,000- little</p><p> palm, soybean, Rp 5,000 toxic gas</p><p> and fifty other and O2</p><p> plant varieties</p>