Global crisis seen as opportunity for Indonesia to accelerate renewable energy

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto emphasised that the crisis currently facing the world due to wars represents an opportunity for Indonesia to accelerate the development of new renewable energy (EBT) for national resilience.

“This global crisis, for me, is an opportunity to speed up our steps. It makes us more focused. This means our strategy is already correct, but we must accelerate that our energy must be renewable,” Prabowo said during a briefing to all ministers, echelon I officials of ministries/institutions, and directors of state-owned enterprises (BUMN) at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Prabowo also encouraged energy self-sufficiency by developing biofuels from cassava and corn as alternatives to diesel and petrol. This step aims to reduce fuel imports by utilising domestic natural resources.

“And we can from coal, we can produce diesel and petrol from coal, from cassava, from corn,” he stated.

Prabowo said Indonesia has a strong economic foundation and energy resilience to face the global crisis.

According to him, Indonesia is relatively safe from the direct impacts of global energy supply disruptions because it has independent energy sources.

“It turns out that after studying it, we have a sufficiently strong economic strength,” Prabowo said.

“Because our oil and gas sources do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz much. We can become another alternative,” he continued.

On the same occasion, Prabowo predicted that the crisis facing the world will not last long.

He hopes that the transformation of the EBT system can be implemented more quickly in a short time.

“What I consider short-term, what I consider critical is the next 12 months. After 12 months, we will become very strong,” he said.