Indonesia Eyes Harvesting 'Fuel' from Various Plants, Not Just Palm Oil

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) plans to expand the raw materials for bioenergy. While biodiesel has been dominated by palm oil, the government will now develop various other plants as sources of biofuel.

Director General of New, Renewable Energy, and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) at the Ministry of ESDM, Eniya Listiani Dewi, stated that the government has established the implementation stages for the biodiesel mandate through Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation Number 4 of 2025. She added that future bioenergy development will not rely solely on crude palm oil (CPO). The government is exploring the use of crops such as corn, cassava, and sugarcane as raw materials for bioethanol to partially replace petrol consumption. Other plants like coconut are also being considered for bio-aviation fuel, significantly increasing the potential to boost oil lifting from crops.

At the same event, PT Pertamina New & Renewable Energy (Pertamina NRE) outlined a strategy involving multi-feedstock, multi-generation, and multi-region approaches to accelerate national bioethanol development. President Director of PT Pertamina NRE, John Anis, noted that the success of the B50 biodiesel programme should be replicated for ethanol, though the journey is expected to be lengthy. He explained that relying on a single feedstock is not viable, as the availability of molasses—a by-product of the sugar industry—is currently far below the requirements for implementing E10 or E20 petrol blends. National bioethanol demand is estimated to reach 10 to 20 million kilolitres per year for E10 implementation alone, a volume that molasses supply cannot meet. Consequently, Pertamina NRE is expanding its feedstock sources, including a collaboration with PT Sinergi Gula Nusantara to build a bioethanol facility at the Glenmore Sugar Factory in Banyuwangi, East Java, with a production capacity of approximately 33,000 kilolitres per year.