Kuntoro urges public to conserve energy

Kuntoro urges public to conserve energy

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Mines and Energy Kuntoro
Mangkusubroto called on the public yesterday to help improve the
country's battered economy by conserving energy.

Kuntoro said that although the government had an ongoing
energy conservation program, most consumers, including
industries, still wasted energy.

The economic crisis, which has forced many industries to apply
austerity measures to cut back on costs, may provide the benefit
of greater public awareness about energy conservation, Kuntoro
said.

"Through energy conservation, we can lower the cost of
production and minimize adverse impacts (of energy use) on the
environment... to directly improve our economy," Kuntoro said in
a speech delivered by the ministry's secretary-general, Darmoko
Slamet, during a one-day seminar on national energy conservation
plans at Dharmawangsa Hotel.

The seminar was organized by the state energy conservation
firm PT Koneba.

Speakers at the seminar included Director General of
Electricity and Energy Development Endro Utomo Notodisuryo,
president of the state gas distribution company Perusahaan Gas
Negara A. Qoyum Tjandranegara, former minister of mines and
energy Subroto, economist Pande Radja Silalahi and a non-
governmental organization activist, Erna Witular.

Kuntoro said industries had long neglected the government's
energy conservation program, launched in 1992, overlooking the
fact that they could enhance their competitiveness through the
cost-cutting measures.

Government data from 1994 indicates Indonesian industries used
581 oil equivalent tons (TOE) to produce US$1 million worth of
goods. American industries used 386 TOE to produce a similar
value of goods.

Indonesia's average energy consumption rate was 0.37 TOE per
capita, lower than the world's average consumption of 1.3 TOE per
capita and developed countries' energy consumption of 4.3 TOE per
capita.

"This shows that the country's energy users have not yet
incorporated energy-conservation measures and have yet to form
energy-conservation habits," Kuntoro said.

He said according to a survey, the country's commercial
buildings, households, industries and transportation sector could
conserve energy by between 10 percent and 30 percent.

He warned that if the public continued to waste energy,
Indonesia would not be able to increase its dollar-based revenues
from the oil and gas sector to improve the country's battered
economy.

He said the country only had limited oil reserves and if
Indonesians did not conserve energy, the country would change
from a net-oil exporter to a net-oil importer in the next few
years.

According to Kuntoro, the country's oil product consumption
rate has risen 7 percent yearly while oil output has remained
stable at 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) over the past several
years.

Subroto also called for energy conservation, saying the
country's oil reserves would be fully exhausted in 17 years at
current production rates.

Subroto said Indonesia's 114.2 trillion cubic feet in proven
gas reserves would be fully exhausted in 33 years.

Indonesia has 4.6 billion tons of proven coal reserves, though
60 percent of it is of low quality, Subroto said.

Silalahi said Indonesians generally wasted energy because of a
lack of awareness and a lack of products with energy conservation
technology.

Government subsidies to maintain cheap energy prices also
contribute to careless public attitudes toward conservation,
Silalahi said. (jsk)