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)