Pertamina Urges Indonesia to Catch Up with Brazil and India in Bioethanol Fuel Blending
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Pertamina New & Renewable Energy (PNRE) has revealed a number of countries that have successfully implemented the blending of petrol with bioethanol. The raw materials for this bioethanol can come from sugarcane molasses, sorghum, cassava, palm sugar, maize and others.
Countries such as Brazil and India are recorded as being more advanced in developing bioethanol blended with fuel.
CEO of Pertamina NRE, John Anis, emphasised the importance of Indonesia catching up in the implementation of plant-based energy blending in the transport sector. He made the remarks before President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto at the Nationwide Harvest Festival Together with the TNI in Malang, East Java, on Friday (17/7/2026).
“Well, here are examples of the products, Sir, there are some… this is an example of E100, Sir. Then this… this is E100, Sir. Brazil. E100, Sir. As for India, E20, Sir,” he said during his presentation before President Prabowo at the event, which was also broadcast online.
He explained that India has now far surpassed Indonesia’s achievements by implementing an ethanol blending policy of 20 per cent, or E20. Meanwhile, Indonesia has so far only reached the 5 per cent blending stage, or E5, distributed across Jakarta and East Java.
“India is already at E20, Sir, so we don’t want to lose, Sir, we have to catch up with them. We’re only at E5, Sir. So this E5 is available at 170 of our outlets in East Java and in Jakarta,” he said.
His side is aiming to match the achievements of those countries through the development of various local feedstocks. John stressed that the company does not want the nation’s foreign exchange to keep flowing abroad to finance fuel imports.
“So rather than the money going out for imports, give it to the farmers, Sir,” he asserted in response to a question from Prabowo regarding the policy’s impact on reducing imports.
His team is currently mapping the potential of plant-based raw materials across Indonesia. The development of bioethanol is expected not only to strengthen energy security but also to deliver direct economic benefits to local communities.
“What’s interesting, Sir, is that whereas refineries are only in a few places, this can be decentralised everywhere depending on local wisdom,” he added.
John also reminded that the success of other countries in implementing petrol and bioethanol blending has needed to be driven by regulation. Therefore, Pertamina requires support in the form of mandatory policy and feedstock price certainty so that the E20 target can be achieved soon.
“There are two things, Sir: mandatory blending and certainty over the feedstock and its price, Sir, that’s it,” he concluded.