Prabowo States Indonesia Will Produce Its Own Aviation Fuel from Palm Oil and Used Cooking Oil
President Prabowo Subianto has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to accelerating national energy independence through the development of alternative fuels. In its strategic plan, the government will establish processing centres (refineries) to convert palm oil and used cooking oil into aviation fuel or avtur.
This was stated by the President during the inauguration of an electric commercial vehicle assembly plant in Magelang, Central Java, on Thursday (9/4). According to Prabowo, Indonesia’s abundant availability of palm oil serves as a strong foundation for the future aviation industry.
“Now avtur can come from palm oil, and we have plenty of palm oil. Even avtur can be made from used oil, from waste, from the remnants of cooking oil; we can process it into avtur,” said Prabowo.
The President plans to open processing centres for these natural resources in the near future to convert the materials into avtur. This step is expected not only to strengthen energy resilience but also to create added value for domestic products.
“In a short while, we will open processing centres, refineries for this. We will make massive investments in that sector,” he emphasised.
Previously, during a briefing at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (8/4), President Prabowo stressed that global turmoil due to wars should be used as an opportunity for Indonesia to shift to New Renewable Energy (EBT).
The President continues to push for energy self-sufficiency through the development of biofuels sourced from local natural wealth such as cassava and corn to replace dependence on imports of diesel and petrol.
“And we can from coal, we can produce diesel and petrol from coal, from cassava, from corn,” said the President.
Based on in-depth studies, the President is convinced that Indonesia has a sufficiently robust economic and energy foundation to face global crisis threats. The existence of independent energy sources makes Indonesia relatively safer from disruptions in the global energy supply.
“It turns out that after studying it, we have a sufficiently strong economic strength,” he concluded.