Trial begins for environmentally friendly fuel
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) began on Monday a trial for a biodiesel fuel, as part of the government's efforts to promote environmentally friendly energy.
The biodiesel fuel, which is made from off-grade-quality crude palm oil (CPO), will be used to operate 23 passenger buses belonging to the agency.
"Fuel security has become an as important issue as food and clean water. We cannot rely on fossil fuels anymore, therefore (we) should develop recyclable fuels, such as biodiesel," State Minister for Research and Technology M. Hatta Radjasa said.
The BPPT began producing biodiesel at its laboratory in Serpong, Banten, last year, and now has a capacity of 1,500 liters a day. The agency will soon begin operating a plant in Riau with a capacity of eight tons of biodiesel a day.
During the trial, each of the BPPT buses will use about 30 liters of biodiesel every day.
The manager of the Engineering Center at the BPPT, Soni Solistia Wirawan, said the new fuel would remain unavailable to the public for now.
"We are still doing research on how it (biodiesel) effects the engine. We will have a road test from Java to Sumatra," Soni said
The research will also involve automotive companies PT Astra Isuzu International and PT Pantja Motor, and the Japan-Indonesia Science and Technology Forum.
Hatta said it was important to have a sustainable supply of fuel that was environmentally friendly, affordable and technologically proven.
As a major CPO producer, Indonesia will have an adequate supply of crude palm oil to produce the biodiesel. The country produced nine million tons of CPO in 2002.
However, Hatta said there were several obstacles to the production of biodiesel.
"The price for the raw material (CPO) is still relatively high and people lack information about this new kind of fuel," he said.
Biodiesel fuel could someday earn a larger share of the market than gas fuel, said the director general of oil and gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Iin Arifin Takhyan.
"This biodiesel does not require any engine modification for vehicles. It works in ordinary diesel engines. It is different from the (earlier introduced) gas fuel, which needs several engine modifications, such as on the fuel tank," he said.
However, the assistant to the deputy for vehicle emissions at the Office of the State Minister for the Environment, Ridwan D. Tamin, told The Jakarta Post the President was preparing a decree to promote the use of gas fuel in public transportation vehicles.
"We will coordinate with related institutions, such as the Ministry of Trade and Industry to procure gas fuel-ready vehicles, and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to assure the availability of the fuel supply," said Ridwan.