Universal use of unleaded gas in Indonesia still years away

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Experts have warned for years that emissions from vehicles using leaded gasoline cause air pollution and are harmful to people's health as they damage the neurological system and affect children's learning ability and IQ.

The World Bank has also called on all countries to phase out leaded gasoline because of the related health problems.

Despite the threats, Indonesians are likely to have to wait at least five more years before they will be able to breathe fresh, lead-free air because the government only plans to start phasing out leaded gasoline in 1999. It has set 2003/2004 as its deadline to completely eliminate the fuel.

Neighboring countries, such as Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, have moved faster by either completely eliminating leaded gasoline or have started phasing it out.

In Indonesia, the state-owned oil company Pertamina introduced unleaded gasoline, Super TT, in August 1995. Since 1987, when it introduced fuel gas, better known as BBG, it has also offered other environmentally friendly fuels. Fuel gas includes Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

Unleaded gasoline is more expensive than leaded gasoline.

Super TT is currently sold at Rp 1,600 (22 U.S. cents) per liter, much higher than leaded gasoline, such as premium, which costs Rp 1,200 per liter, or even automotive diesel, which costs Rp 600 per liter.

According to Edy Purwanto Moh. Bakri of the directorate of air pollution control at the Environmental Impact Management Agency, only a minority of motorists use unleaded gasoline.

Cost-linked rumors have discouraged people from using unleaded gasoline, he said last week in a seminar here about the role of unleaded gasoline to create clean air.

The seminar was organized by the Segar! Jakartaku program, an environmental group campaigning to reduce the city's air pollution, in collaboration with the World Bank's Metropolitan Environment Improvement Program and Pertamina.

The rumors say that using of unleaded gasoline would be a massive burden on vehicle owners because of the additional cost.

"The rumors are not true. Even for old cars, which cannot use unleaded gasoline, there's a cheap additive (to make it able to use unleaded gasoline)... and the use of unleaded gasoline reduces vehicle maintenance costs," Edy said.

Another rumor, according to Edy, is that unleaded gasoline increases air pollution because it contains aromatics, or benzene, which are said to be poisonous and carcinogenic.

"This matter is being debated by experts and so far it has not yet been proven that aromatics affect one's health, while it has already been proved that lead is very poisonous," Edy said.

According to data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries, he said that 98 percent of cars made after 1984 could use unleaded gasoline.

Gas stations need to clean the lead from pipes and tanks before they can be used for unleaded gasoline.

"The cleaning up can be done naturally... and generally, it will take between six months to a year," Edy said.

He also called on the government to lower the price of unleaded gasoline so that people would be keen to buy it.

"The government should sell large quantities of unleaded gasoline and lower its price to make people willing to help clean the air without paying more money," Edy said.

Soehoed Reksosoekarto of Pertamina said it would not be easy to simply switch to unleaded gasoline because many people still used cars made before 1983, which could not use unleaded gasoline.

"That's why the use of leaded gasoline is still high here," Soehoed, who heads the division for supply supervision and marketing of Pertamina's directorate of management and local marketing, said.

In 1997/1998, the total consumption of premium was 11,039,800 kiloliters, while Super TT was only 29,824 kiloliters.

Soehoed said that consumers' decision on which fuel to use also depended on their purchasing power.

Some motorists, he said, used leaded gasoline even though their cars could already use unleaded gasoline because they could not afford the cleaner alternative.

Fuel gas, at Rp 450 per liter for CNG and Rp 840 per liter for LPG, is cheaper than premium but many people are still reluctant to use it because it is only available at a limited number of gas stations. What's more, consumers have to buy a converter before they can use it, he said.

In developed countries, he said, the phasing out of leaded gasoline was not causing many problems because of people's higher purchasing power.

From the producer's side, he said, converting to unleaded gasoline was not easy because the fuel required special refining.

The government, he said, should issue policies on energy, transportation and pricing to enforce the use of unleaded gasoline.

"Without (government) support and clear policies, the plan to use unleaded gasoline will not work," Soehoed said.

Automotive manufacturers, he said, could support the plan by making environmentally friendly vehicles. In developed countries, he said, vehicles are designed for the use of unleaded gasoline and equipped with catalytic converters.

As part of its efforts to phase out leaded gasoline, Pertamina has proposed the construction of three catalytic reformer units to produce high octane mogas component (HOMC), in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan; Musi in South Sumatra; and Cilacap in Central Java at a total estimated cost of US$225.2 million.

Siti Djuharmi, director of management and marketing at the directorate of oil an natural gas at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, who was also a speaker at the seminar, said the construction of the reformer units had not begun due to financial problems.

"With the present economic turmoil, the construction of the three reformer units cannot be conducted in the near future," she said.