Fuel quality comes before price hike, Govt told

Adianto P. Simamora ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 05/12/2008 10:51 AM  |  National

Clean air campaigners have called on the government to raise the quality of fuel before raising its price, as part of an effort to alleviate the country's long-standing air pollution problems.

Joint Committee for Leaded Gasoline Phase-Out (KPBB) chairman Ahmad Safrudin said Saturday the quality of existing fuels has yet to meet the standard set by the government and is endangering people's health.

"If poor-quality fuels remain in the market, people will have to spend more money on their increasing health problems caused by pollution," he said.

Long-term exposure to air pollution can damage the respiratory system. In the worst cases, people at risk can develop lung cancer or leukemia.

The government announced early last year Indonesia is applying the Euro II standard on cleaner fuels.

"But there has been no improvement because the sulfur content of diesel fuel is around 2,700 particles per millimeter (ppm), far higher than the maximum of 500 ppm set in the Euro II standard," Ahmad said.

In some provinces, he said, the sulfur content reached 4,000 ppm.

Sulfur is the main contributor to emissions of pollutants nitrogen oxide and particulate matter.

The Euro II standard requires all vehicles to use unleaded gasoline or diesel with a maximum sulfur content of 500 ppm. All cars must have a catalytic converter designed to control the amount of pollution in the exhaust system.

Existing subsidized fuel in Indonesia is 88 octane, below the 91 octane level required by the standard.

"We hope the government can push oil producers to improve fuel quality to help protect the environment and the public's health," he said.

The government plans to increase fuel prices to protect the state budget from the effects of the soaring global oil price, which hit a record high of US$126 per barrel on Saturday.

The government should take a range of actions to control fuel consumption and ease the burden on the environment, according to the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

"Since most fuel is used for transport, the government needs to improve the quality of public transport to reduce fuel consumption," recently appointed Walhi executive director Berry Nahdian Forqan said.

He said in the medium term the government should modify the country's energy policy, including withdrawing the 2001 law on oil and gas and pushing for the development of renewable energy.

Data from Walhi show fuel consumption rose sharply in line with the rising population and economic growth.

In 1998, annual domestic fuel consumption was 149 million barrels with the country's oil reserves at 11.6 billion barrels.

By 2006, the annual fuel consumption had risen to 376 million barrels but the country's oil reserves were only 64 billion barrels.

"Fuel consumption cannot be addressed by raising the price because that will only increase the burden on consumers. It will certainly not address any environmental problems caused by the burning of fossil fuels," Ahmad said.

Despite the government's Blue Sky projects, which aim to reduce air pollution, pollution remains high, especially in major cities.

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