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INSISTS helps Sweden, RI develop renewable energy
The Indonesian-Swedish Initiative for Sustainable Energy Solutions (INSISTS) will help the Indonesian government develop policies on environmentally friendly, renewable energy
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T
he Indonesian-Swedish Initiative for Sustainable Energy Solutions (INSISTS) will help the Indonesian government develop policies on environmentally friendly, renewable energy. The initiative will include reducing deforestation caused by oil palm planting, the result of which produces the raw material for biodiesel.
'Indonesia and Sweden are two countries that have high ambitions to reduce carbon emissions and therefore it is really important to focus on renewable energy,' Swedish Ambassador to Jakarta Ewa Polano said at the establishment of INSISTS at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta on Saturday.
The research institute was set up following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Indonesia's National Energy Council (DEN) and the Energy Agency of Sweden (SEA).
The MoU was signed by DEN secretary Hadi Prayitno and SEA director Erik Brandsma.
'INSISTS is the first Sweden-Indonesia research partnership center. Now we have representation in Yogyakarta. This is a great gift from Gadjah Mada University,' said Polano.
She added the research center was the first not only in Indonesia but also Asia. She also expected that both countries could cooperate to lower carbon emissions. 'It is really important to focus on renewable energy. In the early 90s, Sweden already said that we should not depend on oil.'
She added the cooperation would benefit Indonesia, since Sweden was very rich in technology innovation as well as very advanced in research and development.
'This makes us an interesting partner for the world,' she said.
Meanwhile, Brandsma said INSISTS would not operate in all kinds of energy but would choose the most important, such as biodiesel.
'We have a common interest in biodiesel as Sweden has a long history in using biodiesel,' he said.
Hadi said the presence of INSISTS could reduce the impact of tropical rainforests being converted into oil palm plantations.
'We can find new technology to increase efficiency in producing biodiesel. With limited land, we can increase biodiesel production by using the cellulose technology,' he said.
