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Indonesia to expand domestic biodiesel use
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A worker checks freshly harvested oil palm fruit on a truck in Pangkalan Bun, East Kalimantan. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry plans to expand the use of biodiesel to 3.5 million kiloliters annually by encouraging the mining sector and state-owned railway operator KAI to use the fuel.
“I just reported the plan to use biodiesel for [trains operated] state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia,” the ministry's new and renewable energy director general, Rida Mulyana, said in Jakarta after attending a meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister as reported by kontan.co.id.
Biodiesel is currently used by motorized vehicles.
The government is conducting tests on the use of B5 or biodiesel 5 percent for train locomotives.
The mining sector will also be encouraged to use biodiesel, particularly for fueling heavy equipment on mining sites, he said, adding that the government had opened talks with mining companies on the conversion to biodiesel.
He said the mining sector was expected to absorb 90 percent of about 400,000 kiloliters of additional biodiesel use, while the remaining 10 percent would be used by locomotives operated by KAI.
While locomotives would use B5, the heavy equipment of the mining sector will use B10 or 10 percent biodiesel, he added.
As the largest producer of palm oil, Indonesia needs to expand the domestic market for the commodity, as the country’s traditional markets, such as the European Union, plan to limit the use of the fuel for transportation. (bbn)
