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Shift to electricity means shift to coal, critics warn
The government is pushing consumers to rely more on electricity and less on oil or gas as part of the country’s energy transition, but environmentalists and a researcher have told The Jakarta Post the move, for now, means little more than shifting from one fossil fuel to another.
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Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan drives an orange BMW i8 Roadster to lead a convoy of electric vehicles from Gelora Bung Karno Stadium toward the National Monument in Jakarta on Sept. 20, 2019. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
C
ritics have berated the government for promoting electric vehicles (EVs) and stoves but failing to ensure the power consumed comes from clean sources.
The government is pushing consumers to rely more on electricity and less on oil or gas as part of the country’s energy transition, but environmentalists and a researcher have told The Jakarta Post the move, for now, means little more than shifting from one fossil fuel to another.
Earlier this month, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed a presidential instruction to replace hundreds of thousands of government service vehicles across the country with electric ones in a policy that took effect on Sept. 13. Several state-owned bus companies, meanwhile, have begun to or are about to operate electric buses.
Also earlier this month, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir said that, starting next year, the state would spend nearly Rp 5 trillion (US$334.7 million) annually to provide free electric stoves for millions of households currently using heavily subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking.
Separately, state-owned electricity monopoly PLN initialized a program of its own this year to give away more than 300,000 electric stoves.
“All of these efforts will help us reduce our oil and gas imports,” Djoko Siswanto, secretary general of the National Energy Board (DEN), told the Post on Friday, adding that the government considered electrification as a step bringing the country closer to clean energy.
Read also: Jokowi orders switch to EVs, public may not follow
