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Indonesia to produce biomethane from palm oil in 2025
Pertamina subsidiary PGN and three Japanese companies are looking to produce biomethane to meet rising natural gas demand, reduce methane emissions and possibly export bio-LNG to Japan and other markets.
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A farmer harvests oil palm fruit at a plantation in Kuta Makmur, Aceh, on May 23, 2022. (AFP/Azwar Ipank)
P
ertamina subsidiary PGN and three Japanese companies are looking to produce biomethane from palm oil mill effluent (POME) to meet rising natural gas demand and reduce methane emissions.
The consortium of PGN, JGC Holdings Corporation, Osaka Gas and Inpex Corporation is currently working on a study for the commercialization of such a product in Indonesia in 2025, using PGN’s natural gas distribution network.
The raw material is to come from oil palm plantations in South Sumatra.
The project aims to recover methane gas released into the atmosphere from POME, refine it into biomethane and supply it to customers via natural gas pipelines and other existing infrastructure.
Untreated POME releases methane, which is more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, according to the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency.
“The biomethane produced from this project is not only expected to meet industrial gas and consumer demand but also to serve as proof that Pertamina Group and its partners, in this case, JGC, Inpex and Osaka Gas, are committed to encouraging renewable energy development,” Harry Budi Sidharta, PGN director of strategy and business development, said in a statement on Monday.
The biomethane produced from the project is expected to expand Pertamina’s natural gas business.
