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RI misses its E5 bioethanol blending target by wide margin
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has admitted that the 5 percent bioethanol (E5) gasoline program has fallen far behind schedule.
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President Joko Widodo (center), accompanied by the owner of sugar factory PT Prima Alam Gemilang, Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad (left), and former agriculture minister Amran Sulaiman (right), visits a sugarcane plantation in Bombana regency, Southeast Sulawesi, on Oct. 22, 2020. (Presidential Press Bureau/File)
T
he Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has announced that a program for the rollout of 5 percent bioethanol (E5) gasoline has fallen far behind schedule.
The ministry’s renewables director general, Eniya Listiani Dewi, explained that the effort to implement the use of the fuel faced various challenges, including limited feedstock for producing bioethanol, expensive and fluctuating raw material prices as well as a lack of incentives to bridge the gap between the market index prices (HIP) of bioethanol and gasoline.
“If we refer to the road map, E5 should have been running since 2020,” Eniya said on Wednesday at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) in Tangerang, as reported by Bisnis.
“It has been four years [since the 2020 target] stated in the 2015 ministerial regulation; in fact in 2025 we’re supposed to have 20 percent [bioethanol],” she explained.
Energy Ministry Regulation No. 12/2015 on the provision, utilization and trade of biofuel and other fuels states that the mandatory use of E5 bioethanol for public service obligation (PSO) purposes and E10 bioethanol for non-PSO purposes should begin in 2020. The same regulation lays out plans to enforce E20 bioethanol for both PSO and non-PSO use beginning in 2025.
At the moment, however, the E5 program is still in the market trial stage for the non-PSO rollout, meaning the government has missed the target stated in the regulation by a large margin.
Read also: Pertamina to launch bioethanol gasoline this month, CEO says
