TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Renewable energy policies must go beyond politics, says economist
Change Size
Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs delivers a speech at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank in Jakarta on Tuesday. (thejakartapost.com/Anton Hermansyah)
I
ndonesia must launch persistent renewable energy policies that can weather waves of government change as a shift in the energy mix will take up to 40 years to succeed, Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs has said.
As the fourth-biggest coal producer in the world, Indonesia is still dependent on the commodity. The country could decarbonize its energy system given its range of other options, but decarbonization would take decades to succeed, Sachs said.
Therefore, the government must show a lifelong commitment to building renewable energy, which must also be continued by the next administration.
"I believe Indonesia and the US and other countries should create a kind of energy regulatory authority that takes a long-term view and provides consistency across the governments. Whatever this government gets started, the next government has to continue, and so do the next governments," Sachs told thejakartapost.com on Tuesday in Jakarta.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said said recently that the government aimed for 5,000 megawatts (MW) of its 35,000 MW program to be powered by solar cells, and another 2,000 MW by geothermal.
Sachs said the potential for renewable energy in Indonesia could be bigger than that, including the option to use nuclear power.
"There are a lot of renewable energy potentials in this country. Clearly you have solar power, wind power, more geothermal power, and there is nuclear power for consideration as well. All of those powers should be part of a comprehensive energy strategy that is compatible with the reality of climate change," he said. (ags)
