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Ship operators object to B30 for fear of poor performance
The River, Lake and Water Transportation Operators Association (Gapasdap) has expressed its disapproval of next year's mandatory use of diesel mixed with 30 percent palm oil-based fuel, known as B30, after finding the poor performance of its ships after using the biofuel
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span>The River, Lake and Water Transportation Operators Association (Gapasdap) has expressed its disapproval of next year's mandatory use of diesel mixed with 30 percent palm oil-based fuel, known as B30, after finding the poor performance of its ships after using the biofuel.
Gapasdap secretary-general Aminuddin Rifai said that ships registered under the association would suffer significant losses if they had to use B30.
“Most of the ships in Indonesia have old engines, which are not suitable for biodiesel fuel,” he said in Jakarta on Friday.
Even the use of B20, which has been mandatory since last September, has had a negative impact on ship operations such as by polluting the engines’ combustion rooms, he added.
“Compared to pure diesel fuel, B20 has a higher rate of viscosity, which results in the slowing of the combustion process in the engines and leaves more unburnt leftovers,” he said.
In addition, the lower calorie content and higher water content in B20 speeds up the life expectancy of the nozzle injector and fuel injection pump of a ship engine.
“It eventually leads to an increase in maintenance costs for spare parts by 9 percent to 10 percent,” he said, adding that B20 also increased fuel consumption.
“B20’s calorific value is 5 percent to 8 percent lower than pure diesel fuel. At that rate, the fuel consumption increases from 100 liters to 130 or 140 liters for one-hour travel time.”
So, even though the prices of B20 and pure diesel fuel were the same, Rp 5,150 (36 US cents) per liter, a trip using B20 costs more because of greater fuel consumption.
“I hope that the price of B30 will be set lower than pure diesel so that the cost of fuel consumption can be balanced,” he said.
The government began its biodiesel program in 2014 to reduce carbon emissions and reduce Indonesia's dependence on fuel imports by introducing the B10 biodiesel, a diesel fuel with 10 percent palm oil content. The use of biofuel became mandatory in September 2018 with B20 biodiesel, while B30 will be mandatory in 2020.
Aminuddin said he also regretted that the government had only focused on testing the use of B30 for automotive engines before introducing a new policy.
“Supposedly, the government invited ship operators to assess and verify the use of B30, so that they would accept the policy,” he said.
Responding to Gapasdap’s statement, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s research and development head, Dadan Kusdiana, said the ministry was currently preparing to examine the use of B30 for agricultural machinery, train engines and ship engines.
“We will examine all biodiesel parameters, including the density, viscosity, calorific value, freezing point, FAME content and water content. If required, the specifications will be adjusted to the engines,” he told The Jakarta Post, referring to fatty acid methyl esters.
Dadan acknowledged that the examination was part of efforts to realize the instruction of Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan to maximize the use of B30.
Speaking at the launch of the B30 road test last Thursday, Jonan hoped that manufacturers and enginemakers could assess the road test and offer constructive input on the optimization of engines, so that the use of B30 could improve engines’ performance and curb any increase in maintenance costs.
“I hope that the road test will also promote the use of B30 among the community,” he said.
Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki) deputy chairman Togar Sitanggang confirmed to the Post that Indonesia’s total palm oil production was 45 million to 47 million tons per year, a quarter of which was used domestically.
The government is targeting to use 9 million to 10 million tons of the output for the production of B30.
It has estimated that the annual use of biodiesel would reach 6.9 million kiloliters by 2025 from the current 3.8 million kiloliters. (syk)
