According to the news on December 4, a senior official from the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said that Indonesia plans to start using palm oil to produce green diesel by 2022, with an estimated output of 3.7 million kiloliters.
Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, wants to develop green diesel, the second-generation biodiesel. The company’s current biodiesel is made by extracting fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from palm oil and blending it with fossil fuels.
Green diesel can be produced through a single process to refine fossil crude oil and palm derivatives, or palm oil in a specialized refinery.
Sutijastoto, head of renewable energy at Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said at a parliamentary hearing that his forecast for 2022 is based on a business plan by Indonesia’s state-owned energy company PT Pertamina, but further research is needed.
Pertamina is currently planning to develop a refinery that can use palm oil to produce diesel.
According to data submitted by the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to Parliament, Indonesia should be able to increase output to 6.1 million kiloliters by 2024.
UtSutijastoto said that seven companies are interested in building refineries to produce green diesel, including Singapore’s Wilmar International, an agricultural conglomerate.
Indonesia From January next year, Indonesia will begin to compulsively use B30 fuel, which is a mixed fuel mixed with 30% biodiesel. It will expand from the current 20% biological content.
In recent months, the B30 project has triggered a rise in palm oil prices due to concerns that palm oil available for export in Indonesia will decrease.
Data released by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources on Tuesday showed that Indonesia is expected to consume 10.1 million kiloliters of biodiesel by 2022.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo believes that the biodiesel project is a way to offset the current account deficit caused by large energy imports, while also supporting demand for palm oil. Palm oil is one of Indonesia’s major commodity exports.
IdWidodo called for further expansion of biodiesel projects and ordered the study of blending palm-based fuels with aviation fuels.