VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif on Monday outlined several benefits of the battery electric vehicle (BEV) program, one of which is boosting the use of clean energy.

"Regarding the electric vehicle subsidy, other countries have implemented incentive programs for electric vehicles, among others, to boost the use of clean energy and to end dependence on fossil fuels," he said at a meeting with Commission VII of the House of Representatives (DPR), which was followed online from here.

Since the need for fuel oil has continued to increase and the purchase of motorcycles may reach 4–5 million units per year, the BEV program can help save costs spent on fuel oil, he noted.

Tasrif added that one of the efforts that are being made is converting fuel-powered vehicles into electric vehicles.

"Our country has a quite vast potential for renewable energy, which we can use to balance the demand on electricity," he said.

He further said that, apart from reducing emissions, the program can also save the country's foreign exchange and help owners of electric vehicles save costs.

Nevertheless, he said that the infrastructures needed to support the BEV program are not yet well-distributed in regions, for example, public electric vehicle charging stations (SPKLU).

He further said that his ministry would encourage SPKLU construction in remote areas, especially in areas where fuel oil is sold at high prices.

Earlier, on March 3, 2023, the government set a subsidy of Rp7 million per unit for each purchase of electric motorcycles, with the overall target set at 200 thousand new electric motorcycles.

Likewise, the subsidy for conversion from fuel motorcycles to electric vehicles was also set to be Rp7-million per unit and targeted 50 thousand motorcycles.

Meanwhile, the incentive for the purchase of electric cars has not been set. However, the government is planning to provide incentives for the purchase of 35,900 units of electric cars and 138 units of electric buses.

The government has also prepared the mechanism for the provision of incentives targeted at electric vehicle producers who have registered electric vehicles that meet the domestic component level (TKDN) of 40 percent.  (antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): The Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture has outlined four aspects that can shape the characters of children, namely the school environment, family environment, community environment, and virtual or digital world environment.

“If, previously, children's characters could be built through school, family, and the social environment, in the current era, there is also the digital world environment," the ministry's Deputy for Education Quality Improvement and Religious Moderation Warsito said here on Monday.

According to him, all parties must pay attention to those four aspects in order to support children's character education.

"The digital world environment even needs to receive more attention considering that children currently spend a lot of time accessing the Internet and have easy access to various information in cyberspace," he said.

Warsito added that teachers and parents have an essential role in supporting children's character building so that they become individuals of noble character.

"It is crucial for teachers, parents, and families up to community leaders to jointly care about the character building of children," he stated.

He also highlighted the importance of assisting children when they access the Internet.

"Psychological guidance for children at school by experts is also important so that children can grow to become psychologically prosperous individuals," he remarked.

Meanwhile, the ministry's acting Deputy for the Coordination of Children, Women, and Youth's Quality Improvement Didik Suhardi emphasized that collaboration is an essential key for strengthening character education among children or students.

"Collaboration between schools, families, and the community is an essential key for instilling character values in children or students," he said.

Efforts to strengthen character education cannot be made only in schools, he added.

"The ecosystem must be built well between schools, families, and the community," he stated. (antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): The construction of public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations (SPKLU) and public EV battery swapping stations (SPBKLU) needs to be improved to support electric motorcycle development in Indonesia, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has said.

"The challenge for the development of electric motorcycles is the (availability of) SPKLU and SPBKLU infrastructures," the ministry's sub-coordinator for the planning of various new and renewable energy (EBT) and Young Expert Policy analyst, Hery Ferdiansyah, said at an event here on Monday.

He made the statement at the launch of a collaboration program between state-run cellular operator Telkomsel and electric two-wheeler producer Volta.

Ferdiansyah said that the government has continued to support the development of electric motorcycles. Currently, there are 439 SPKLUs and 961 SPBKLUs across the country, based on data released in November 2022.

According to him, greater efforts are needed to achieve the target of electric motorcycle development in Indonesia.

Based on the projection of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in its National Energy Grand Strategy, by 2030, the number of electric cars in Indonesia is targeted to reach around 2 million units, while the number of electric motorcycles is targeted to reach around 13 million units.

In the same year, the number of SPKLUs is targeted to reach around 31 thousand units and the number of SPBKLU is targeted to reach around 67 thousand units.

He added that the government has prepared various efforts to support the acceleration of the EV program, among others, through regulations.

The acceleration of the EV program has been regulated through Presidential Regulation Number 55 of 2019 on the acceleration of the use of battery electric vehicles for land transportation and the Regulation of Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Number 13 of 2020 on the provision of charging infrastructures for battery-based electric vehicles.

"Thus, the government has made the regulations and made the incentive (program). The government also promotes the benefits of EVs," he said.

He further said that the potential for EV development in Indonesia is very vast. With sufficient infrastructure and clear regulations, it is hoped that Indonesia will reach success in EV development and accelerate the transition to environmentally-friendly vehicles. (Antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) is preparing to establish a low- and medium-level radioactive waste disposal site in Indonesia, which will comply with the safety and security requirements.

"We should not only develop the reactor or radiopharmaceutical facilities, but pay little attention to preparing the waste management facilities," Head of BRIN’s Research Center for Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste Recycle Technology Syaiful Bakhri said in a statement received on Monday.

Meanwhile, Head of the BRIN’s Nuclear Energy Research Organization Rohadi Awaludin said that Indonesia needs to prepare for the increasing use of nuclear energy in the country and ensure that nuclear waste can be managed properly.

"(Facility) readiness is required for managing radioactive waste in the country to support the use of nuclear for (improving social) welfare in various sectors," he explained.

A senior researcher at BRIN’s Research Center for Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste Recycle Technology, Budi Setiawan, noted that radioactive waste in Indonesia usually originates from research and development activities, hospitals, as well as industry.

According to the statement, this waste is processed in processing, evaporation, incineration compaction, and chemical treatment facilities. Later, it undergoes cementation before being stored in the internal storage facility and sent to the disposal facility.

Setiawan has said that the disposal facility, as the final part of the radioactive waste management process, aims to isolate the waste so that humans and the environment will not be exposed to it.

The site location and the design of the facility are components that need to be prepared for developing a disposal facility, he added.

Based on the statement, a number of criteria, including technical and non-technical aspects as well as geological and non-geological aspects, will be applied in searching for prospective locations for the disposal site.

Furthermore, a geotechnical evaluation will be carried out to determine the composition of the ground of the prospective disposal location. After the location is selected, the design of the facility will be developed.

Setiawan has said that the criteria used in preparing the disposal site must be in accordance with the regulation of the Nuclear Energy Control Agency (Bapeten) regarding the limit of environmental radioactivity value.

Assessments of prospective disposal site locations have been carried out in the Masalembu Islands (East Java province), the Muria Peninsula (Central Java province), the Bangka Belitung Islands province; and the SP-4 sector of the Serpong Nuclear Area (Banten Province).  (Antaranews)