VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo demanded Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to accelerate the use of biodiesel. He said that the acceleration of biodiesel and renewable energy use should be carried out due to their extremely low implementation in Indonesia. During a limited working meeting about ‘The Acceleration of Biodiesel Use” at President Office in Jakara on Friday (22^nd of July 2018), President Joko Widodo explained that Indonesia should not depend on fossil energy because fossil energy has its restricted amount. President Joko Widodo viewed that the implementation of acceleration of biodiesel use has not completely met the expectation in reality. Therefore, he reinforced that the use of biodiesel could be maximized. The President set a target for government to save less than $21 million dollars every day by switching to the use of biodiesel. He wants strong commitment from the Working Cabinet to accelerate the use of biodiesel. President Joko Widodo also reminded about the importance of paying attention to the safety and obstacles in using biodiesel as an alternative fuel. It is aimed to elevate and expand the use of biodiesel. In addition, President Joko Widodo asked all citizens from various elements to strengthen the commitment of altering to the use of alternative, new, and renewable energy in order to generate more advantages for the country. By using alternative energy, Indonesia could reduce oil import as well as develop Indonesia’s trade balance. Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs, Darmin Nasution said that  the use of diesel fuels containing 20% Crude Palm Oil or B20 is claimed to save the country’s exchange up to $21 million dollars per day or equivalent to Rp302,4 billion. By using B20, the government could repress the import of the diesel fuels as well as increase the consumption of domestic crude palm oil. Minister Darmin also explained that Indonesia could save its foreign exchange reserves amounting to $5.5 million dollars or Rp79.2 trillion as the impact of using B20 for fuel. This profit is estimated in a yearly calculation. With the condition, the use of B20 has been implemented completely by public service obligation or non-PSO sector. Minister Darmin Nasution added that the use of mix crude oil has actually been regulated in Presidential Regulation No. 24/2016. Meanwhile, the 20% crude palm oil as the mix of diesel fuels is based on the Regulation of the Ministry of Energy and Renewable Resources No. 12/2015. Nevertheless, the regulation only concerns on the use of B20 in PSO. At present, the government is currently revising the regulation regarding with the use of B20 to be also implemented for the non-PSO. According to Minister Darmin Nasution, the government gives transitional period for industrial actors to apply B20 as their fuel.