VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Jakarta: Greece on Wednesday (10/4) reopened a historic mosque in northern Thessaloniki for the first time in more than a century, allowing Muslims to perform Eid prayers there.

Around 100 people performed Eid prayers at the "Yeni Mosque" or "New Mosque", which witnessed the last gathering of worshippers in the early 1920s, before the war between Greece and Turkey led to a population exchange between the two countries that reduced the number of Muslims in the city.

"We are lucky that this mosque was opened for us," says 66-year-old Ismail Badreddin.

"I have lived in Thessaloniki for four years and this is the first time I have had the opportunity to pray with my Muslim family" at the mosque, said Ali, 23, a Turkish economics student. Greek police guarded the historic mosque during the prayers.

The Yeni Mosque, built by Italian architect Vitaliano Boselli in 1902, was at the time used by members of the Donmeh community, Jews who pretended to convert to Islam.

In 1922, refugees from the Greco-Turkish war were briefly housed in this two-story building, before it was converted into a museum and city gallery.

Greece is a predominantly Orthodox Christian country, and Muslim places of worship are mostly concentrated in the Thrace region in the northeast of the country near the Greek-Turkish border, where Muslim minorities have been settled for centuries.

In Athens, Muslims have been few in number since the Greco-Turkish war before increasing due to the refugee crisis in 2015.

In November 2020, the city's first new mosque officially opened after more than a decade of construction, which had faced strong opposition from the Orthodox Church as well as nationalist groups. (Daniel)

Source: AFP

VOInews, Jakarta: Paris-based environmental engineering firm Kayrros is using satellite data and artificial intelligence (AI) models to accurately monitor leaks of methane, a greenhouse gas produced by fossil fuels. The invisible plumes of odourless gas in the air appear on the company's maps as coloured clouds, in satellite imagery.

Since 2019, Kayrros has detected nearly 10,000 methane concentration events around the world, from the United States to India to Turkmenistan and Algeria, due to harmful practices not being properly managed in fossil industry-based infrastructure.
The leaks occur due to pressure problems in gas pipelines and the opening of valves to avoid the risk of explosion," explains Kayrros data scientist Alexis Groshneri.

Methane has a shorter lifespan than carbon dioxide but greater warming potential, and is a factor in 30 per cent of global warming since the Industrial Revolution. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 40 per cent of methane emissions from the production of fossil energy sources (coal, oil and gas) can be avoided at little cost. However, these emissions must be properly monitored and measured.

Kayrros uses nine satellites operated by governments or official space agencies such as the European and American Space Agencies, which send their images back to Earth at different frequencies, several times a week or every 15 minutes, with greater or lesser resolution, depending on the model.

"We are working with the different sources available to try to improve the observations," Groshenry says.
The downside for mathematicians in green technology is that there is a huge amount of data to process, which is impossible to observe in a single image. That's where artificial intelligence comes in. (Daniel).

Source: AFP

VOInews Jakarta: The Istiqlal Mosque which is situated in Central Jakarta represents Islam in Indonesia. Under the leadership of Grand Imam Prof. Dr. KH. Nasaruddin Umar, M.A., the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, has received a number of international awards. In an interview with the Mutiara Ramadhan program which was broadcast on Thursday (04/04/2024) in the Voice of Indonesia- Radio Republik Indonesia channel, Nasaruddin Umar conveyed a number of achievements achieved by the mosque which can accommodate 200,000 worshipers.

Firstly, the Istiqlal Mosque became the first house of worship to obtain a Green Building Certificate. "The neatest, most beautiful, greenest house of worship is Istiqlal, which means it beats all other houses of worship. "And this is the first time a house of worship has received this EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies, ed.) certificate," said Nasaruddin Umar to Voice of Indonesia.

Secondly, the Istiqlal Mosque is considered successful in gathering and promoting universal brotherhood by the United Nations. "I was recently invited to the United Nations, where I was given appreciation for the success of the Istiqlal Mosque in becoming a melting point not only across religions, but also across ethnicities, across nationalities, and also across sects." continued the Grand Imam of the Istiqlal Mosque.

Thirdly, the Istiqlal Mosque is often invited to represent Indonesian Muslims in world forums. "Alhamdulillah, we also have world trust, representation of Muslims in Indonesia. "Istiqlal is often involved, like yesterday at the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the American Department, then China, and in several countries, Istiqlal was asked to be involved as a representative of Indonesian Muslims," explained Nasaruddin Umar.

Fourthly, the Istiqlal Mosque received a World Bank award as the only mosque free of Covid-19, and received the title of cleanest house of worship in the world. "We have also received an international award for being the only public space that has zero resistance to the corona virus" said the Deputy Minister of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia in 2011-2014.

Currently, the Istiqlal Mosque is building a hallway that connects the mosque which was inaugurated in 1978 with The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, well known as the Cathedral. Nasaruddin Umar expressed his joy over the construction of the tunnel, which he interpreted as a symbol of tolerance between people. "What we will build is not (just) a corridor that connects Istiqlal and the Cathedral, but what we will build is a symbol. the symbol of tolerance," said Nasaruddin Umar to Voice of Indonesia. (Daniel)

VOInews, Jakarta: The Java-1 Steam Gas Power Plant (PLTGU) with a capacity of 1760 MW will soon start operating after a series of plant reliability run and net dependent capacity tests which were carried out at the end of March 2024.

PLTGU Jawa-1 is operated by PT Jawa Satu Power, which is a joint company owned by energy companies Pertamina NRE, Marubeni and Sojitz. Pertamina, through a press release, claims that PLTGU Jawa-1 is the largest integrated power plant in Southeast Asia which is equipped with a regasification system.

John Anis, CEO of Pertamina NRE, appreciated the management and officers of JSP for their loyalty and hard work in realizing this mega project.

"I congratulate and express my highest appreciation to JSP management and officers who showed extraordinary patience, persistence, and determination in facing challenges until finally being able to realize this very crucial moment," said John, as quoted on the Pertamina website, Saturday (3/30/2024).

"Support from all parties continues to be expected so that PLTGU Jawa-1 can demonstrate operational excellence and can bring optimal benefits to Pertamina and the Republic of Indonesia," he added.

John said, with all the uniqueness of its installation, PLTGU Jawa-1 could become one of the pillars of the energy transition that would be the pride of Pertamina and Indonesia.

Later, in distributing electricity to the community, PT Jawa Satu Power (JSP) will partner with National Electric Company (PLN).

PLTGU Jawa-1 is a power plant that integrates a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with a power generating unit with a capacity of 1760 MW consisting of 2 generating units with a capacity of 880 MW each.

Previously, Unit 2 has been operating since December 2023. This project connects the availability of gas supplies in Papua with electricity needs on the islands of Java and Bali.

According to Pertamina, this project has a number of advantages, including being more efficient because it uses the latest generation of single shaft combined cycle gas turbine technology, so that electricity selling prices are competitive.

From an operational perspective, this plant has black start capability technology so that it can self-start up when imported power is not available on the grid for plant start-up purposes.

By using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a fuel source, the resulting greenhouse gas emissions are said to be lower than coal or fuel-based power plants.

This is in line with efforts to reduce carbon emissions from the electricity sector. In addition, this plant uses closed loop cooling tower system technology which increases reliability in reducing the volume of sea water used to support plant operations.

Pertamina said the operation of PLTGU Jawa-1 would be an important milestone for the company as well as adding to its portfolio of clean energy utilization in its business.

According to Pertamina, natural gas plays a very strategic role in the energy transition period and will help support national energy security, and its low emissions place it in the clean energy category.

John said, with the latest technology, PLTGU Jawa-1 is projected to reduce carbon emissions by 3.3 million tco2e per year.

He said this figure was very significant for contributing to net zero emissions.

"This is one of the important milestones created by the strategic synergy of BUMN, namely Pertamina and PLN, and the private sector Marubeni and Sojitz and other parties who have a high commitment to jointly realizing the transition to clean energy in Indonesia. Thanks for the best support from all parties ," he explained.