Jakarta – Although Indonesia has great potential in producing palm oil-based bioavtur, its application still faces various challenges, especially in terms of price and compliance with international standards, officials from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) said.
Eniya Listiani Dewi, Director General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) at the EMR Ministry explained that despite the abundant supply of bioavtur, especially palm oil-based bioavtur, its use as jet fuel, is still constrained by high prices.
She said in an official statement Friday, July 5, that “Indonesia still has to study various formulas to overcome the high cost of using bioavtur production as aircraft fuel.”
The government has encouraged Pertamina to produce bioavtur independently and to cooperate with aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing. Eniya said one of the solutions being studied by the government is how to bear these high costs and whether they should be charged to passengers, as applied in Singapore.
The government is also considering other raw materials to produce bioavtur, such as used cooking oil. “We have a lot of used cooking oil, but it has not been controlled,” Eniya explained.
Bioavtur is believed to reduce carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional avtur, thereby reducing the aviation industry’s environmental impact, which is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
Pertamina has conducted a flight test of bioavtur produced at the Cilacap refinery. The bioavtur, named Pertamina SAF J2.4, went through a flight test on PT Dirgantara Indonesia’s CN-235 military aircraft on October 4, 2023, and then tested on PT Garuda Indonesia’s Boeing 737-800 NG commercial aircraft.
This trial was successful without significant obstacles, so on October 27, 2023, the bioavtur was used commercially on the Jakarta-Solo and Solo-Jakarta flight routes.
“Four kiloliters of bioavtur are required for a one-time flight on the Solo-Jakarta route using a Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft,” said Eniya.
The application of bioavtur in Indonesia still requires various adjustments and support from various parties to run effectively and efficiently, given Indonesia’s great potential in producing this biofuel. (Hartatik)
