Jakarta—With increasingly extreme climate change and unpredictable weather phenomena, Indonesia is now accelerating its energy transition towards a cleaner and more sustainable future. This was revealed by the Chairman of the Indonesian Renewable Energy Society (METI), Wiluyo Kusdwiharto, at the Energy Institute for Transition (EITS) Discussion Series 2024 on Wednesday, June 5.
“Green acceleration towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy future is urgent,” he said. Kusdwiharto said the extreme weather change phenomenon has triggered various alarming natural events, such as severe turbulence on a Boeing 777-300ER flight from London to Singapore on May 20, 2024, which was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, Thailand.
He underlined that similar extreme phenomena will become more frequent as the Earth’s temperature rises, triggered by significant carbon releases from human activities.
Kusdwiharto also said that the energy transition should not ignore the “Energy Trilemma,” which includes energy security, environmental sustainability, and affordability.
He emphasised the importance of gradually building new and renewable energy (NRE) to replace fossil energy. Given Indonesia’s huge potential in these sectors, the government is advised to optimise the use of hydro and geothermal energy.
For example, the potential of hydro energy in Sumatra reaches 26 gigawatts (GW), and Indonesia’s geothermal power has a 25 to 30 GW capacity. In line with Wiluyo, the Director of Various New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Andriah Feby Misna, highlighted that climate change increases the risk of hydrometeorological disasters which currently accounts for 80 per cent of total disasters in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the Director of Various New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Andriah Feby Misna, presented the Bureau of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) 2020 data showing an increase in temperature in Indonesia by 0.03°C per year from 1981 to 2018 and an increase in sea levels by 0.8-1.2 cm per year.
“The commitment of the energy sector is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 358-446 million tons of CO2 by 2030 through the development of renewable energy, the implementation of energy efficiency and energy conservation, and the application of clean energy technology,” she explained.
On the same occasion, Rayendra Sidik, Head of SKK Migas’s Oil and Gas Commercialization Division, ensured that the upstream oil and gas industry continues to reduce carbon emissions through various initiatives, such as carbon reduction, zero flaring, and carbon capture.
“We capture from their operations, then put it into storage and already empty reservoirs,” he explained.
This commitment shows Indonesia’s concrete steps in facing climate change and accelerating the transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy. (Hartatik)
