Jakarta—The government’s efforts to accelerate the energy transition towards renewable energy and reduce dependence on fossil energy, including the implementation of the B35 program, can save the country’s foreign exchange by USD 5.54 billion per year, according to a member of the House of Representatives (DPR).
“Implementing the B35 program alone can save diesel imports of around 9.84 million kiloliters per year or equivalent to foreign exchange savings of around USD 5.54 billion per year. Moreover, if the use of bioethanol is also massively utilised for Pertalite, undoubtedly fuel imports will decrease dramatically, and we use more environmentally friendly fuels,” said DPR Deputy Chairman of Commission VII Eddy Soeparno in an official statement received on Monday, July 8.
“Currently, the renewable energy mix in Indonesia has only reached 13 per cent. Even though Indonesia is rich in renewable energy sources. I continue to strive to build collective work so that the acceleration of the energy transition can be carried out with a strong legal basis. That is why we continue to strive for the Renewables Bill to be passed soon,” he continued.
According to Eddy, in addition to strengthening the commitment to develop geothermal, solar and wind energy sources, Indonesia also needs to increase the production of biomass, sugar cane, sorghum and oil palm for bioethanol, biodiesel and bioavtur.
Furthermore, Eddy emphasized that Prabowo-Gibran’s energy policy priority is to continue President Jokowi’s policy to make Indonesia the King of the world’s Green Economy.
“Accelerating the energy transition to renewable energy is part of the effort to realize the Prabowo-Gibran vision-mission to become the King of the World Green Economy by utilizing renewable energy sources in Indonesia,” he added.
President Jokowi has paid special attention to the impact of climate change, including the threat of starving 500 million people globally and decreasing agricultural productivity. Eddy hopes President Jokowi’s attention to the threat of climate change will become common awareness among stakeholders and policymakers from the centre to the regions.
“Of course, the hope is that with President Jokowi’s special attention, we all have the same awareness of the impact of climate change, especially policymakers from the centre to the regions,” Eddy concluded. (Hartatik)
