Government will build four biofuel plants

The government plans to build four biodiesel plants in Kalimantan and Sumatra this year to promote the wider use of non-oil-and-gas alternative energy in the country.

..”The total production of the four plants will be small as they are just pilot projects, but we expect it to eventually expand, with private investors becoming involved as demand increases,” Industry Minister Fahmi Idris said Wednesday after a ministerial meeting to discuss the development of alternative energy.

..A presidential decree was issued earlier this year to give effect to the government’s long-term energy strategy of reducing the use of oil to 30 percent of the country’s total energy mix by 2025 from 60 percent at present. The use of coal and natural gas, meanwhile, is expected to rise to 30 percent from 15 percent at present, with alternative energy resources such as biomass fuel, and hydro, geothermal, and solar energy accounting for the remaining ten percent.

The Jakarta Post