Palm oil ready to back biodiesel drive

Indonesia’s State Minister for Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman said recently that state power company PLN alone needed 12 million kiloliters of diesel fuel per year.

“If 5 percent of the PLN’s need is fulfilled by biodiesel then we need four million hectares of palm plantations,” he said recently.

Besides for electricity, diesel fuel is also used by various industries and for transportation. Industrial users need six million kiloliters of diesel fuel and the transportation sector needs 26 million kiloliter of diesel fuel per year. So, if Indonesia wants to add 5 percent palm oil into all its biofuel blends, then huge areas of palm oil plantations will be needed.

The Jakarta Post