State media reports that Indonesia is considering a mandate for bioethanol blended fuel

The energy minister told the state-run news agency Antara on Tuesday that Indonesia was considering a 10% bioethanol level in gasoline to reduce carbon emissions and the country's dependency on fuel imports.

Indonesia is looking to increase the use of palm oil and sugarcane biofuels as the President Prabowo subianto strives to make Indonesia the fourth most populous country in the world to be more energy independent. Due to ethanol supply shortages, the implementation of a mandatory mix of bioethanol in gasoline has been delayed.

Yesterday evening, we had a meeting. Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said that the president had approved of the 10% mandatory bioethanol plan.

According to a report by Antara, Pertamina CEO Simon Aloysius Mantiri stated that the company is ready to implement the plan.

According to Apsendo data, an Indonesian association of methylated spirits producers and ethanol, Indonesia has the capacity to produce up to 303,325 kilograms of bioethanol annually by 2024. However, production was only 160,946 kg, with imports being 11,829 kg.

Last year, the domestic demand for bioethanol was 125,937 KL, while exports were 46,839 KL. (Reporting and editing by Ananda Teresia, Fransisca Naangoy)

(source: Reuters)