[Kabar-indonesia] Indonesia Ups Planned Biofuel Plants To 48

[Joyo at aol.com]

Indonesia Govt Ups No Of Planned Biofuel Plants To 48

JAKARTA, November 1 (Dow Jones)--Indonesia's government will
build 48 biofuel plants, rather than the 11 it had earlier
planned, to produce enough biofuel to replace 10% of the
country's near-total reliance on fossil fuels, a senior
government official said Wednesday.

The government now plans to build more numerous, smaller-
capacity plants, to better facilitate large-scale biofuel
production within the biofuel feedstock supply conditions of
the sprawling archipelagic nation, Deputy Coordinating
Minister for the Economy Bayu Krisnamurti told Dow Jones
Newswires.

"In our budget for 2006 and 2007, the plan (to build more
numerous plants each of lower output capacity) has just been
agreed by the parliament," Krisnamurti said.

While Krisnamurti did not elaborate on the budget for the
newer plan, the previous plan to build larger-capacity
plants was expected to cost IDR200 trillion ($22 billion).

"The reason to change to smaller factories is because the
raw material for biofuel is mostly developed by small-scale
plantations, (which are) spread over Indonesia," he said.

Energy Minister Yusgiantoro Purnomo said earlier this year
that the government planned to achieve that goal by
developing eleven high-capacity biofuel plants.

Under the new scheme, government biofuel plants may be
solely government funded, or partially funded by private-
sector loans, Krisnamurti said.

To meet the government's alternative energy target, total
biofuel output of 26,000 metric tons a year is required,
Purnomo said earlier this year. The government intends to
derive the vegetable component of the cleaner-burning fuels
from sugar, crude palm oil and jatropha, among other
agricultural products.

Accurate data on current biofuel production in Indonesia is
lacking, as much of the country's biofuel is produced by
plantation companies for use in their own vehicles and isn't
sold commercially.

But local English-language newspaper the Jakarta Post
recently quoted Energy Minister Yusgiantoro as saying
Indonesia could potentially produce around 720,000
kiloliters of biofuel this year.

Construction of the plants may be tendered to the private
sector, with some plants likely beginning construction next
year, Krisnamurti said.

He did not give a clear timeframe, but said that total
biofuel output from the plants should be sufficient to
replace 10% of fossil fuel consumption in Indonesia, and
that this output level should be achieved by 2020.
"We have to be realistic (in considering the possibility)
that timing of the supply of biofuel may be slightly
modified," Krisnamurti said.

"The total output target is still the same," he said. "It's
a matter of priority and timing."

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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