Indonesia wants to expand the blending of ethanol in gasoline to further reduce fossil fuel imports and carbon emissions, but will have to secure more sugarcane to increase production of the biofuel.

Indonesia imported about 60 percent of the gasoline it consumed last year at a cost of $17 billion, and aims to replicate the success it had with biodiesel mandates that reduced billions of dollars in diesel imports. While much of Indonesia's emissions reductions come from forest management and the closure of coal-fired power plants, the country expects to achieve significant cuts with the use of biofuels and electric vehicles.

This year, the government plans to test gasoline with 5 percent ethanol in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, Energy Ministry official Dadan Kusdiana told Reuters.

Indonesia plans to eventually determine the ethanol content for gasoline at 15 percent and use it nationwide by 2031, an aggressive goal since it has only two mills struggling to secure enough sugarcane molasses feedstock.

"There are no technical problems for ethanol. The issue is on the raw material side. If we depend on the existing molasses supply, we will continue to compete (with other needs)," Dadan told Reuters.

With limited ethanol capacity and the country relying on imported sugar to meet domestic demand, including for food, some companies are looking to produce from other raw materials such as cassava and biomass.

"There are two companies interested in producing ethanol from biomass. So (the program) wouldn't have to totally rely on sugarcane production," Davan said.

State energy company Pertamina also plans to build a facility to produce ethanol from cassava and blend gasoline with 5 percent ethanol and 15 percent methanol for a blend it calls A20, its chief executive said at a parliamentary hearing in January.

Quadrupling sugarcane production

Indonesia will burn 45.7 billion liters (12.1 billion gallons) of gasoline in 2025 and 50.1 billion liters in 2030, according to a study by the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

This means that a 2025 mandate for 5% ethanol would require 2.29 billion liters of ethanol per year, far beyond the current annual capacity of 70 million liters.

A partial response is increased sugar production. President Joko Widodo announced plans to nearly quadruple the land for sugarcane plantations to 700,000 hectares in order to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar for food and fuel in five years.

Source: RPA news