Jokowi’s Plan to Use B40 Biodiesel by 2021 Difficult to Realize: Experts

(The Jakarta Post) Experts have expressed doubt about President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s plan to increase the palm oil content in biodiesel to 40 percent on a mass scale by next year from 30 percent at present. They say producers may fail to meet the increase in demand and the quality standards.

Indonesian Bioenergy Expert Association (IKABI) chairman Tatang Herman said it would take more than a year to prepare for the processing facilities to enable them to meet the technical requirements to produce biodiesel with 40 percent palm oil content.

“The preparation for B30 started back in 2014, and the regulation was issued in 2015. That provides a lot of time for producers to prepare. However, the decision to upgrade to B40 is way too sudden,” he said in a public discussion on Friday.

In January, Indonesia began the mandatory use of B30 biodiesel, which contains 30 percent palm oil-derived fuel, after launching B20 biodiesel in late 2018.

Palm oil producer PT Tunas Baru Lampung’s technical advisor Sapto Tranggono also said that several biodiesel refineries may not be able to produce B40, as the biodiesel mix required higher quality standards than the B30 type.

“There is a possibility that old refineries don’t have the capability to refine CPO to produce B40 biodiesel. In addition, vehicle manufacturers also may need to upgrade their fuel filters for their products to consume B40,” he said.

To increase the vegetable-oil share in biodiesel to 40 percent without potentially damaging vehicle engines, Tatang suggested that the government mix 30 percent fatty acid methyl (FAME) with an additional 10 percent of bio-hydrogenated diesel (BHD), which is also known as green diesel.

“FAME has a maximum mix percentage of 30, just like B30 fuel, as a higher [share of vegetable oil-derived fuel] would not meet the diesel’s oxidation standard. It could damage the engine,” he said. READ MORE