Gov’t Promotes Bioethanol to Strengthen Energy Security

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia during the press conference, Washington, D.C., United States, Friday (02/20).

The Government has highlighted the E5 and E10 bioethanol blending policy as a strategic measure to strengthen Indonesia’s energy resilience and sovereignty.

“One of our key strategies to enhance energy resilience and sovereignty is to implement a mandatory ethanol blend in part of our gasoline supply,” Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia told reporters in Washington, D.C., United States, Friday (02/20).

Bahlil further emphasized that the policy is intended to expand business activity in the domestic energy sector. He added that the bioethanol import clause in the Indonesia-U.S. reciprocal trade agreement aims to help meet national ethanol demand until the country achieves production self-sufficiency.

“Nevertheless, until our production can meet domestic demand, there remains room for imports, including from the United States, just until our domestic production needs are fulfilled,” he said.

The shift in ethanol imports sources, the Minister continued, will take advantage of a zero-percent import tariff as it makes raw material prices more competitive.

“This benefits us. We import from here with a zero-percent tariff, making prices cheaper and enabling our industries to be more competitive in using ethanol as a raw material,” Bahlil remarked.

For the record, ethanol is not only used for fuel blending but is also an important raw material for various industrial sectors. With more efficient import costs, the Government hopes to reduce national industrial production costs and improve competitiveness in the global market. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (GWH/LW)