Pertamina Boss: Energy Security Is In Line With Food Realization

JAKARTA - President Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) Nicke Widyawati emphasized that Pertamina's priority in maintaining energy security is also in line with efforts to realize national food security.

This was conveyed by Nicke in the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Science and Innovation Forum, which is part of the 2023 The World Food Forum series in Rome, Italy, Thursday, October 19.

According to Nicke, through a statement received in Jakarta, Saturday, Indonesia has great potential with domestic resources to be used as energy, including the use of foodstuffs in producing bioenergy.

"Pertamina has a map of environmentally friendly business roads, one of which is the implementation of biofuels. Biofuels are one of the keys to decarbonization in the transportation sector," he said.

Pertamina gave an example that currently the use of biofuels sourced from palm oil or B35 has proven to have succeeded in reducing imports of fuel oil, especially diesel, increasing the use of renewable energy. and at the same time can reduce emissions.

"The estimate in 2022 alone can reduce emissions equivalent to 28 million tons of CO2," said Nicke.

He also explained that bioenergy in Indonesia will not interfere with food security because what is processed into energy is the remnant or grounds from its sources of plant.

"We must ensure that efforts to achieve energy security can also be in line with efforts to achieve food security, no one should be disrupted," he said.

On this occasion, Nicke also conveyed about the energy trillion that Indonesia must face, including Pertamina, namely energy security, energy sustainability, and energy affordability.

"Currently, energy security is a priority for Indonesia, but at the same time we also don't forget about energy affordability and sustainability," he said.

Therefore, he said, it is important to make an energy transition, by using domestic natural resources (SDA) to reduce carbon emissions and also provide energy independence and resilience for Indonesia.

Meanwhile, regarding potential in the energy sector, Indonesia has the opportunity to be an important part in supporting energy security, where Indonesia is one of the largest nickel and bauxite producers in the world which is the material needed for the development of electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Indonesia also has the potential for new and renewable energy starting from nature-based solutions and carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS).

Pertamina is committed to supporting the Indonesian Government's commitment to achieving net zero emissions (NZE) by 2060 or sooner by developing a roadmap for asset decarbonization, environmentally friendly business development, and developing carbon offsets.