Bioethenol Vehicles Can Be Key In Indonesia Reduce Emissions

JAKARTA Currently, there are various types of vehicles that are considered appropriate to reduce emissions, in addition to electric and hybrid vehicles there are also hydrogen-powered battery vehicles (FCEVs), but New and Renewable Energy-based vehicles (EBTs), especially bioethenols, can also be the right choice to help reduce emissions.

"In order not to heat up, greenhouse gases must be limited, so the use of fossil fuels must be reduced. To maintain the stability of fuel needs, there must be new energy with a faster cycle, namely EBT," said technology Institute of Bandung (ITB) Biomass Conversion Process expert Ronny Purwadi during a media discussion at the Toyota manufacturing facility in Karawang, West Java, as reported by ANTARA, Friday, September 6.

"There is a lot of EBT but the most use of fossil fuels in the transportation sector," he added.

The Indonesian government has launched various initiatives to reduce fossil fuel consumption, including increased use of biodiesel.

However, palm oil-based biodiesel is only one solution. Given that most of the fuel needed is gasoline, Rony says bioethenol is an increasingly relevant option.

"EBT already has a lot of geothermals, there is nuclear energy, there is solar energy, then why should it be biofuels? That our vehicle is almost entirely using gasoline. If you want to replace it with EVs (electric vehicles), it means we have to throw all the cars away, we will replace them with EVs," said Rony.

Using bioethenol has many benefits, including reducing dependence on fossil fuels, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and supporting national energy security.

Another advantage of bioethenol is that it can still be used in vehicles that usually use gasoline.

In addition, bioethenol can utilize organic waste and encourage the economy through creating new jobs.

With the continued development of bioethenol technology, it is hoped that bioethenol can be a wider and more effective solution in overcoming energy challenges and climate change in Indonesia.

"So we really have to make biofuels that are still compatible with our current vehicle. Efforts to replace some of this gasoline, with compatible materials, one of which is bioethenol," added Rony.

Bioethenol, which is produced from raw materials such as sugar and starch, offers higher energy than gasoline. Although bioethenol can be produced from food and non-food raw materials, such as corn and cassava, production is still limited.

"Until now, bioethenol is only used as a mixture of E05 in Jakarta and Surabaya, while the national demand for gasoline reaches 29 million kiloliters per year," said Rony.

Bioethenol production in Indonesia, which currently has only reached 34,500 kiloliters, is still far from meeting market needs. This, continued Rony, shows the need to accelerate the development of bioethenol to meet the target of the renewable energy mix set by the government.