Distribute Free Rice Cookers Can Save Elpiji Up To 29 Million Kilo, Observer: Excessive!

Illustration of Rice Cooker which will be distributed free of charge to the public. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) will distribute Electric Cooking Equipment (AML) in the form of a rice cooker of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources claims that the AML Provision Pogram as many as 500,000 units in 2023 throughout Indonesia has the potential to increase electricity consumption by around 140 GWh equivalent to the 20MW generation capacity. This program also has the potential to save LPG around 29 million kilos or the equivalent of 9.7 million 3 kg tubes.

Energy observer and Permanent Professor of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia, Iwa Garniwa, considered the claim excessive. Based on his observations, ricecooker is currently a biased cooking tool for the community. "And converting a ricecooker with gas is not appropriate because many people have made rice using a ricecooker," said Iwa when contacted by VOI, Saturday, October 14. According to him, the right conversion is with an electric stove or induction stove. He said, the induction stove program is the right program to save gas. For this reason, he emphasized that the policy for distributing riskookers is not appropriate if it is juxtaposed on the grounds of reducing LPG consumption. Iwa also assessed that the policy was also unable to overcome the problem of oversupply of PLN electricity, which is currently still happening.

"I think the policy is ineffective for reasons like the above. How can it increase electricity consumption if people have used this rice cooker a lot," said Iwa. For that, said Iwa, if the government wants to distribute free riskookers, it can be done with the aim of helping the community without using the frills to suppress gas consumption and increase electricity consumption. "If the government wants to distribute this riskooker, just do it in order to help the community, not for the reasons above," concluded Iwa. Asal knows, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has issued Ministerial Regulation of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 11 of 2023 concerning the Provision of Electricity-Based Cooking Equipment for Households. As a derivative, a Technical Guideline for the Provision of Electrically-Based Cooking Equipment (AML) has also been published through the Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 548.K/TL.04/DJL.3/2023. Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif said that the process of distributing rice cookers or free electricity-based rice breeding tools will be carried out per package or stage.