KPBB Disentil Statement Of The Ministry Of Industry: Understanding Electric, Hybrid And ICE Car Emissions Needs To Be Complete

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Executive Director of the Committee for the Elimination of Pambal Gasoline (KPBB) Ahmad Syafrudin considers the Minister of Industry's statement regarding the emissions of Electric Cars higher than hybrid and gasoline as the silting of the government's efforts to encourage carbon emissions by 2060.

However, Ahmad Syafrudin is considered not to understand the context in its entirety at the Decarbonization Ministry working meeting which was held on October 11, 2023.

"In the working meeting, strategic efforts referred to the results of several studies, including McKinsey and company, which saw in the process of making BEV batteries emitting about 40 percent higher emissions than Hybrid and Gasoline due to the Lithium, Cobalt and Nickel mineral extraction processes," said R Hendro Martono, Director of the Maritime Industry, Transportation Equipment and Defense Equipment (IMATAP) of the Ministry of Industry, in a written statement, Saturday, October 21.

Referring to the above study, Hendro said, to achieve the decarbonization of the electric car ecosystem, a renewable electric energy is needed by reducing the mix of electricity sources from fossils, both for electric vehicle energy as well as mineral processing for the manufacture of the battery itself.

And most importantly available battery recycling facilities so that battery-based KBL batteries can be recycled or used as secondary storage energy, so that the "end to end" ecosystem of Battery-Based KBL can be formed.

Furthermore, Hendro conveyed a life cycle emission study by Polestar and Rivian in 2021 in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific which was reported on the Polestar and Rivian Pathway Report (2023), the emissions produced by electric vehicles were lower, namely 39 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), compared to hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) of 47 tCO2e, and conventional vehicles or internal combustion engines (ICE) which reached 55 tCO2e.

"This emission rate is different not too much per tonne of CO2 per Km if the gasoline used is more bio or green fuel," added Hendro.

Hendro emphasized that Life Cycle Emissions shows the total amount of greenhouse gases and particles released during the vehicle's life cycle from production to use and disposal (disposal), shown by units of tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).

"The existence of this emission is still very dependent on the input of fuel energy from upstream and downstream (the vehicle itself) and gradually it will decrease if this input material is carried out in a green fuel," he explained.

"Ahmad Syafrudin is advised to look at the EV roadmap made by the Ministry of Industry as well as strategic steps to enter Net Zero Emission faster than the Government's 2060 target through the transportation equipment sector which leads to green mobility with more two-wheeled and four-wheeled EV portions in 2035 than fossil fuel vehicles. In the context of PLTU and BEV, Hybrid and ICE emissions called KBPP are not wrong, which is wrong by them (KBPP) understands Menperin's statement which is piecewise and incomplete, "concluded Hendro.

In encouraging the acceleration of EVs, the Ministry of Industry together with the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries are currently revising Presidential Decree 55 of 2019 concerning the Acceleration of the Battery-Based Electric Vehicle Program for Road Transportation, in order to attract EV manufacturers to enter Indonesia.

"This is necessary to strengthen supply so that people can also enjoy electric vehicles at affordable prices, besides that the Battery Factory, which is planned to start operating in 2025, can reduce EV vehicle prices considering that the largest cost factor is in the Battery component," added Hendro.

According to Hendro, it is very unfortunate that the KPBB held a discussion event with a negative narrative and tended to corner with the title "Sesat-minded". The Ministry of Industry as a policy maker always works hard to create green mobility, but some parties actually process opinions from pieces of statements without a complete, educational and constructive understanding of context.

"We suggest that in the future a cross check will be carried out before submitting news with a destructive narrative regarding the positive efforts made by the Government. We have an obligation to provide news corrections that are equipped with technocratic scripts on wrong opinions and tend to corner," said Hendro.