BRIN: Palm Oil Is Most Possible As A Substitute For Fossil Fuel

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said palm oil is a new renewable energy raw material that makes it most possible to replace fossil fuel positions. "The results of the assessment carried out by BRIN's renewable energy team, palm oil is the most likely material to be developed," said Head of the BRIN Food Crops Research Center Yudhistira Nugraha in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Saturday, March 2. Yudhistira said there are three factors that make palm oil potential, namely the readiness of raw materials; readiness of technology and downstreaming; as well as government policies both in terms of incentives, funding, and investment.

According to him, Indonesia is the largest crude palm oil (CPO) producer in the world with an estimated production of 44.2 million tons. CPO-based fuel conversion, namely biodiesel B20 and B30, as well as in the future B100 (green solar).

"Pengembangan teknologi produksi biofuel atau bahan bakar nabati berbasis minyak sawit mentah memerlukan biaya investasi yang tinggi, sehingga hal itu menjadi tantangan tersendiri dalam pengembangan bahan bakar alternatif tersebut," ujarnya.Yudhistira menuturkan pengembangan co-processing dalam memproduksi biofuel berbasis CPO perlu didorong agar dapat mewujudkan kemandirian energi di dalam negeri."Efisiensi produksi fossil fuel saat ini masih lebih tinggi daripada biofuel perlu dipertimbangkan terkait green inflation, sehingga perlu kebijakan hati-hati dalam penerapan secara nasional agar tidak mempengaruhi keseluruhan perekonomian nasional," tuturnya.