Ministry Of Energy And Mineral Resources: Bioavtur Development Needs To Be Accelerated In The Aviation Sector

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) through the Directorate General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation revealed that the development of bioavtur needs to be accelerated in the aviation sector.

"We want the aviation sector to also accelerate bioavtur. The Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) already has a roadmap (roadmap). The roadmap from bioavtur for use on airplanes has been issued by the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment and we are currently providing input. So now it is also being consensus in various ministries to provide input," said Director General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Eniya Listiani Dewi in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Thursday 4 July.

Eniya said that plane tickets from Singapore to Indonesia are projected to increase. This follows the application of the use of bioavtur in aircraft units located at Changi Airport, Singapore.

"Regarding this bioavtur, if you fly to Singapore as of January 1, 2026, you will be taxed (Singapore) so that the tickets will be more expensive. For what reason? Our plane that comes to Changi Airport, Singapore, the return ticket will be much more expensive because it has required 1 percent of bioavtur and the price of bioavtur to be charged to passenger tickets." he said.

According to him, this could be a business potential for Indonesia to prepare for bioavtur for the aviation sector.

"We have to see this as a potential business, one challenge. So we really have to prepare. Now it is global where the situation is interrelated. I think Pertamina has also prepared because we want to encourage from palm-based bioavtur. Hopefully this can accelerate our investment in the field of renewable energy," he said.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has asked Pertamina to accelerate bioavtur. The state-owned company has collaborated with Airbus and Boeing.

For information, on October 27, 2023, Pertamina and Garuda Indonesia carried out their first commercial flights using environmentally friendly fuels, Pertamina Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) or bioavtur with flight routes from Soekarno-Hatta Airport (Tangerang) to Adi Soemarmo Airport (Surakarta), and returned to Jakarta.

Pertamina SAF's journey has been initiated since 2010 through Pertamina's Research & Technology Innovation by conducting product development research and catalysts.

In 2021, PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional managed to produce SAF J2.4 at Refinery Unit IV Cilacap with co-processing technology from refined bleached material, deodorized palm kernel oil (RBDPKO) or palm oil which has undergone a process of processing recitation, removing free and odor fatty acids, with a capacity of 1,350 kilo liters (kl) per day.