Bahlil: Maybe Saying Etanol Is Not Good For Importers Who Want To Do Them

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia responded to the opinion of parties who disagreed with ethanol-based fuel.

According to him, this assumption is a wrong thing. He even accused those who did not agree were those who wanted to import fuel voluntarily.

"It's really not true that ethanol is not good. The proof is that in other countries we already use this item. Maybe what is not good is those who want to import, they just want to," Bahlil said in his remarks at the Investor Daily Summit, Thursday, October 9.

Bahlil said that the use of ethanol in fuel is a common practice in various countries. He then revealed data related to the use of ethanol in several large countries such as Brazil which has imposed ethanol mixing of 27 percent (E27) in fuel. In fact, in several ethanol producing countries, Bahlil said the use of ethanol has even reached 100 percent.

"In America, the mandatory is E10, but there are also states that are already E85. In India it is E20, Thailand E20, Argentina E12, and others," Bahlil explained.

He further said that the mixing of ethanol into fuel has two purposes, including utilizing natural resources to reduce imports and to produce clean energy.

"And this is not only in the study of Indonesia, in this world of goods. I am not an oil chemical expert. I am not an expert in this field. But parents say that the more they walk and see and hear, the more we know what is happening in the world. So don't just wake up, don't read out books, as if you have written a book in the oil sector," said Bahlil.

For this reason, Bahlil emphasized that starting next year he will carry out a mandatory ethanol mixing program of 10 percent into fuel.

'"What does that mean? It is our duty to use 10 percent ethanol," he added.

He hopes that this mixing can reduce the number of fuel imports as Indonesia has been doing so far. On the other hand, Bahlil also assessed that this program can absorb labor, improve the regional economy and national energy security because it utilizes local raw materials such as cassava and sugar cane.