No More Solar Imports, Prabowo Says B50 is a Great Achievement

President Prabowo Subianto said the implementation of the B50 Biodiesel Mandate made Indonesia no longer need to import diesel. (Teddy VOI)

KARAWANG - President Prabowo Subianto said the implementation of Mandatory Biodiesel B50 made Indonesia no longer need to import solar. He said the program could also hold foreign exchange up to Rp170 trillion or about 10 billion US dollars.

Prabowo made the statement when launching the B50 program in Karawang Regency, West Java, Thursday, July 9.

"With B50 alone, we no longer import solar from abroad. So this is a great national achievement," said Prabowo.

Prabowo said that from the beginning he encouraged an increase in the biodiesel mix. He even asked Indonesia to move towards B100. However, the ministers assured that B50 was enough to stop importing solar.

B50 is a diesel fuel with a 50 percent blend of palm oil-based biofuel. This program is part of the government's efforts to reduce dependence on imported fuels.

According to Prabowo, reducing solar imports is important because energy is about the durability of a country. He said Indonesia should not continue to rely on other countries for basic needs.

"Energy is vital for the survival of a nation," he said.

Prabowo said Indonesia has large energy resources. He referred to geothermal reserves, coal, gas, as well as the discovery of gas fields in Andaman, Masela, Natuna, and Kalimantan.

He also touched on the potential for compressed natural gas or CNG. Prabowo said that CNG is widely available in Indonesia, unlike LPG which still has to be imported.

"If LPG is still imported, we have a lot of CNG," said Prabowo.

In his speech, Prabowo said the world was in a difficult situation. However, he assessed that Indonesia had the capital to survive if it was serious about managing food, energy, and water.

He asked government officials to work on finding solutions that immediately reduce the burden on the people. For Prabowo, B50 is not only an energy program, but also a way to hold the state's money from continuing to go out for imports.

"Imagine that we can now save foreign exchange money out of Rp170 trillion. We save 10 billion dollars," said Prabowo.