Minister of EMR Reiterates Commitment to Use of Cleaner Fuels in East Asia Energy Forum

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR), Arifin Tasrif, delivered the keynote speech at the 3rd East Asia Energy Forum which was held virtually on Tuesday (17/11). On this occasion, Minister of EMR reiterated Indonesia’s commitment to the use of cleaner fossil fuels.

Arifin admitted that while energy efficiency and renewable energy play an important role in reducing CO2 emissions, in most parts of ASEAN and East Asia fossil fuels still dominate energy use, as they do in other parts of the world.

Arifin said that biomass has an important role in the transition to clean energy in Indonesia. Indonesia is preparing to integrate urban waste management and power generation in 12 cities, while developing biofuels as an effort to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. “Biomass is one of our efforts to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants through the application of biomass co-firing with coal,” Arifin continued.

Arifin also emphasized that development of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is vital to reduce CO2 emissions. “CCUS is currently a key issue at the global level relating to reduction of CO2 emissions and reuse of the same to increase oil recovery in depleted oil fields,” said Arifin.

Indonesia has many sources of industrial CO2, for example coal-fired power plants, natural gas processing, oil refineries, and various chemical plants. A feasibility study is currently being conducted on a CCUS pilot project in Gundih field in Central Java Province. The total potential for CO2 reduction is projected to reach 2.9 million tonnes for 10 years.

Indonesia founded a National Center of Excellence in CCS/CCUS in 2017 to increase national capacity in technical, safety, economic, social, and regulatory aspects of CCS/CCUS activities. The center’s key activity is to strengthen public-private framework through platform creation, identification of investment opportunities, dissemination of policies and regulations, and CCUS best practices.

In closing, Arifin invited all stakeholders to collaborate in enhancing CCUS capacity and use. According to him, it is necessary to strengthen the framework for public-private cooperation by creating a sustainable platform for accelerated implementation of CCUS, identification of investment opportunities, and improvement of business environment as well as dissemination of policies, regulations, and best practices. “Indonesia welcomes all parties to join us in developing CCUS in order to achieve the commitment to sustainable energy”, Arifin concluded. (IY)