JAKARTA: Indonesia‘s energy ministry plans to start road tests for a biodiesel programme with 40 per cent bio-content (B40) in April, a government official said on Thursday.
Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, last year had increased the mandatory bio-content of its biodiesel programme to 30 per cent, known as B30, which is expected to cut the country’s energy imports and increase consumption of palm oil – the feedstock to the fuel.
The ministry plans to run road tests for the B40 programme in April after concluding laboratory tests, which are expected to start soon, Dadan Kusdiana, head of research and development, energy ministry, told reporters, adding that it aims to conclude the tests in August.
B30 is the highest palm-based bio-content in biofuels ever used.
Coordinating Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who oversees the energy ministry, said the government plans to launch the B40 programme between 2021 and 2022.
The new fuels will have a different formula from the current B30 mix, which is made by blending palm’s fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) with fossil fuel, explained Djoko Siswanto, the ministry’s acting oil and gas director general.
“The B40 will be made by blending FAME, fossil fuel and the green diesel”, Siswanto said.
Green diesel can be made by refining fossil crude oil and palm derivatives together in a single process, or refining palm oil in dedicated refineries.
