Lang
Indonesia's Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, Yuliot Tanjung, has reiterated the need to expand the country's oil palm plantations in order to boost the palm oil supply required to implement mandatory biodiesel programmes with blending ratios ranging from 50% to 100% (B50 to B100).
Speaking on Monday (24 February 2025) in Jakarta, Yuliot said:
"Looking ahead, we see that rolling out palm oil-based biodiesel programmes, from B50 and B60 up to B100, will require additional planted area to ensure sufficient supplies of the palm oil used to blend biodiesel with fossil diesel fuel."
He also pointed to the potential role of smallholder plantations, owned by small farmers and cooperatives, in helping meet the palm oil demand needed for these programmes.
He said:
"There are plantations owned by smallholders and cooperatives that have significant development potential to support the mandatory biodiesel programmes all the way up to B100."
According to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (KESDM), the government is targeting the rollout of the B50 programme by 2026, a year after the launch of the B40 programme, which began on 3 January 2025.
The ministry said the volume of palm oil required to implement the B50 programme is estimated at around 17.9 million tonnes, requiring a total planted area of 2.3 million hectares.
The B60 programme, meanwhile, would require 21.5 million tonnes of palm oil, necessitating 3.5 million hectares of new agricultural land.
For the B100 programme, Indonesia would need 35.9 million tonnes of palm oil, with 4.6 million hectares of new land required for cultivation.
The government hopes that implementing these mandatory programmes will help cut fossil fuel imports, strengthen national energy security and drive higher economic growth, alongside reducing carbon emissions, given that biodiesel is more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels, which still account for the largest share of Indonesia's energy mix.