Indonesia announces biofuels budget for 2007
We have been reporting regularly on Indonesia's biofuels and bioenergy crash program, with a series of 'big numbers' being thrown around as estimates about funds, hectarages and jobs that would be created. Today, the country's green energy plan, one of the world's most ambitious, became more concrete as the Indonesian government announced its biofuels budget for the year 2007.
The numbers look as follows:
Among the largest biofuel planters will be PT AGB, which plans to cultivate 300,000 hectares in North Maluku province, PT Wilmar Bioenergy (150,000 hectares in Riau and East Kalimantan provinces), and PT Bakrie and Rekayasa Industri (25,500 hectares in Jambi).
The government itself will plant 2,000 hectares, as part of pilot and research projects, including 140 hectares under the Agriculture Ministry and 650 hectares by the Research and Technology Ministry's Technology Assessment and Application Agency (BPPT).
Following the surge in oil prices and the resulting strain on the budget, as well as burgeoning domestic fuel consumption and social tensions over rising fuel prices, the Indonesian government rolled out a national alternative energy program. It wants to see biofuels account for 10 percent of the country's total fuel consumption, which reached 70 million kiloliters last year, by 2010. The program is part of a massive anti-poverty policy, with the biofuels industry estimated to bring 2.5 million jobs to the rural poor [entry ends here].
ethanol :: biodiesel :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: sustainability :: oil palm :: cassava :: biomass :: energy ::
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The numbers look as follows:
- The total budget for biofuels research and development and production in 2007 amounts to 13 trillion rupiah (€1.1/US$1.4 billion)
- This package adds 12 trillion rupiah (€1/US$1.3 billion) to the 1 trillion rupiah (€85/US$108 million) already allocated under the 2007 budget to subsidize the interest payments on loans taken out for biofuel-related ventures
- The budget is divided as follows: (1) 10 trillion rupiah (€854 million/US$1 billion) for the development of infrastructures - such as pipelines, irrigation systems and access roads - in areas earmarked for biofuel plantations (2) with the remaining 2 trillion rupiah (€170/US$216 million) for the procurement of seedlings.
- A first land allocation takes place whereby 500,000 hectares are set aside for the biofuels industry in 2007, out of a total of 6 million hectares over the course of the program that runs from 2007 until 2010
- This land is divided over several crops, as follows: 3 million hectares are to be earmarked for oil palm (biodiesel), 1.5 million hectares for cassava (ethanol), 1.5 million hectares for jatropha (biodiesel) and 500,000 hectares for sugarcane (ethanol); the 500,00 hectares for 2007 are distributed along the lines of that same ratio
Among the largest biofuel planters will be PT AGB, which plans to cultivate 300,000 hectares in North Maluku province, PT Wilmar Bioenergy (150,000 hectares in Riau and East Kalimantan provinces), and PT Bakrie and Rekayasa Industri (25,500 hectares in Jambi).
The government itself will plant 2,000 hectares, as part of pilot and research projects, including 140 hectares under the Agriculture Ministry and 650 hectares by the Research and Technology Ministry's Technology Assessment and Application Agency (BPPT).
Following the surge in oil prices and the resulting strain on the budget, as well as burgeoning domestic fuel consumption and social tensions over rising fuel prices, the Indonesian government rolled out a national alternative energy program. It wants to see biofuels account for 10 percent of the country's total fuel consumption, which reached 70 million kiloliters last year, by 2010. The program is part of a massive anti-poverty policy, with the biofuels industry estimated to bring 2.5 million jobs to the rural poor [entry ends here].
ethanol :: biodiesel :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: sustainability :: oil palm :: cassava :: biomass :: energy ::
Article continues
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Jatropha seeds arrive in Namibia
The Namibian, Windhoek. The first container of Jatropha seed arrived in Namibia last week so that planting for a future biodiesel project can take off. Jatropha curcas is an alien shrub that has spread to southern Africa over the past century.
Its fruit contains a sought-after oil, which can be used in diesel engines to replace conventional fuel, and also for soap-making. The Namibia Agronomic Board recently commissioned a study for a project to plant 63 000 hectares of Jatropha on communal and commercial land over the next few years.
The sealed container was officially opened by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture for sample taking at the Agra premises in Windhoek, according to Birgit Hoffmann, Senior Marketing Manager of Agra. The company is the sole distributor for Jatropha seed.
Agra agronomist Francois Wahl says he will showcase the seed at the Agra stand during this year's Windhoek Show, which starts this weekend. After the show, the seed will be available for sale at Agra branches countrywide.
The cultivation of Jatropha to produce biodiesel has already proven successful in Zimbabwe and some South American countries. The Jatropha plant requires very little water for survival; hence Namibia's arid climate seems to be suitable. A yield can be expected with as little as 300 mm of rain a year. Jatropha is not eaten by livestock because of its toxicity and hedges are grown around homesteads in rural Namibia to keep animals out. While irrigation is required during the first two years, the plant already starts to bear fruit after the second rainy season. The fruit is harvested in winter when the shrub is leafless [entry ends here].
biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: jatropha :: Namibia ::
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