Indonesia plans B40 biodiesel road tests next month.
Indonesia’s energy ministry plans to begin road tests for a biodiesel programme using 40% palm based bio-content (B40) in February, a senior government official said.
The world’s largest palm oil producer mandated that biodiesel sold in the country be blended with 30% of palm-based biodiesel to cut its energy imports and increase consumption of palm oil – the feedstock to the fuel.
The energy ministry plans to tests two types of B40 blending, one using 30% fatty acid methyl ether (FAME) and 10% distilled palm methyl ester (DPME), and another using 30% FAME and 10% palm based diesel known as green diesel.
Dadan Kusdiana, the ministry’s director-general of renewable energy.
The use of B40 must be followed by quality improvement, of both biodiesel and diesel oil.
Kusdiana said the road test would take around five months and the decision on mandatory B40 implementation would be taken after the tests were completed.
The government had planned to launch the B40 programme from 2021 to 2022, but the high price of the vegetable oil has made it too costly. The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) expected B40 to be delayed beyond this year. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina; Editing by Martin Petty).
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Indonesia plans B40 biodiesel road tests next month, JAKARTA, January 17, 2022