Indonesia to Shelve B40 Biodiesel Program Next Year

A Reuters’ report from Jakarta has said Indonesia was unlikely to proceed with plans to raise the bio-content of its palm oil-based biodiesel to 40% next year as it struggles to fund the program.  Dadan Kusdiana, director general of the country’s energy ministry told the parliament about this early this week.  Instead, the country will retain its biodiesel B30 program next year.  B30 is a blend of 30% fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) made from palm oil and 70% conventional diesel. 

“B40 is not ready,” Dadan said, referring to the biodiesel program containing 40% bio-content and adding that Indonesia had allocated 9.2 million kiloliters of FAME to be used next year.”Supporting B30 is now very challenging from the funding side, so we see that B40 will be more difficult,” he added. Indonesia collects levies to help finance its palm oil programs, including biodiesel subsidies and replanting programs for smallholders.

Other than a higher percentage of bio-content, the B40 program will also be produced using a different formulation, combining 30% FAME and 10% “green diesel” made from palm oil with conventional diesel.Dadan said that the ministry is still conducting trials for the new blend.