TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the government was determined to implement the 40-percent biofuel or the B40 program no later than July 2021. At present, the government was finalizing a specially-designed roadmap.

“We hope the BPPT (Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology) can immediately kick off the trial run so the program can be implemented by July 2021,” said Airlangga at the BPPT office on Monday, February 24.

The program of the diesel fuel mixed with 40 percent palm oil was initiated to curb the trade balance deficit. Referring to the Central Statistics Agency's (BPS) data, the deficit reached US$864 million, which was attributable to the decrease in exports by 7.16 percent.

Apart from preparing the B40 program, the government set a mandatory use of B30 in a bid to minimize the import dependency. This was forecasted to absorb up to 10 million kiloliters of crude palm oil (CPO). If it succeeds, the CPO-based downstream industry is believed to save at least US$8 billion in foreign exchange.

In the long run, the government planned to implement the B100 program yet it required technology transfers from developed countries, Airlangga concluded.

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA