Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center (PYC) held The International Energy Conference 2017 on November 30, 2017 with the theme “The Future of Sustainable Energy in Developing Countries.” The Conference was opened by Mr. Purnomo Yusgiantoro (the Founder of Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center), Mr. Ignasius Jonan (the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources), and Mr. Boediono (the 11th Vice President of Republic of Indonesia).
Mr. Purnomo Yusgiantoro, the founder of PYC, opened and explained the purpose of the conference. He stated that PYC is the home for the young generation to channel their passion for research and development and focusing on the energy sector. Through this event, he hoped that PYC could encourage more young generations to be aware of energy sustainability and its development.
Mr. Ignasius Jonan, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, briefly showed the condition of renewable energy, especially for electrification nowadays and onward in Indonesia and in global. First, he mentioned that Indonesia is building wind power in Sidrap for 75 MW and Jeneponte for 65 MW. It will be on stream in 2018, and the pricing in Sidrap could be 6 cents/kWh. Second, the Government is committed to having sea strait power generation in East Nusa Tenggara; it is for 20-30 MW with a price around 7.19 cents/kWh. Third, private sectors are running faster to produce an electric motorcycle in Semarang, and the cost of the electric motorcycle is around 15 million in rupiah. Therefore, the government needs to prepare to increase electricity capacity. The Minister also referred to the development of Masdar City where the city is planning to build 50 GW solar PV in the desert. Nevertheless, there is a concern about electricity services in villages, in which Indonesia still has 25,100 villages that are not under the service of electricity at all. For example, Papua is still below 50%, and East Nusa Tenggara is below 60% for those who have electricity. Thus, the Government is doing seriously to increase electricity ratio in the eastern region of Indonesia. It is a part of the Government’s initiative to consistently improve electrification to the people because import or consumption of energy fossil depends on the success of its initiative. This action is also a part of the national energy resilience program and requires all stakeholders to make this a successful initiative.
Mr. Boediono, the 11th Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, opened his speech with a quote from Albert Einstein: “Everything is energy, and that’s all there is.” The quote means that our lives are sustained by our energy intakes and energy is an urgent existential problem for humanity. The rapid growth of human population leads to an increase in energy demand, while most of the energy still depends on fossil fuel which produces carbon and the world is currently facing looming global warming. He highlighted that there are two “twin pillars” which need to be implemented to achieve sustainable energy. First, we must overcome higher efficiency in our energy use to reign the demand. Second, and simultaneously, we must develop new clean and renewable sources of energy to expand the supply to meet the demand. Neither of the two is less important than the other. Energy efficiency has been occurring, and it shows an apparent gap between developed and developing countries. While the developed country has improved their energy efficiency, not much has been happening in developing ones, if anything, it is the reverse and tends to rise. It is vital to speed up the ongoing trend while broadening the group of countries in it. Policies and planned will show how to turn the targets into reality. Rational and well thought-out strategies are the soul of any plan. Though proper documents do not guarantee good outcomes, we should always strive for the best and not to lose hope for a better future.
