Figure 1. Biodiesel regulations assessment between the team from Coaction Indonesia and other invited NGOs
On 15 April 2019, Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center was invited to a joint discussion between several non-governmental organizations hosted by Coaction Indonesia in Jakarta. The topic of the discussion was the development of biodiesel in Indonesia. Biodiesel, as one of the renewable energy products in Indonesia, had became a hot topic because it was well developed in Indonesia. The biodiesel in Indonesia was made out of palm oil and Indonesia was the biggest exporter of palm oil alongside Malaysia. Palm oil is commonly used in food industry. However, only the high quality of palm can be utilized as palm oil. The government had tried to reutilize the low quality of palm to give an added value to palm. It was found that palm with lower quality could be used as a biodiesel source. This invention was good news for economics in Indonesia as it could maximize the potency of palm industries. This topic was also presented during Indonesia’s Presidential Debate on 19 February 2019, on energy, food, infrastructure, natural resources and the environment as the main theme.
A non-governmental organization focusing on energy sector in Indonesia has a role in overseeing the government’s performance, especially on the issued regulation and policy. The regulation was supposed to have a sustainable goal for energy development. As biodiesel development was essential for Indonesia, the government must consider that the regulation was not only beneficial for them but also for the people without risking other related sectors. Hence, the organizations agreed to have another join discussion in the future and invited other organizations and experts focus on several aspects such as policy, economy, social and environment.
