The Indonesian government has started conducting tests in preparation for its plan to increase the palm oil-based biodiesel mandate to 50%, up from the current 35%, VietnamPlus reported.
While Indonesia currently has one of the highest biofuel blending mandates globally, the outgoing government of President Joko Widodo had announced plans to increase this to B40 next year, the 11 August report said.
Prabowo Subianto, who will succeed Widodo in October after winning the February election, has promised to increase the mandate further to B50 to reduce oil imports, although no timeline has been set, according to the report.
A static test for B50 composition was being conducted by the energy ministry and several stakeholders, Eniya Listiani Dewi, director general of Renewable Energy at the energy ministry, was quoted as saying. This would be followed by vehicle road tests, a process that usually takes about a year.
The agriculture ministry was also evaluating palm oil supplies, VietnamPlus wrote.
Under the B35 mandate, 11M tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) would be used this year, increasing to 14M tonnes under B40, the report said.
The B50 mandate would require approximately 18M tonnes of CPO, which could impact domestic cooking oil prices, exports and government revenue from exports, VietnamPlus wrote.
