JAKARTA, July 23 (Reuters) – Indonesian state oil business PT Pertamina is set to test the production of jet fuel comprised of 3%palm oil by the end of the year, Chief Executive Nicke Widyawati said on Thursday.
The remarks come a week after the business announced its first batch of biodiesel using feedstock of 100%palm (D100) in its Dumai refinery, saying it would produce 1,000 barrels per day (bpd).
” The green jet fuel trial belongs to the roadmap for Pertamina’s biorefinery development in order to understand green energy in Indonesia,” Widyawati stated in a statement.
The new jet fuel will be made in Pertamina’s existing facilities in Cilacap by “co-processing” crude oil with 3%fine-tuned, bleached and deodorised palm oil (RBDO), she stated.
Like Pertamina’s D100, Indonesia prepares to eventually produce “green” jet fuel made up of 100%palm oil through processing RBDO directly into its refineries using catalytic splitting and hydrogen gas.
Pertamina is developing 2 “biorefineries” in Cilacap and Plaju with an output capacity of 6,000 bpd and 20,000 bpd to produce diesel and jet fuel made with 100%palm oil.
The biodiesel programme is a key part of the government’s method to take in excess products of palm oil and curb pricey fuel imports, among the primary contributors to the country’s current account deficit.
Although biodiesel assures lower emissions, using palm oil as a feedstock raises issues over environmental damage related deforestation.
The European Union concluded in March that palm oil triggers excessive logging and prepares to efficiently phase it out as a fuel for transport. Indonesia has actually submitted a problem at the World Trade Organization. (Reporting by Bernadette Christian Munthe; Composing by Fathin Ungku; Modifying by Richard Pullin)
Reuters.
