Indonesia plans to start producing green diesel by 2022

According to the hydrocarbon processing network on December 4, a senior official of Indonesia's Ministry of energy and Mineral Resources said that Indonesia plans to start using palm oil to produce green diesel oil in 2022, with an estimated output of 3.7 million kiloliters. Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, wants to develop green diesel, the second generation of biodiesel. The company currently uses biodiesel, which is made from palm oil, to extract fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) and mix them with fossil fuels. Green diesel oil can be produced by refining fossil crude oil and palm derivatives in a single process, or by refining palm oil in a special refinery. F.k. sutijastoto, head of renewable energy at the Ministry of energy and mineral resources of Indonesia, said in a parliamentary hearing that his production forecast for 2022 is based on a business plan of Pt Pertamina, the Indonesian state-owned energy company, but further research is needed. Pertamina is currently planning to develop refineries that can produce diesel from palm oil. According to the data submitted to the parliament by the Ministry of energy and mineral resources of Indonesia, Indonesia should be able to increase its production to 6.1 million kiloliters by 2024. Seven companies are interested in building refineries to produce green diesel, including Wilmar international, a Singapore agribusiness. From January next year, Indonesia will start to enforce the use of B30 fuel, a mixture of 30% biodiesel. It will expand from its current 20% biological content. In recent months, the B30 project has triggered a rise in palm oil prices due to concerns that Indonesia will reduce the amount of palm oil available for export. According to data released by the Ministry of energy and mineral resources on Tuesday, Indonesia is expected to consume 10.1 million kiloliters of biodiesel by 2022. According to Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia, biodiesel project is a way to offset the current account deficit caused by a large number of energy imports, and also supports the demand for palm oil. Palm oil is one of Indonesia's major commodity exports.