Reliance on fossil energy will cause further air pollution, environmental destruction and trade balance deficits.
By
KOMPAS TEAM
·6 minutes read
Kompas
This picture taken on October 29, 2020 shows the Celukan Bawang 2 power plant in Singaraja on Indonesia\'s resort island of Bali. Chinas plan to fund dozens of foreign coal plants from Zimbabwe to Indonesia is set to produce more emissions than those of major developed nations, threatening global efforts to fight climate change, environmentalists have warned.
Indonesia is still far from achieving its target to increase the share of renewable energy to 23 percent of the national energy mix by 2025. Reducing the use of fossil energy is the key to environmental sustainability.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — As part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, Indonesia has committed itself to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 29 percent by 2030 in order to keep the increase in the global average temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius and, if possible, 1.5 degrees Celsius. The use of fossil energy should be reduced while the use of renewable energy must be increased to achieve this target.
Reliance on fossil energy will cause further air pollution, environmental destruction and trade balance deficits.
Government Regulation No. 79/2014 on national energy policy states that, in the primary energy mix in 2025, coal should account for 30 percent, new and renewable energy for 23 percent, petroleum for 25 percent, and natural gas for 22 percent. However, data from the government indicates that, at the end of 2020, renewables accounted for only 11.5 percent, which means the use of fossil fuels is still dominant in the national energy mix.
Without an aggressive energy transition agenda, Indonesia — as well as the world — faces the threat of environmental damage that has already manifested itself around the globe. Extreme rains have triggered floods and landslides, drought, cyclones that often occur in the tropics as well as an increase in the sea level that causes inundation and abrasion in numerous coastal areas.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), hydrometeorological disasters in 2020 included 1,080 cases of flooding, 29 cases of drought, 577 cases of landslides, 880 cases of cyclones, 36 cases of tidal waves or abrasion. The economic losses from hydrometeorological and geological disasters were estimated at Rp 22.38 trillion (Kompas, 4/3/2021).
The increase in temperatures also impacted agriculture and biodiversity at sea and on land. If the increase continues, even only by 0.1 degrees Celsius, it will have a great impact.
Kompas/Haris Firdaus
Motorcyclists pass near rows of windmills of the Pandansimo Hybrid Power Plant in the southern coast of Bantul regency, Yogyakarta, Saturday (16/9/2017). The hybrid power plant, which is generated by wind and sunshine, is one of the efforts to utilize the new and renewable energy for power plants.
According to the executive director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), Fabby Tumiwa, energy transition is a necessity that cannot be ignored. Apart from helping to prevent a global climate crisis, the energy produced from renewable energy is also more competitive and sustainable than fossil energy. In the next few years, electricity from coal-fired power plants (PLTU) in Indonesia will be more expensive than that produced by solar power plant (PLTS).
"The optimal use of renewable energy sources will also be able to create new industries that support green economic growth, create jobs and attract investment," Fabby said in Jakarta on Sunday (14/3/2021).
The same view was shared by the director general of new, renewable energy and energy conservation at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry (ESDM), Dadan Kusdiana. According to him, an energy transition is unavoidable and the use of the renewable energy will be further increased in the Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) 2021-2030, which is currently under discussion.
"To encourage an energy transition in Indonesia, the use of new and renewable energy in the RUPTL should be increased. And we want to achieve that,” said Dadan.
Dadan confirmed that, in the past, electricity from renewable energy was still more expensive than that generated from coal-fired power plants. He noted that the price of electricity produced from solar power plants was 20 US cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) 10 years ago. However, five years ago, the price had dropped to 10 US cents per kWh, and now it was around 5 US cents per kWh, or equivalent to the price of electricity from coal-fired power plants.
More than 5,000 diesel power plants (PLTD) with an installed capacity of 2,000 megawatts will be soon replaced by renewable energy-based power plants.
To further increase the share of renewable energy in the national energy mix, Dadan said, the government had taken a number of strategic steps, such as the increased use biodiesel and biomass in a number of coal-power plants (using the cofiring method). More than 5,000 diesel power plants (PLTD) with an installed capacity of 2,000 megawatts will be soon replaced by renewable energy-based power plants.
Based on data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the potential for renewable energy in Indonesia amounted to 418,000 MW, but only 10,400 MW, or around 2.5 percent, are utilized. Solar power is the most abundant in the archipelago with potential power supply of 207,800 MW.
Divestment
At the global level, international financial institutions continue to reduce public finance for fossil energy such as coal. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has urged financial institutions to stop funding coal projects. Investment in fossil fuels should be shifted to renewable energy.
Kompas/Fransiskus Pati Herin
The construction project of a steam-fired power plant in Waai village, Salahutu district, Central Maluku regency, Maluku, which has been stalled since 2013, was tightly guarded on Friday (10/2/2017). Journalists have been banned from taking photos of it without permission from the executives of state electricity company PT PLN. Kompas took the photo of the project site from behind a wall.
“I also ask all multilateral and public banks – as well as investors in commercial banks or pension funds – to shift their investments now to the new economy of renewable energy," Guterres said.
Guterres has made that appeal repeatedly, and a number of parties have complied. The New York City government employee and teacher pension fund has announced plans to divest US$4 billion from the fossil energy sector. The New York pension fund manages assets totaling $226 billion.
"Fossil energy is not only bad for the planet, it's bad for investment," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
In Indonesia, the executive director of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI), Hendra Sinadia, acknowledged that the coal mining industry realized that coal resources would gradually run out. There will be a time when the world will shift from coal to renewable energy. Coal mine operators must be able to seize opportunities in this transition process.
"To reduce carbon emissions, the use of technology and innovation is very important. In the power generation sector, for example, we can take advantage of ultra-supercritical technology to increase efficiency and lower pollution, "said Hendra.
According to the head of the Center for Energy Studies, Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Deendarlianto, if all the potential for renewable energy in Indonesia was developed, it would be the largest in the ASEAN region. That would enable Indonesia to achieve its target to increase the share of renewables in the national energy mix to 23 percent by 2025.
Unfortunately, Indonesia's dependence on coal and oil remains high. "The government's policy and seriousness, including support in the form of incentives, greatly determine the future of renewable energy development in Indonesia," said Deendarlianto. (AP/AFP/APO/RAZ/ICH)
