"There are several national corporations that are developing methanol products from coal," Pasaribu stated at the Mining Forum in Jakarta on Tuesday (March 18).
Highlighting the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources' mandatory 35 percent biofuel (B35) program, Pasaribu explained that this program necessitates importing 1.8 million tons of methanol due to insufficient local production.
The deputy minister stated that since January, the program has progressed to the mandatory B40 level, which increases methanol import requirements to between 2.3 and 2.5 million tons.
"Methanol is one of the ingredients used to produce biofuel. Of course, this is what the government seeks in the future—on how we can comprehensively manage the natural resources we have,” Pasaribu affirmed.
President Prabowo Subianto had earlier given direct instructions to support the use of B50 in 2026 to realize energy sovereignty.
He expressed optimism that adopting B50 would boost Indonesia's energy reserves, which is in line with the broader objective of increasing the ability to meet domestic energy needs independently.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Yuliot Tanjung stated that Indonesia requires around 2 million tons of methanol to implement the B50 program next year.
Yuliot emphasized that the availability of domestic methanol is still limited. To implement B50, Indonesia needs around 2.3 million tons of methanol, while domestic production is only around 300 thousand tons.
"That means 2 million tons are still imported. Hence, we are pushing for this bioethanol national strategic project in Bojonegoro (to be immediately developed),” he noted.
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Translator: Putu Indah Savitri, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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