... We will push the increasing use of these new fuels starting from now...Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is drawing up a plan to promote the use of LGV (Liquid Gas for Vehicles) and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) in public and private transportation as part of its energy diversification program, a senior minister said.
"The government will continue to guarantee the availability of fuel oils but under the 2012 State Budget supplies will be limited to 40 million kiloliters. Therefore, we have to increasingly diversify our energy sources away from oil," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said here Tuesday.
A plan was currently being made to promote the use of LGV - a fuel resembling LPG - by private cars, and CNG by public transport vehicles, he said.
"We will push the increasing use of these new fuels starting from now," he added.
He said the two fuels would be cheaper than subsidized premium gasoline but public and private cars that had so far been running on premium would be gradually required to have gas converters.
Hatta admitted the shift from gasoline to the two new fuels needed to be preceded by the setting up of the relevant infrastructure throughout the country and this would take time.
"But as a matter of principle, we have to do it," because the government was determined to reduce the public's dependence on fuel oils within the larger framework of attaining energy resilience and a sustainable energy mix by 2025, he said.
During the transition period, the government would deploy teams to familiarize the general public with the use of the two new fuels and supervise the program's implementation, Hatta said. (G003)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
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