Biodiesel and Palm Oil Contribution to Recover National Economy
Not only contributing to the national economic growth, but the industry of biodiesel has also been the savior for many Indonesian who are very unfortunate to lose their job during the pandemic. Looking at the data by the Central Bureau of Statistics, an official data-based organization formed by the Indonesian government; it was recorded that until the end of 2020, 9.77 million people are unemployed, which means 7.07% of productive age individuals are unemployed today due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Other than Indonesia, as we may already know the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted almost every country in the world today. Indonesia is very fortunate that the country has actually become one of the big players in the biodiesel global industry. Countries in the world are competing to generate and implement alternative energy to replace the use of fossil fuel, as they all have been very dependent for many years. Biodiesel as alternative energy is believed to be the solution for the issue, as it is shown by the action of the Indonesian government, that despite the pandemic it still has not yet stopped, they are optimistic to encourage the B30 biodiesel, to be used by the public in Indonesia.
APROBI as one of the organizations of Indonesian biodiesel producers is taking action due to help the government accelerate the recovery program, for the benefit of the country. Represented by its chairman, MP Tumanggor on an occasion says APROBI is fully supporting the government to recover the economic situation by accelerating the development B30 program. However, it can not be denied that the effect of the pandemic has affected the initial plan that was to increase the export and domestic supply, but the pandemic has weakened many countries’ financial power.
The initial plan to increase the supply of biodiesel was as much as 3.6 million kiloliters (Kl), where after the pandemic effect it decreased to 3.4 million Kl. Aside from stimulating the national economy, the government of Indonesia also has committed to decrease the gas emission from business as usual (BAU). It was recorded the amount of reducing the gas emission was at 26% and wants to increase the effort to 29% by the year of 2030.
Therefore, by securing the balance of supply and demand, the biodiesel industry hopes to contribute to decreasing the number of unemployed individuals in Indonesia. It is known that today Indonesia has an issue in managing the distribution line, especially between upstream and downstream. As it is believed that if the country is able to organize it, Indonesia will be able to run supply more efficiently and effectively.
Source: