IChEC 2017 Grand Seminar: Utilization of Bio-resources for Nation’s Energy Security

February 26, 2017 - ( update : 05-04-2017 )

By Fivien Nur Savitri, ST, MT

Editor Fivien Nur Savitri, ST, MT

BANDUNG, itb.ac.id - Electricity, industry, and other commercial sectors consume most of Indonesia’s and the world’s energy coming from natural gas, coal, and other fossil energy. As a comprehensive effort to suppress the usage of thinning fossil energy, biomass emerges as a potential energy source, especially in Indonesia where the potency is great. Taking that into account, 2017 Indonesia Chemical Engineering Challenge (IChEC) held a grand seminar entitled “Pemanfaatan Sumber Daya Hayati Indonesia untuk Meningkatkan Ketahanan Energi Nasional” or “The Utilization of Bio-resources in Indonesia to Enhance Nation’s Energy Security”. The grand seminar intended to provide understanding on the potency of bio-resources utilization for Industry in Indonesia and the challenge in the implementation. Held on Saturday (25/02/17) at Aula Timur ITB, Bandung, the grand seminar was open for Chemical Engineering and Bioenergy Technology students in Indonesia and ASEAN nations.

The grand seminar began with opening speech from the chairman of 2017 IChEC, Hilarion Devara Suyatno (Chemical Engineering 2013) and the Head of Chemical Engineering Program of ITB, Dr. IDG Arsa Putrawan. Invited speakers for the first session of the event were Ir. Rida Mulyana (General Director of Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation), Yunita Sidauruk, S.T., M.T. (Chairperson of Legal Affairs of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association), and Triharyo Soesilo (Project Director of Committee for Acceleration of Priority Infrastructure Delivery) who discussed the topic “Potensi, Pemanfaatan, dan Regulasi dari Sumber Daya Hayati untuk Sektor Hulu Industri Energi Terbarukan” or “Potency, Utilization, and Regulation of Bio-resources in Upstream Industry of Renewable Energy”. Triharyo discussed about feasibility of Bio-resources utilization as future energy source and Yunita discussed about the potency and challenge of bio-resource (palm oil) development in Indonesia.

The second session presented explanations from Dr. Edi Hilmawan (Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology) and Dr. Ricky Hikmawan (Chief Director at PT. Pasadena Indonesia) with the topic “Potency, utilization, and regulation of Downstream Industry of Renewable Energy”. After Edi discussed about conversion technology from Bio-resources to renewable energy and its regulation, Ricky as the last speaker discussed feasibility study of renewable energy industry in Indonesia.

Overview of 2017 IChEC
IChEC 2017 is an international competition in Chemical Engineering fields that is held annually by the Society of Chemical Engineering Students of ITB (HIMATEK) in cooperation with Chemical Engineering Program of ITB. IChEC is commonly known in Indonesia as Lomba Rancang Pabrik Tingkat Nasional (LRPTN) and has been held since 1996. The theme this year is “Utilization of Renewable Resources to Enhance Nation’s Energy Sustainability” with contested competitions such as Plant Design Competition, Problem Solving Competition, Debate Competition, Essay Competition, and Poster Competition. IChEC targeted Chemical Engineering students all across ASEAN as its participants.