Aqsha, Ph.D. is a Research Professor at the Center of New and Renewable Energy Research as well as a lecturer at ITB’s Undergraduate Program in Chemical Engineering and Bioenergy and Chemurgy Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology. He earned a doctorate in Chemical & Petroleum Engineering from the University of Calgary, Canada. In 2020, Aqsha received a Bronze Award for the Invention and Innovation Award, The 19th International Expo, Malaysia.

Since Friday (1/4/2022), Pertamax fuel in Indonesia experienced around a 30% increase, approaching its economical price. In other words, 60% of Indonesian fuel is still subsidized. Until now, energy demand has been fulfilled by coals, crude oils, and natural gas fuel. However, oftentimes their price fluctuates drastically due to supply instability as well as other influencing factors. Thus, this state becomes a challenge for Indonesia from there on.

Aqsha, Ph.D. conveyed the need for alternative renewable energy, one of them being plant-based fuel or more often called biofuels. In comparison to the more common crude oil, biofuels excel in three aspects: never exhausted from use, environmentally friendly, and lastly safer to process while also being affordable. “Some examples are biodiesel and bioavtur made from plant oils such as palm, or other kinds of tropical plants; these types of bioenergy do not contain heavy metal and have low sulfur quantity, therefore being environmentally friendly. Moreover, they can be safely produced, whether on a small or large scale cheaply as the oil-producing plants are abundant in Indonesia,” stated Aqsha.

According to Aqsha, Indonesia is one of the biggest plant oil producers in the world. This is supported by the palm oil production rate, as big as 50 million tons in 2021 with 65% export volume from said number. To fulfill domestic needs, palm oil is also utilized as cooking oil, oleochemical materials, and biodiesel raw materials, reaching 35% of the total production. Cooking oil used in Indonesia summed up to 8.95 million tons, whereas palm oil-based biodiesel production accumulated a net value of 7.34 tons.

In ITB, researchers consistently achieve breakthroughs to catch up with Indonesia’s underdevelopment in plant-based fuel production technology. Since 2005, ITB has proudly contributed to palm oil biodiesel production technology, which is now used as a diesel mixture for up to 30%. Moreover, ITB researchers also have been commercializing their palm fuel and bioavtur production technology, using domestically produced catalysts. ITB collaborated with private institutions and the government to develop a palm fuel technology on a pilot scale, as well as a bioavtur test flight with CN 235 plane last October 2021. Aside from palm fuel development technology production, ITB researchers must also develop biogas technologies such as natural gas substitutes, bioethanol production technology from certain plant types, domestic wastes to energy conversion, as well as future energy technologies such as hydrogen and biocell.

Aqsha informed that the development of bioenergy technology up to its commercialization phase must be supported by various parties, such as research funds, industry, and consumers to reach the renewable energy mix target. “If we successfully popularized palm oil as alternative energy, we would improve the national energy vitality, boost foreign exchange, create jobs for local communities, and increase the value of various raw materials for biofuel production. This will transform Indonesia into the epicenter of the world’s biofuel technology development,” concluded the Bioenergy and Chemurgy Engineering Research Professor.

Reporter: Inas Annisa Aulia (Fine Arts, 2020)
Translator: Firzana Aisya (Bioengineering, 2021)