PALMOILMAGAZINE, YOGYAKARTA – The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Indonesian Republic has launched a trial of B40 biodiesel for diesel-powered trains. The initiative commenced on Monday, July 22, 2024, at the Pusat Uji Sarana Kereta (PUK) LPN in Yogyakarta. B40 is a blend of 40 percent crude palm oil (CPO) and 60 percent diesel.
Eniya Listiani Dewi, General Director of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, stated that this test is the initial step to ensure the successful implementation of B40 in trains.
The trial will involve journeys from Lempuyangan Station in Yogyakarta to Senen Station in Jakarta. “We hope the B40 application will contribute to emission reduction,” Eniya said, as reported by Palmoilmagazine.com from Tribun Jogja on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
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The test is expected to last at least 1,200 hours of operation, spanning approximately two months, with each trip from Yogyakarta to Jakarta taking around 22 hours.
Eniya also noted that the B40 implementation will be phased across various sectors. Last year saw success in the automotive sector, and this year, B40 will be introduced in five additional sectors: mining, railways, agricultural machinery, shipping, and power plants.
Besides train sector, B40 kick off would be happening in maritime and agricultural tool sectors. It is planned to be in Balikpapan in this very short. Every result from the tests would be gathered in December 2024 and in 2024, B40 could be applied widely.
B40 application in non-automotive sectors should reach 16 million kiloliters. This should get emission reduction up to 14,6 million tons of CO2. Eniya said the exchange could be saved up to nine billion American dollar by implanting B40. “The numbers would be very significant with the estimation up to 122 trillion rupiah when we applied B35,” she said.
Vice President of Logistics PT KAI, Suryawan Putra Hia did support the government by providing generator set and locomotive as the test tools. Suryawan would be optimist that B40 application would not significantly deliver impacts for train machine. “So far, there is no issue in biodiesel application for train,” he said. (P2)
