PALMOILMAGAZINE, LAMPUNG – The University of Lampung (Unila) successfully tested a new palm oil-based fuel, named “Bensin Sawit Unila (BSU) 35,” at the Chemical Hall of Unila on Tuesday, 3 September 2024.
This innovation is the result of a collaboration between the Tim Katalis Bertunas Unila, the Department of Chemistry at Unila, and Agroinvestama Group.
The research, led by Prof. Wasinton Simanjuntak, Prof. Kamisah D. Pandiangan, and five alumni from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science at Unila, marks a significant advancement in renewable energy. The project aims to develop a new bio-hydrocarbon from palm oil as an alternative to increasingly limited fossil fuels.
According to Unila, the research focuses on using “katalis bertunas” (a catalyst) to produce bio-gasoline, bio-aviation turbine fuel, and biodiesel from palm oil. The process effectively created bio-gasoline, which was tested in a blend with Pertamax gasoline at a ratio of 35% BSU and 65% Pertamax. The test results demonstrated that this mixture performed well in motorcycles and was environmentally friendly.
Director of Unila, Prof. Lusmeilia Afriani did welcome the positive result from the test and hoped to get further development. He also emphasized it would need support from Agroinvestama Group in the research and aspiration to expan BSU from Unila itself to the society in Lampung Province.
The initiative was from and encouraged by many palm oil plantations in the province and showed the big potential to support energy and environment sustainability in Indonesia. (T2)
