Indonesia’s biodiesel consumption expected to fall 49% in 2015

The Indonesian government expects the country’s biodiesel consumption to have diminished by nearly half this year compared to 2014.

Government officials say that in 2015 the country is expected to have consumed a total of 825,000 kilolitres of biodiesel, which marks a dramatic 49% decline from the 1.6 million kilolitres consumed last year.

According to Bayu Krisnamurthi, head of the Indonesian Estate Crop Agency, consumption has dropped due a subsidy scheme change implemented in 2015.

Subsidies have traditionally been allocated from the state budget, but in this year the scheme switched over to an independent fund collected from the crude palm oil levy.

However, Indonesia still expects to see a decline in national carbon emissions in the coming year due to new biodiesel blending mandate.

‘Starting 2016, Indonesia can reduce emissions by the CO₂ equivalent of about 9.4 to 15 million tonnes per year,’ Krisnamurthi says.