Energy independence and sovereignty are important to achieve energy security. It is an important aspect that must be considered by Indonesia as a reason to carry out an energy transition in addition to climate change.
By
SIWI NUGRAHENI
·5 minutes read
SALOMO TOBING
Siwi Nugraheni
Last January, Parahyangan University, Bandung, West Java, held a seminar on Indonesia's readiness to implement an energy transition. All the speakers at the seminar agreed that for the sake of climate change, the use of fossil fuels must be abandoned and changed to renewable energy sources. Various efforts and policies are directed at encouraging this transition. Bank Indonesia (BI) with a green-financing program design, for example, will provide incentives for debtors who support the use of renewable energy.
In Indonesia, energy is generally needed for three purposes, namely electricity, mobility of transportation modes and cooking. This grouping is not rigid because cooking and transportation activities can use electrical energy.
However, most households in Indonesia do not use electricity for cooking. Based on the data of Statistics Indonesia (BPS), in 2021 83.36 percent of households in Indonesia used Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for cooking. In addition, most modes of transportation also use fossil fuels as an energy source.
Data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry (ESDM) also show that 64 percent of electricity in Indonesia is generated from coal (2020). It means that fossil energy sources still dominate our energy map. About 87 percent of energy in Indonesia comes from fossil fuels. For the sake of climate change mitigation and energy security, Indonesia has made concrete efforts to make an energy transition away from fossil fuels.
The good news is that if we look at the sources of energy used in rural areas of Indonesia, an energy transition has begun and is still continuing. The use of renewable energy sources is not only for generating electricity in rural areas, as I have written about in this column (“Renewable Energy for Villages”, Kompas, 5 July 2022), but also for other needs.
Energy Independent Village
The Energy Independent Village (DME) is a government program first launched in 2007. A village can be categorized as a DME if at least 60 percent of its energy needs can be provided independently, from renewable energy sources in the village. At that time, Tanjungharjo village in Grobogan regency, Central Java, was used as a pilot project. The residents of Tanjungharjo village were expected to be able to use jatropha oil as a source of energy, especially for cooking purposes.
Unfortunately, this DME program failed. Farmers who had hoped to enjoy the proceeds from the sale of the jatropha seeds they planted were disappointed because the selling price was far below their expectations. That said, the promised jatropha oil factory also had never operated.
The failure of the initial version of DME did not dampen the efforts of other villages to explore potential energy sources in their respective regions. Across the archipelago, stories of energy-independent villages or village people utilizing renewable energy sources are easy to find.
Bantar village in Banjarnegara regency has made an energy transition from LPG to swamp gas (biogenic shallow gas). In 2020, the Energy and the Central Java ESDM Office built a swamp gas installation in the village and now there are 100 households benefiting from this energy source. The residents of Rajek village in Grobogan regency have even used swamp gas since 2013.
Residents of Sukorejo village in Sragen regency use biogas from their cow dung as an energy source. It is not a coincidence that the villages I mentioned earlier are all located in Central Java. The provincial government of Central Java states that there are 2,353 DME villages that use renewable energy sources in their area.
The DME list will be very long if it continues, numbering in the thousands, from Sabang to Merauke.
However, it does not mean that energy transitions do not occur in other regions. In Sumedang, West Java, residents of Giriharja hamlet, Kebonjati village, use biogas processed from tofu waste. In Pasuruan, East Java, in Balunganyar village, residents also use cow dung as biogas material for their energy source.
Outside Java, a microscale power plant is also widely used. Residents of Kamanggih village in East Nusa Tenggara and Batanguru village in South Sulawesi receive electricity from a micro-hydropower plant. The DME list will be very long if it continues, numbering in the thousands, from Sabang to Merauke.
Local energy sources
There are several similarities between DME stories across Indonesia. First, all DMEs rely on local renewable-energy sources. The spirit of exploring the potential of local resources to meet energy needs independently should be appreciated. The energy transition should indeed be shifting to energy sources that are abundantly available domestically, not imported, even if they are renewable energy sources.
Second, DME provides an example of decentralized (not centralized) energy supply. In fact, in many cases, the management of energy use is also community-based. They jointly manage DME sustainability independently. This scheme has a positive side, namely increasing the sovereignty of villagers in meeting energy needs.
Third, DME is realized as the fruit of mutual cooperation or collaboration of various parties. Villagers, with the help of various parties (private business institutions, nonprofit institutions, universities and local governments), are able to take advantage of local energy sources and make residents self-sufficient and sovereign over the energy supply needed.
Energy independence and sovereignty are important to achieve energy security. It is an important aspect that must be considered by Indonesia as a reason to carry out an energy transition in addition to climate change. Thousands of DMEs and village people who have utilized renewable energy sources have given the answer that energy transition is a necessity.
Siwi Nugraheni, lecturer at the School of Economics, Parahyangan Catholic University.
(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi).
