From BBM to BBG : Could It Be
Done or Not?
Oil
fuel or known as BBM ( Ind Trans: Bahan
Bakar Minyak ) is a primary fuel for a vehicle. BBM plays an important role
in our daily activity. Everyday we need it as the energy sources, particularly
for the transportation. In addition, the population of vehicles in Indonesia is
increasing every year. In last 2010, the population of vehicles in Indonesia is
up to 50.824.128 units. It based on the data of Gaikindo
( Ind Trans: Gabungan Industri Kendaraan Bermotor Indonesia ) and AISI ( Ind
Trans: Asosiasi Industri Sepeda Motor Indonesia ). Build
upon the data from BPS ( Ind Trans: Badan
Pusat Statistik ) in 2010, is predicted that the production of vehicles
will be rising up to 5 % in 2010 to 2020. The enhancement of vehicle population
directly gives the effect to the supply of BBM as the main fuel in Indonesia.
The increasing of BBM consumption is giving impacts to the fuel reserves. By
the increasing of the production of vehicles, the more fuel will be running low.
As a result, we have to import the oil from the other countries.
Furthermore,
the price of crude oil is getting high and it makes the government giving fuel
subsidy ( BBM subsidy ). In 2011, the government has allocated fund IDR 92, 79
trillion from the National Budget ( Ind
Trans: Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Negara – APBN ) for the fuel
subsidy. If the population of vehicles is going faster every year so the fund
for the fuel subsidy is going much larger too. To push down the consumption of oil
fuel especially fuel subsidy, the government tends to make the price of fuel goes
upward then expecting the people who have higher income not to consume fuel
subsidy. As a matter of fact, we have some obstacles which make the reduction
of fuel is difficult to do. In Indonesia, the government policy about increasing
the fuel price always becomes a controversy and a hot issue for many stages of
the society.
As we know from the facts above, the supply of
fuel has begun to be reduced.
It is related to the depletion of
natural resources, especially oil inside
the earth. Energy savings have already
been planned and executed. All countries, including Indonesia, have started to think the ways to conserve the petroleum supplies.
One of the solutions is by replacing the oil fuel with the gas fuel. The
government has already had a policy about a conversion from BBM to BBG ( Ind Trans: Bahan Bakar Gas ). BBG or CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is
one of the natural resources which are extracted from inside the earth.
Based
on some consideration, BBG is chosen to replace BBM as fuel for the vehicles. First,
the reservation of BBG in the world particularly in Indonesia, is much more plentiful
than the supply of BBM. Second, if we look from the environmental side, BBM
creates more pollution than BBG. BBG is defined as an eco – friendly fuel and
will make less damage for the environment. The gas emission from BBG will
exhaust less pollutant than the gas emission from BBM. The consumption of BBG
as the substitution of BBM can reduce the emission of carbon up to 95 %, the
emission of carbon – dioxide up to 25 %, the emission of HC up to 80 %, and the
emission of NOx up to 30 %. These facts support
that the consumption of BBG will give plenty of positive effects for our
environment. Attempting to preserve the earth from global warming is one of the
positive effects of consuming BBG.
On the other hand,
the conversion from oil fuel ( BBM ) to gas fuel ( BBG ) is not easy as we
thought. There are several obstacles faced by Indonesia regarding to the policy
of fuel conversion to BBG. Seeing the
fact that people usually consume BBM as their primary fuel, it might be
difficult to convert fuel and energy to BBG at all. Hence, I would offer you
some evidence of the difficulty which Indonesia has within this
conversion.
The
obstacles of BBG conversion are mostly come from the infrastructure problems. The
infrastructure here is including the availability of gas station, gas pipeline,
converter kit, and the provision of gas for transportation. If we take a
comparison between Indonesia and the other country which has started to consume
CNG as their fuel, Indonesia still has many lacks of the infrastructure
existence. Iran and Argentina are the examples of countries which are
successfully started to consume BBG as their transportation fuel.
The
gas conversion program actually has already been proposed by the government in
1988. The program also has been executed by some Indonesian citizens, however,
it was not maintained well. It was due to the lack of government monitoring
towards the vehicles which consume BBG as their transportation fuel. As a
result, it would bring up a new matter. The matter found by the government is
to obtain the data population of vehicles which consume BBG.
Another
reason why this program is not going well as what the government expected is
because the anxiety that many people feel. Due
to the very limited infrastructure in Indonesia, there are some people who are worried. They
feel afraid and doubt to move on from BBM to BBG. The question found is,
whether or not the consumption of gas fuel is safe? Mostly people think that
the gas tube has high potential to explode and unsafe, whereas, the accidents
of a gas explode that had been happened before were caused by the shorted
electrical wiring ( Ind Trans: korsleting
kabel listrik ). The gas is intended to accelerate the fire only, but the usage
of gas tube is safe. Therefore, I firmly emphasize that the socialization of a
new regulation is obviously needed. The question above comes up from the
society because the government only gives less socialization to them. The aim
of socialization is to avoid misunderstanding for the citizens about the new
regulation.
Thus,
the other problem we faced regarding to the BBG conversion is the availability
of converter kit. Converter kit is an
equipment which is used to
convert fuel (CNG,
LPG, ethanol) on
vehicles or engines
at the electric power
generator. As a matter here, the
price of a converter kit is quite expensive. Mochammad Harun, the Vice President of Communication Corporate of Pertamina, said that the price of converter kit can reach IDR 10 million per
unit.
The price of a converter kit is considered expensive for the people who have limited-income.
Therefore, in this case they still potentially consume subsidized fuel. The converter
kit which currently used in Indonesia is imported from many countries, such as
Argentina, China, and India. Thus, the original spare part of this converter
has not available yet in Indonesia. To buy the spare part, we must order it in
a large amount and the time required for shipping the goods will also take a
long time.
If
we talk about the conversion of BBM to BBG, surely we would discuss about the
supply of gas. The supply of gas in Indonesia can not be separated from the
quality of the gas itself. Even though the source of gas in Indonesia is richer
than the oil fuel, in fact the government is only allocating a bit of gas quota
for transportation. The existing gas is
mostly used for industrial and power plant. Based on that fact, the government
needs to make such kind of regulation about the gas quota for transportation.
There is a case related to the minimal supply of gas fuel. In 2003, in Bandung
has already been built a gas station, however, the conversion is still not
running well because the gas supply is not assured. The supply of gas in the
gas station is often run out.
In addition, the regulation about the quality
of gas, especially in Indonesia has been determined in a ministerial decree,
however, there is no trial of its implementation. One of the complaints came
from Trans Jakarta Bus which has used gas fuel, mentioned that the gas still
contains too much water that caused the tank requires to be cleaned every six
months. Therefore, it seems not effective for the transportation.
According to the Deputy
Director of Urban Transport Facilities ( Directorate General of Land Transportation
of Transportation Department ), R.H Christiyono, has said
that in 2012, there are only 8 gas stations in
Indonesia. They are in Jakarta, Cirebon, Medan, Palembang,
and Surabaya. Recently,
government has made progress by willing to add 33 gas stations in some cities
in Indonesia. The conversion of BBG is surely carried out gradually.
However,
the process to build the gas stations will take a long time, whereas the government
policy to convert BBM to BBG has to be started by June 2012. The government
targeted that in the end of 2014, Indonesia would be truly realized the
conversion to BBG as the transportation fuel. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry
( Ind Trans: Menteri ESDM ) of
Indonesia, Jero Wacik emphasizes that he optimistically feels about the
conversion to BBG. Then, the question is whether or not Indonesia in 2014 can
fully apply the government policy of consuming gas fuel for the transportation
considering the minimum infrastructure by now?
In
short, the conversion from BBM to BBG as vehicles fuel will be running well and
effective if there is cooperation from all the elements. The elements here are
the government as a law maker, the infrastructure as a medium to support the
government regulation, and all Indonesian citizens who will execute the regulation.
Moreover, the conversion from BBM to BBG also needs a positive reinforcement
from the government. The reinforcement can be in a strict regulation that will encourage
and support this conversion. Thus, the regulation is also expected to have benefits
for all stages of the society.
§ Total of words : 1667 words
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