Indonesia is set to plant sugar palm trees across 1.2 million hectares to produce ethanol, aiming to reduce gasoline imports in a project estimated to cost $6 billion, according to the country’s forestry minister on Tuesday.
This initiative is part of new President Prabowo Subianto’s push for energy self-sufficiency. During his election campaign last year, Prabowo promised to implement a 10% mandatory bioethanol blend in gasoline by 2029.
The proposed sugar palm plantation is expected to generate 26 million kiloliters of ethanol, with a projected cost of around 100 trillion rupiah ($6.08 billion), Minister Raja Juli Antoni informed reporters. He added that the project has recently been discussed with President Prabowo.
“The president has long supported sugar palm trees because they contribute to both energy and food security,” the minister noted, though he did not provide specifics regarding the location or funding details.
