Indonesia Began B40 Fuel Trials for Trains
- VIVA/ Dwi Royanto.
Jakarta – Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), has launched its first trial of using 40 percent biodiesel, known as B40 fuel, on the Bogowonto train route from Yogyakarta to Pasar Senen.
The Director General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Eniya Listiani Dewi, explained that the trial started at Lempuyangan Station in Yogyakarta on Monday (July 22).
"This is our first kick-off of incorporating B40 fuel into the railway sector," Dewi said in a statement on Wednesday (July 24).
She stated that the limited performance test aims to assess the durability of the Bogowonto train’s generator over 1,200 hours.
Assuming one round trip of the Bogowonto train from Lempuyangan to Pasar Senen takes 22 hours, the trial is estimated to require 50 round trips or about two months to reach this result.
"We hope all usage tests will be completed by December, so full implementation of B40 can be achieved by 2025," Dewi remarked.
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Similarly, Vice President of Logistics at KAI, Suryawan Putra Hia, said that KAI currently uses 300 million liters of B35 fuel, and there have been no issues with engine performance during usage.
Therefore, he is optimistic that the transition from B35 to B40 will run smoothly, as their specifications are almost identical.
"So far, (using biodiesel for train fuel) has been issue-free. Perhaps B100 will be a significant challenge, but we're confident that B40 will not have a substantial impact on the engines," he stated.
