Communities Build Sustainability-Based Businesses

Cirebon, 26 January 2024 – On the fourth day, the West Java Energy Exploration team continued their journey to Cirebon. Precisely in South Kesunean, Kasepuhan Village, Lemahwungkuk District. There, the group moved towards the shoreline to plant mangroves. South Kesunean has one problem, namely the emerging soil phenomenon. This raised land appears due to the accumulation of rubbish on the shoreline which is compacted to form new land.

This habit of residents threatens a mangrove ecosystem which functions to resist sea abrasion. For approximately one year, a group of Kesunean residents took the initiative to form a Working Group (Pokja) to care for the mangrove area located in their area.

The West Java Energy Exploration group visited the Kesunean mangrove area to participate in planting mangroves as an effort to restore mangrove forests.

Pepep Nurhadi, Chair of RW 09 South Kesunean, as well as chair of the South Kesunean Mangrove Working Group (Pokja), said that the presence of mangroves in South Kesunean plays an important role in preventing flooding and abrasion as well as protecting coastal ecosystems.

“For this reason, we thank all parties who have supported us in this mangrove planting effort. “We hope that in the future our area can become an ecotourism area so that it can be more beneficial for local residents,” he said.

 

Karya Nugraha Jaya Cooperative Pioneers Sustainable Dairy Farm:

People and communities continue to look for ways to use renewable energy technology. In the landscape of micro businesses and cooperatives, community groups such as the Karya Nugraha Jaya Producers Cooperative strive to ensure that livestock operational processes can be clean and sustainable.

The Karya Nugraha Jaya Cooperative is a dairy farming cooperative located in Cipari Village, Cigugur District, Kuningan Regency, West Java, founded in 2004 and has around 4000 cows with a cooperative membership of 100 farmers. This cooperative is motivated to organize clean and sustainable livestock farming.

Iding Karnadi, Chairman of the Karya Nugraha Jaya Cooperative, said that the first thing that was initiated was the installation of a biogas reactor to process cow dung waste.

“Initially, dairy cow dung was an environmental problem, apart from being dirty, it also smelled bad. Finally, we collaborated with ITB to create this biogas installation,” he said.

The biogas installation was finally installed with a production capacity of 100 m3 of gas per day. The gas produced is used for electricity needs for water heating on farms. It doesn’t stop there, the Karya Nugraha Jaya Cooperative also installed hybrid solar panel installations on farms and feed factories amounting to 56 kWp.

“For the feed factory, we currently fully use electricity from PLTS amounting to 40 kWp, no longer using electricity from PLN,” said Iding.

Iding then continued that his party continues to look at other opportunities to make its livestock cooperatives more advanced and adopt more sustainable practices. Currently, the party is collaborating with ITB to treat livestock wastewater. In the future, the management of this cooperative hopes that the location of this cooperative will become an educational tourist attraction about Sustainable Dairy Farms.

We Don’t Have a Choice, We Have to Achieve Carbon Neutrality

Jakarta, 25 October 2023 – Industry is the main driver for economic growth and the largest sector to stimulate technology advancement. Industrial-scale economic activity has already transformed the global economy since its peak. Unfortunately, the tremendous economic growth must be paid for by the high greenhouse gas emissions transmitted. 

For a while, people are trying to figure out a way to minimize the GHG emission from the industrial process. This effort will be a meaningful step in the race to achieve net zero emission in this century as it is mandated by the Paris Agreement.

Deon Arinaldo, Energy Transformation Program Manager at the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) during the Dissemination Workshop of Indonesia Industry Decarbonization Roadmap and Policy Recommendation on Wednesday 25th October 2023 said that IESR is currently looking into five big industries i.e cement, pulp & paper, steel, textile, and ammonia and develop a decarbonization roadmap. 

“We are in the beginning of decarbonizing our industry sector, and we need more collaboration between stakeholders as there are just so many stakeholders involved in the industry sector,” Deon said.

Farid Wijaya, senior analyst IESR later explained that Indonesia has initiated a green industry policy framework, yet it still needs more improvement to make it more robust and contextual. 

“The five industries that we are looking at are highly motivated to decarbonize their business process, but currently there are still challenges such as the cost and policy framework that still need to be improved,” explained Farid.

Realizing that the industrial process requires a vast amount of energy from electricity to decarbonize the industry sector, it is a must to also decarbonize the power sector. 

“(The availability) of policies that support industry to connect to renewable power or develop its own renewable electricity are very important,” said Hongyou Lu, Energy and Environment Technology Researcher, LBNL.

Lu added that industry decarbonization is inevitable but multifaceted and it has potential to grow the local economy, reduce air pollution and make the commodity more competitive in the global trade.

Stephane de la Rue du Can, Energy-Environmental Policy Research Scientist, LBNL then added that there should be a complete package of policy reform to decarbonize the industry sector, including (1) industry GHG reduction targets and planning, (2) innovation, (3) electrification and fuel switching, (4) energy efficiency, (5) material efficiency and circular economy, and (6) workforce and local communities.

Endra Dedy Tamtama, Energy Conservation Monitoring Coordinator, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources shares that currently energy efficiency practices done by some industries are those either no cost or low cost. Things related to retrofitting utilities that require significant capital cost are not yet done.

“Because currently there is no fiscal incentive is given to industries once uses an energy efficient infrastructure, any changes that require significant cost, although it will save more energy, has not fully tapped,” Endra said.  

Muhammad Akhsin Muflikhun, Technology Expert of PSE UGM, emphasized the importance of technology readiness to support industry decarbonization such as the utilization of hydrogen.

“Hydrogen has been our focus for energy storage technology. We try to compare hydrogen storage vs. batteries, so far there is still a huge gap in energy efficiency once it is stored in a battery compared to once it is kept in a hydrogen storage system,” he said. 

Sri Gadis Pari Bekti, Functional Intermediate Expert, Ministry of Industry agrees that technology will be a game changer during the industrial decarbonization. The emerging technology such as CCS and CCUS, and hydrogen are expected to be able to fulfill energy needs in the industry.

“As part of our support to industry, we facilitate certification for industry. To some extent, the government can help the capacity building and certification process,” Bekti said.

In order to smoothen the industry decarbonization the availability of green financing is crucial.

PT PLN, as the main energy supplier in Indonesia through their Bioenergy manager, Yudas Agung Santoso, said that currently they are still mapping the energy needs especially from industry as in the near future some big industries such as nickel smelter will come.

“For industry (and those who need) currently, we have a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) program, in which we dedicate a renewable power generator to supply those who subscribe the certificate so they can get green electricity,” he said.

Nan Zhou, Energy Environmental Policy Senior Scientist, LBNL, in her concluding remark highlighted the importance for Indonesia to take the lesson learnt from other countries who start decarbonizing its industry earlier. 

“We don’t have a choice; we have to achieve carbon neutrality. So, we must do any possible action to make it happen,” Zhou said.

Tempo | IESR: Indonesia Needs to Learn from Denmark, Australia, and the USA in Energy Transition.

Program Manager for Sustainable Energy Access at the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), Marlistya Citraningrum, stated that Indonesia needs to learn from the experiences of several countries in energy transition. These countries include Denmark, Australia, and the United States, which already have islands with 100 percent renewable energy.

Read more on Tempo.

Arrange a Strategy to Get Around the Impact of Coal Power Plant Shutdown

Jakarta, 27 September 2023 – Indonesia’s increase in climate commitments in the Enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution (E-NDC) brings a number of implications, including plans to stop coal-fired power plant operations early to reduce emissions. This plan has several impacts, including a decrease in the income of coal-producing regions as well as national income, the potential for massive layoffs, as well as other socio-economic impacts.

In a hybrid seminar, entitled “Sunset CFPP and the Coal Industry: Reviewing Multisectoral Direction & Impact in a Just Energy Transition” (27/9), Fabby Tumiwa, Executive Director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) explained that the energy transition agenda for both Indonesia and the destination countries for Indonesian coal exports will have an impact on a number of aspects in Indonesia.

“There are three factors that can be seen from the energy transition in coal producing areas: the link between the local economy and coal, the readiness of existing human resources, and alternative economic options that can be developed in that area, and how mitigation plans can be prepared,” said Fabby.

In the presentation material delivered by Ilham Surya, IESR Environmental Policy Analyst, it was explained that the role of the coal industry in the economy of coal-producing regions is quite significant.

“The GRDP contribution is between 50% and 70% in Muara Enim and Paser, but the multiplier effect is not that big,” said Ilham.

Within the scope of national policy, the Ministry of PPM/Bappenas is currently preparing a Long Term Development Plan (RPJP), one of the points  is economic transformation.

“The energy transition is part of the green economic transformation, so in the latest draft of RPJP, what we meant by transition is not only seen from the energy sector,” explained Nizhar Marizi, Director of Energy, Mineral and Mining Resources, Bappenas.

Grita Anindarini, Deputy Director for Programs, Indonesia Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), emphasized the important role of the policy framework and implementation of various existing regulations.

“A just energy transition requires a very big policy transformation on employment, environment, energy, and financing. Currently there are several policy regulations regarding the energy transition, but their implementation still faces various obstacles,” explained Grita.

Haris Retno Susmiyati, Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Mulawarman University, admits that economic dependence on coal commodities is not a good thing. She said that in 2015, when coal prices fell drastically, the economy of East Kalimantan also slumped.

“By regulation, the company’s obligation to pay royalties to the government is only 13.5% of that figure. The regional government only gets 5%, so it is not the coal producing regions that actually enjoy the profits from coal,” said Retno.

Having a similar context to East Kalimantan, Jambi province is also starting to prepare for transition. Ahmad Subhan, Head of Economy and Natural Resources, Bappeda Jambi, said that even though it is not the main coal producing area, the contribution of the coal sector to GRDP is quite significant.

“Coal is indeed significant for supporting the economy, but if there are substitutes that are more relevant to regional conditions, they can be explored further. For this transition, we in Jambi province are supportive but not drastic. We are also waiting for substitutions for economic transformation,” said Ahmad.

Implementation Check Methodology: a Much Needed Mechanism

New York, 21 September 2023 – The global community is urging global leaders to take serious actions to address climate change. During the COP 27 in Egypt, several countries renewed their commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving net zero emission status. However, there are still gaps between commitment and implementation of policy and action to seize the determined target. 

To assess, rate, and monitor a country’s progress during the policy implementation, Climate Transparency, a global partnership of research organizations and NGO in the G20 countries, has developed a methodology to review policy implementation across four categories: legal status, institutions & governance, resourcing, and oversight.  

Yvonne Deng, Energy and Climate Strategy Expert from the 7Gen Consulting, emphasized the importance of having monitoring instruments to review current policy and its role to seize the climate target. 

“We (Climate Transparency) analyze the gap and go deeper to the sectoral approach to recommend what sectoral policy a country should take to pursue the ambition,” said Yvonne.

South Africa, one of the countries receiving global attention lately as the first recipient of Just Energy Transition Partnership funding. Guy Cunliffe, Energy System Researcher of the University of Cape Town explained that as a country receiving international assistance, South Africa needs to showcase accountability during implementation. 

“An implementation monitoring is critical to showcase success of the implementation and as a beneficiary country it is also a way to display progress of the committed project,” he said.

Guy added that as the first JETP recipient, South Africa has increased its climate ambition and tried to integrate significant renewable capacity to its grid. However, during the implementation, the country is experiencing a glitch in terms of electricity supply. This glitch ‘forces’ them to adjust the plan and policy while rapidly changing the energy market. This is only possible with continuous policy monitoring. 

Similar to South Africa, Indonesia, as one of the biggest coal producers, has its electricity generation dominated by coal. In 2022, Indonesia renewed its emission reduction target in enhanced NDC, from 29% to 31.89% (unconditional) and 41% to 43.2% (conditional).

Wira Agung Swadana, Green Economy Program Manager at the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), noted that during the transition away from coal-dependency, there are still conflicting interests among stakeholders, primarily due to the government’s lack of clear guidance on the transition’s meaning and direction transition.

“Though Indonesia has increased ambition and target in its NDC, the enabling environment for the renewable energy developers is not attractive enough yet. There is still no clear incentive for the investors as well as the lengthy process,” Wira explained. 

The in progress New and Renewable Energy Bill (RUU EBET), though believed to provide a robust policy framework, is to some extent attempting to prolong the use of fossil fuels by including CCS technology in the renewable options.

Webinar: Sunset of Coal-Fired Power Plants and the Coal Industry – Reviewing Direction and Multisectoral Impacts in a Just Energy Transition

Background

Indonesia has ratified its commitment to keeping global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius, in line with the Paris Agreement, through Law No. 16 of 2016. The Indonesian government has set climate commitment targets through its enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs): a 31.89% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to business-as-usual scenarios and a 43.20% reduction with international assistance by 2030. However, these targets are still insufficient to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Based on business-as-usual scenarios, the energy sector is projected to dominate Indonesia’s emissions in the future. The electricity sector can be the first sector to be decarbonized considering the availability of low-emission technologies, such as renewable energy, which are becoming increasingly competitive. However, the Indonesian electricity system is currently dominated by coal-fired power plants.

On November 15, 2022, at the peak of the G20 High-Level Conference, President Joko Widodo and the International Partner Groups (IPG) led by the USA and Japan, including Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and the United Kingdom, agreed to the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) agreement. As a follow-up to this agreement, the Indonesian government needs to prepare a Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP) to achieve the target of peak emissions in 2030 and a 34% renewable energy mix in the electricity sector by 2030, as well as support for affected communities. The targets to be achieved are a peak emission of 290 million tons of CO2 in the electricity sector by 2030, net zero by 2050, and a 34% renewable energy mix in the electricity system. As a concrete step, the Indonesian government is currently preparing the CIPP investment plan document, which was originally scheduled to be launched on August 16, 2023, but has been postponed to the end of 2023. This delay is due to the unclear funding framework of the JETP from the IPG countries and the need for further refinement of some analyses in the document. In addition, the government also expects a more inclusive document and opens the opportunity for public consultation in the coming months.

Energy transition in various funding schemes, both JETP and Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM), is expected to prioritize justice aspects, especially for vulnerable and affected groups. The energy transition process should be seen as a comprehensive process that includes the creation of environmentally friendly jobs, social protection for vulnerable groups, as well as skills enhancement and retraining driven by employer programs to address these issues.One of the focuses of JETP is the effort to early retire coal-fired power plants (CFPP) which still contribute about 60% of the overall electricity generation. JETP also recognizes the importance of a fair transition principle for workers and communities affected by the early retirement of PLTU, including the domestic coal industry which will weaken and have an impact on the economy, especially in coal-rich areas. The JETP program in Indonesia must develop a fair transition roadmap that includes the creation of environmentally friendly jobs, social protection for vulnerable groups, as well as skills enhancement and retraining driven by employer programs to address these issues.

The impacts of this coal transition are identified and analyzed in several scenarios to study the relevant outcomes under various future conditions. These outcomes are presented so that stakeholders can make policies that anticipate the impacts that will occur. Therefore, the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) will hold a public discussion to discuss the financing and investment scheme strategies, particularly in relation to the plans and anticipation of the multi-sectoral impacts of the early retirement of coal-fired power plants (PLTU) in efforts to achieve a just energy transition.

Objective:

To present and discuss the impacts resulting from the coal transition process in Indonesia.

To discuss how CIPP JETP supports a just energy transition.

To discuss the role of stakeholders in anticipating these impacts.

New Hope in Menamang Kanan

Samarinda, 7 September 2023 – Menamang Kanan Village is located in Muara Kaman District, Kutai Kartanegara Regency. It takes around 4 hours to travel from the city of Samarinda via road to reach this village. Until 2022, the people of Menamang Kanan rely on diesel generators from a company’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities) program to fulfill their access to electricity. Diesel will light up and be a source of lighting for residents for 4 hours every day.

The hope of having longer and better quality access to electricity is slowly starting to come to light in 2022. Through the East Kalimantan Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD), Menamang Kanan village received centralized solar PV installation of 87 kWp. Electricity from this PV is distributed to 600 families.

Even though we already have other energy sources, unfortunately the quality of electricity produced is only sufficient for lighting and basic electronics.

“Because we only produce 700 watts/day and it has to be used communally, so it can only be used for lights and fans at most, It can’t be used for TV or cooking rice, let alone the refrigerator,” explained Zapir, Menamang Kanan Village Secretary.

Zapir added that the people of Menamang Kanan hope to increase the electricity capacity they receive so that people can use electricity for other, more productive activities. Not limited to lighting.

The Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) believes that the quality of electricity received by society needs to improve because if the electricity they receive is of low quality, society will not be able to carry out productive activities that can improve the economy. Decentralized power plants such as solar PV need to increase massively to supply electricity in rural areas.

Regional governments can utilize their authority in developing renewable energy as regulated in Presidential Decree Number 11 of 2023, in order to improve the quality of people’s access to electricity.

“This additional authority certainly needs to be followed by local government initiatives to design programs that also address the need to provide energy access, especially with local renewable energy. This principle of energy decentralization enables independent energy efforts with the involvement of many parties and is expected to improve community welfare with sustainable energy access,” explained Marlistya Citraningrum, Sustainable Energy Access Program Manager, Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) in the webinar “Energy Transition in Equity National Electrification”.

Decentralization of energy by utilizing renewable energy sources will open up opportunities for wider and participatory exploration of utilization so as to facilitate access to electricity and increase the reliability of its quality.