Bioenergy Policy: The Biodiesel Sustainability Dilemma in Indonesia

Abstract

Palm oil-based biodiesel in Indonesia is facing critical issue with regard to its sustainability status in both upstream and downstream sides. International market of palm oil keeps questioning this sustainability standard of Indonesia oil palm. Three interrelated dimensions of sustainability should be fulfilled only if a product to gain growing market acceptance internationally, i.e. economically profitable, ecologically sound and socially acceptable. To determine the sustainability of Indonesia's palm oil-based biodiesel, this paper pays attention in particular to measuring sustainability status of biodiesel in the upstream to downstream side along its supply chain. The analysis of the sustainability of palm oil-based biodiesel in Indonesia is done thoroughly all related activities on the upstream (agricultural-cultivation activities) up to the downstream (manufacturing activities) side. A rap-bioenergy approach, which included the use of MDS (multidimensional scaling) analyses is applied in the analysis. The results of these analyses show that palm oil-based biodiesel in Indonesia is facing serious sustainability status. Among other three parameters, ecological aspect/parameter is a very serious one. This is especially the case for cultivation activities. This paper concludes that if Indonesia desires international markets to accept the existence of palm oil-based biodiesel, then improvements in ecological aspect should be priority.

Assessment of Rice Farming Sustainability: Evidence from Indonesia Provincial Data

“…Rapsusagri adopts the principles embedded in the Rapfish method, including: (1) a rapid assessment method of the sustainability status of an object based on several attributes, (2) attributes are redefined or replaced according to available information [12,13]; (3) a multi-criteria decision-making method based on multidimensional scaling (MDS); and (4) the use of ordination method to determine the status of sustainability. However, Rapfish was originally designed for sustainability analysis in the fisheries sector, the principle developed in this method is implemented in others, such as the agricultural sector [14,15].…”

“…In contrast to the previous version [12][13][14][15], the 2013 scaling rate of Rapfish for all attributes was standardized from 0 (worst) to 10 (best), where 4/10 and 7/10 represents a threshold value for the poor and good scores, respectively [13]. Also, upper and lower limits are required to avoid uncertainty in each attribute.…”

Natural climate solutions in Indonesia: wetlands are the key to achieve Indonesia’s national climate commitment

“…For example, an important emission reduction strategy from the energy sector is the transition from fossil fuels to renewable and more sustainable energy, which includes an increase in biofuel production from the oil palm sector. This may conflict with policies aiming to reduce deforestation, since increasing biofuel production may lead to an increase in forest conversion (Obidzinski et al 2012, Mukherjee and Sovacool 2014, Dharmawan et al 2020. In addition to streamlining, sectoral policies should also be harmonized and integrated to achieve decarbonization objectives in all sectors.…”

The Sustainability of Independent Palm Oil Smallholders in Multi-Tier Supply Chains in East Kalimantan Indonesia

“…The diagnosis of the oil palm supply chain's sustainability status in the Kutai Kartanegara District was obtained from an analysis using the Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) approach. The sustainability dimensions analyzed were based on the sustainability assessment [30] of economic, social, ecological, political, institutional, and the technological dimensions [25,39,40]. The application of sustainability principles and the linkage with the SHFs supply chain sustainability showed leverage analysis from three typologies to suppress externalities and anticipate market failures and to obtain a good palm oil supply.…”

“…A sustainable and efficient supply chain can maximize the utility of limited available resources and minimize the risks of social, economic, and environmental impacts that may occur [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. The relative condition of the SHFs supply chain often does not pay attention to the volume and risk assessment of the supply from Non-Deforestation, Peat, and Exploitation areas in the upstream part of the plantation that meets Green Procurement Production standards [19,28].…”