Indonesia to make biomethane from palm oil in 2025
PGN, a Pertamina subsidiary, and three Japanese companies are looking to produce biomethane from palm oil mill effluent (POME) to meet rising natural gas demand and reduce methane emissions, reported the Jakarta Post.
A farmer harvests oil palm fruit at a plantation in Kuta Makmur, Aceh. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Jakarta (VNA) – PGN, a Pertamina subsidiary, andthree Japanese companies are looking to produce biomethane from palm oil milleffluent (POME) to meet rising natural gas demand and reduce methane emissions,reported the Jakarta Post.
The consortium of PGN, JGC Holdings Corporation, Osaka Gas andInpex Corporation is currently working on a study for the commercialisation ofsuch a product in Indonesia in 2025, using PGN’s natural gas distributionnetwork.
The raw material will come from oil palm plantations in SouthSumatra.
The project aims to recover methane gas released into theatmosphere from POME, refine it into biomethane and supply it to customers vianatural gas pipelines and other existing infrastructure.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency,untreated POME releases methane, which is more than 25 times as potent ascarbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
The biomethane produced from this project is expectedto not only meet industrial gas and consumer demand but also serve as proof thatPertamina Group and its partners, in this case, JGC, Inpex and Osaka Gas, arecommitted to encouraging renewable energy development, said Harry BudiSidharta, PGN director of strategy and business development.
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A farmer harvests oil palm fruit at a plantation in Kuta Makmur, Aceh. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
