Indonesia plans one million hectares of sugarcane for its E20 bioethanol ambition

Indonesia will “open new plantations” for sugarcane used in bioethanol production, the government said, even as it announced a halt to deforestation for rice paddy expansion.

The government said last month it would increase the ethanol component of biofuel used for transport from 5 to 20 per cent (E20) in a bid to reduce reliance on imports of increasingly expensive petroleum products.

To achieve this goal, the country would need about four million kilolitres of ethanol per year, according to the energy ministry — many times what it produces today.

Read the full story here