[Indonesia Report] Indonesia’s energy consumption grows highest in the world

Renewable Energy Resources in Baru Beach, Bantul (Photo: Antara in kompas.com)

Indonesia Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources claimed that the growth of Indonesia’s energy consumption is higher than any other countries in the world.

According to Kompas.com’s report, Directorate General of Renewable and Conservation Energy released a report on the growth rate of Indonesia’s energy consumption in recent years reached to 7 percent per year.

Average growth rate of World’s energy consumption stands at 2.6 percent per year.

Head of Directorate General of Renewable and Conservation Energy, Djadjang Sukarna said that this high consumption has been generating a lot of problems and imbalance.

This high consumption causes depletion of fossil resources such as oil, gas, and coal, faster than the new discovery of energy resources.

Djadjang said in the Ministry’s website on Friday (November 23), “chances are that in a few years, Indonesia’s fossil energy reserves would be gone. Then domestic needs would have no other choice but to depend on imported energy.”

Kompas.com wrote that even Djadjang predicted, if the current condition continues, Indonesia would become a net energy importer in 2030.

Under such circumstances, Djadjang said, there would be no other way to fulfill the domestic energy needs by means of utilizing renewable energy and conserving energy.

The effort can be done by diversification of energy, which means diversifying energy utilization by increasing usage of renewable energy such as solar, biomass, wind energy, water, and geothermal.

According to the report, Indonesia’s potential renewable energy could cover Indonesia’s energy needs for 100 years to come.

It reported that Indonesia’s renewable energy potential could reach up to 160 Giga Watt (GW).

Indonesian government also needs to conserve energy by efficient use of energy. It can be done by implementing energy management in all sectors, including industry, transportation, household and commercial.

Meidyana Rayana Intern Reporter news@theasian.asia