JAKARTA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) — Indonesia plans to expand sugarcane plantations and develop other feedstock sources to support its planned gasoline blend containing 20 percent bioethanol, known as the E20 program, Zulkifli Hasan, the country’s coordinating minister for food affairs, said Tuesday.
The government is seeking additional plantations because current sugarcane supplies are insufficient to meet the feedstock needs of the E20 program. Besides sugarcane, Indonesia is also considering cassava and other crops for ethanol production, Hasan said.
The expansion is intended to ensure that ethanol production does not undermine domestic sugar supplies, he added.
Indonesia aims to increase the use of domestically produced biofuels to reduce reliance on imported energy. ■