JAKARTA. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) said that 75% of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) needs in Indonesia was still fulfiled by imported supplies.
Dadan Kusdiana, Head of the Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said that currently the demand for LPG in households has increased by 96%. "If we depend on imports, from the perspective of energy security, it will not be good," Kusdiana explained through an official statement.
Therefore, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is currently promoting the use of Dimethyl Ether (DME) as an alternative to LPG. "The DME is directed primarily as substitute for LPG, which was used to substitute kerosene," Kusdiana said.
So far, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has completed a 100% DME application test in Palembang and Muara Enim, on 155 households from December 2019 to January 2020. Previously, a DME trial had also been carried out on 100 families in Jakarta. (KR/AR)