Local Fuel : A Vision, Not A Dream

Energy Security, especially its availability and affordability in all corners of the country with 17,500 islands, is a real challenge for energy stakeholders in Indonesia. Regardless of the world oil price, the cost of energy procurement remains very high, especially for remote areas — because the distribution costs are very expensive.

So a local fuel solution — fuel that is produced and used in the same area — in my opinion is a necessity for this country. All science and technology is ready, what is needed then is the political will to make it happen.

One of the processes that allows the presence of local fuel to even the most remote areas/islands — I describe in the image below.

I chose this process because the raw material can be any vegetable oil that can be grown in the area concerned. Then to break down the triglycerides (vegetable oil) into fatty acids I use supercritical H2O so there is no need for an acid catalyst to be imported from outside the region, at the supercritical temperature and pressure — water becomes the catalyst and reactant at the same time.

Then to release CO2 from fatty acids into various sizes of C hydrocarbon chain— I use decarboxylation catalytic cracking — using an activated carbon catalyst which can also be produced locally. With this catalyst also, the need for hydrogen for the hydrogenation process is simultaneously generated in-situ by this process itself.

The results of the second reactor will be in the form of hydrocarbons of various sizes, which can be separated by fractional distillation. So whatever your local fuel needs, it can be produced this way.

Interested corporations, institutions and professionals in their fields can contact us to realize this vision that is not a dream. God willing.