Indonesia tightens emissions goals ahead of COP27; deploys green hydrogen pilots

Indonesia submitted tighter national emissions reduction targets in the run-up to the United Nations' COP27 climate change conference in November, along with plans to produce green hydrogen and use its depleted upstream assets for carbon capture and storage, Arifin Tasrif, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, said at the Singapore International Energy Week Oct. 25.

Tasrif said in September that Indonesia submitted its tightened emissions reduction target of 32%, or equivalent to 912 million mtCO2, by 2030 from its previous target of 29%, or 835 million mtCO2e.

"Energy contributes about 10.9% of the 29% total emission reduction target, or equivalent to 340 million mt CO2, and about 12.5% of the 32% total emission reduction target, or equivalent to 352 million mtCO2, under the enhanced nationally determined contributions scenario," he said.

Nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, are long-term goals submitted by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change as part of the Paris Agreement.

Tasrif said that Indonesia is focused on keeping the rise in global temperatures to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius to 2 degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial times.

Indonesia raised its greenhouse gas emissions target with its own capabilities to 31.89% from 29% originally, and with international support, including financing and technology transfers, to 43.2% from its previous target of 41%, according to the NDC document of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry acting as the UNFCCC National Focal Point.

The higher target is based on the country's latest policies related to climate change, including Forestry and Other Land Use Net-sink 2030 plan, electric vehicles plan, biodiesel policy that will increase the share of palm oil, waste management, as well as higher emissions targets for industrial agriculture and industry sectors.

The NDC target updated national policies related to climate change and was submitted to comply with the Glasgow agreement, which mandates that each country has to increase the NDC target to align with the scenario of preventing global temperature increases of no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The minister said Indonesia's target is in line with the Long-term Strategy for Low Carbon and Climate Resilience to meet net-zero emissions by 2060 or sooner.

Hydrogen and carbon

Indonesia's 2030 emissions target will be supported by a plan to produce green and blue hydrogen from underutilized renewable energy, Tasrif said, as only 0.3% of the country's 3,686 GW renewable energy potential has been utilized, according to the ministry's estimates.

Earlier this year, national oil company Pertamina said its subsidiary Pertamina Power and New Renewable Energy will invest in a green and blue hydrogen pilot project, and a joint study with the German government showed a green hydrogen potential of around 1,895,000 mt/year.

Tasrif said Indonesia is rich in geothermal energy that can also be used to produce green hydrogen. Pertamina's subsidiary Pertamina Geothermal Energy is conducting a green hydrogen pilot in the Ulubelu geothermal region of Lampung, while its other arm is developing blue hydrogen at the Plaju and Cilacap refineries.

In October, Pertamina said it was working with other state-owned companies and Indonesia Stock Exchange to build a carbon exchange called the Carbon Business Build initiative, for the implementation of voluntary and compliance carbon market.

The companies would work to develop a national carbon trading ecosystem, internal and/or international carbon trading pilots and carbon accounting standards.

The government's plans to implement a carbon tax from July 1 for coal-fired power plants did not materialize and the country has also imposed a ban on the export of voluntary carbon credits, but the minister did not provide further details on these issues.

Under its plan, Indonesia would have developed carbon trading mechanisms in 2021, implemented the cap and tax mecha­nism for the power generation sector from 2022 until 2024, and see full imple­mentation of carbon trading from 2025 onwards.