Indonesian airline Garuda to deploy aviation biofuel blend by 2016

In Indonesia, airline Garuda expects to be using an aviation biofuel blend by 2016 comprised of biofuel and avtur (aviation turbine fuel). The aircraft are already equipped to use biofuel and the carrier aims to run a trial flight soon. However, the state-owned carrier’s commitment to supporting the use of clean energy will be highly dependent on the availability of the crude palm oil (CPO)-based biofuel that is currently being tested at state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina’s laboratory.

In December last year, Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik on renewable energy in the aviation sector. Under the MoU, the government targeted reducing the use of fossil fuel in the aviation sector by mixing avtur with 2 percent biofuel in 2016 and planned to increase the amount to 3 percent in 2020.