Han Gyu-seong, chairman of Korea Association of Pellet, said that abundant forests in Indonesia have the potential to supply Korea with much-needed biomass energy. He made the statement before around 50 Korean business delegates during the “Biomass Industry in Indonesia” business forum organized by the South Korea Embassy in Jakarta on Thursday.
The forum discussed the prospects and challenges in developing Indonesia’s biomass potential, specifically wood pellets. South Korea saw an increase in pellet consumption in the past year, with 2013 figures estimated at 500,000 tons, compared to 174,000 tons in 2012.
Korea is currently looking for biomass sources overseas, including from Indonesia, as the East Asian country is enforcing a 2012 energy policy mandating firms to resort to renewable energy to cut carbon emissions. It is also targeting a 20 percent boost in renewable energy use as well as aiming to reduce fossil fuel consumption, the article reports.
“Korea is the world’s 10th-largest energy consumer, fifth-largest oil importer, second-largest coal importer. Sixty-four percent of its electricity is produced from fossil fuels,” Han said.
To reach their objective, Korean firms have sought investments in a number of Asian countries for the development of wood pellets, mainly Vietnam and Malaysia. Korea imported 122,447 tons of wood pellets in 2012, mainly from Russia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
According to data from Korea, Indonesia offers the cheapest pellet, with the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) price of US$ 131 per ton, below Vietnam’s US$ 144 per ton, and Malaysia’s US$ 141 per ton
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