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Many foreign investors are considering becoming involved in
developing greenhouse gas emission reduction projects here in Indonesia
as a result of the country's huge potential, an official says.
Prasetyadi Utomo, the secretary to Indonesia's Designated National
Authority (DNA), a unit of the State Ministry for the Environment,
predicts that there will be at least 10 projects under the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) submitted by local companies for approval
by the government this year.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, which Indonesia has ratified, gas emission
reduction projects have to be approved by the United Nations. Project
developers are entitled to receive certified emission reductions (CER)
from the UN, which can later be used by developed nations to meet their
Kyoto protocol targets for reducing gas emissions.
A CER unit stating a one-ton reduction in carbon dioxide is estimated
to be worth between US$7 and $8.
"We are in the final stages of approving four CDM projects," Prasetyadi
Utomo, the secretary of Indonesia's Designated National Authority (DNA)
on CDM at the state ministry told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
The DNA, which was set up in 2005, is tasked with approving such
projects before submitting them to the UN's Executive Board.
The four projects consist of a mini-hydro scheme, the use of coconut
shells to generate electricity, limiting the use of nitrous oxide in
the manufacturing of explosives, and methane extraction during
tapioca-starch production.
Prasetyadi said that the mini-hydro project consisted of four
small-scale power generating plants in Central Java and West Java, and
would be developed by PT Indonesia Power in partnership with
Japan-based Chugoku Electric Power Co. Inc.
"The project is expected to generate up to 21,139 tons of carbon
reductions per year," Prasetyadi explained.
He said that so far, eight Indonesian CDM projects had been registered
with the UN Executive Board. The eight projects could produce emission
reductions of up to 1.5 million tons per year.
"Many of the project promoters are from Japan. We hope that more
investors from the European nations will locate CDM projects in
Indonesia this year," he said.
A statement from the British Embassy in Jakarta said that a delegation
of 12 British investors would meet Indonesian CDM project developers
during a two-day visit starting Thursday.
"The range of services available from the UK climate change companies
is extensive and includes CDM project development and financing, carbon
fund management, technology provision, carbon brokerage services,
validation and verification, and legal services," the statement said.
The Kyoto Protocol requires developed nations to cut greenhouse gas
emissions by 8 percent below 1990 levels in the period between 2008 and
2012.
By contrast, developing countries can host projects to reduce the
gases. Indonesia, which ratified the protocol, is not required to
reduce its emissions and thus is a potential host country.
The state ministry said that Indonesia had the potential to supply two
percent of the global CDM market, or the equivalent of a
125-million-ton reduction in carbon dioxide.
It said that the energy and industrial sectors produced the largest
share -- up to 60 percent -- of total emissions in Indonesia.
Fossil and coal-based fuels are believed to be the main causes of
greenhouse gas emissions that lead to global climate change.
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