The Making of Environmentally Friendly Bioavtur - Magz TEMPO
The development of bioavtur in Banyuasin is facing raw material supply constraints. Smallholder coconut plantations need to be intensified.
ALTHOUGH aviation fuel accounts for only 1 percent of national emissions, it still needs to be touched by environmentally friendly innovation. Therefore, the construction of a coconut oil plant for bioavtur feedstock in Tanjung Api-api, South Sumatra, could help mitigate the climate crisis. Green Power Palembang and Green Power Development Corporation of Japan are investing Rp310 billion to process coconuts into green aviation fuel feedstock.
Construction of the plant began in early January 2026 in Banyuasin. The plant has a capacity to process 30,000 tons of coconuts into crude oil annually, or 100 tons per day, which will be shipped to Japan for processing into bioavtur. With a bioavtur processing yield of 0.75 to 0.83 and a density of 0.75 kilograms per liter, the plant will provide feedstock for 30 to 34 million liters of bioavtur a year. This volume is roughly 0.7 percent of national aviation fuel demand.
As a pioneer, the initiative is important particularly because its technology uses non-standard coconuts, namely coconuts that do not meet export and consumption market specifications. Indonesia has enormous potential for this. Last year, according to data received by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Indonesia produced 15 billion coconuts, 60 percent of which were processed by domestic industries, 27 percent exported, and the rest consumed by households.
This is where the problem lies. Supplies of non-standard coconuts—old, small, or damaged—are not yet sufficient to meet the needs of the Banyuasin plant. Producing 100 tons of crude coconut oil requires 500 to 600 tons of rejected coconuts a day, or up to 219,000 tons of coconuts a year. South Sumatra’s annual coconut production is only 68,000 tons. This means coconuts need to be supplied from other regions, driving up distribution costs.
The business scheme has certainly been factored into the management’s calculations. But the second problem is no less complicated: smallholder coconut trees in many regions are generally 30 to 40 years old, so their productivity has declined. Here, innovation can become a driver of the circular economy. Local governments around South Sumatra need to encourage coconut replanting to create a supply chain for the plant. In other words, intensifying smallholder coconut plantations offers a way out for green innovation that takes shape from upstream to downstream.
There are many examples of strategic partnerships between investors and communities to meet raw material needs. In Tanah Laut and Hulu Sungai Tengah, South Kalimantan, for example, there is an example of how Bridgestone, a Japanese tire company, established a rubber processing facility in Kalimantan in partnership with local communities as suppliers of rubber and latex. Through assistance involving experts from local universities, the seven-year partnership has improved the quality and sustainability of rubber production.
This community empowerment-based partnership has also helped restore protected forests degraded by encroachment. Communities have formed social forestry groups and developed rubber agroforestry systems that provide diverse economic benefits. Rubber is supplied to Bridgestone’s processing facility, while candlenuts and fruit provide additional household income.
If the coconut oil plant in Banyuasin were to adopt the concept used in Kalimantan, it could build a sustainable bioavtur feedstock supply chain. Green innovation would then be supported by a supply chain that meets sustainability requirements from the social aspect.
