Challenges of Implementing Ethanol-blended Fuel, Gas Stations Need to Prepare

KatadataOTO – Besides ethanol production, supporting infrastructure such as the material for underground tanks at Public Fuel Filling Stations (SPBU) deserves attention before the implementation of E10 in Indonesia.

It should be noted that gasoline mixed with ethanol has a small amount of water content.

If it sits in the tank for too long, there have been concerns that the ethanol content could settle at the bottom and separate from the gasoline.

“Because water vapor from the air is absorbed. The water content increases and then separates, with ethanol at the bottom and gasoline on top,” said Ronny Purwadi, an academic from the Faculty of Industrial Technology at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Jakarta, on Monday (20/10).

Photo : Antara

In car engines, he said, there isn't much concern because when the car is moving, the ethanol and gasoline content can mix perfectly again.

This is not the case for SPBU storage tanks. Therefore, further adjustments are needed before the 10 percent ethanol blend fuel can be implemented optimally.

“This needs to be resolved technically,” Ronny emphasized.

The material of SPBU underground tanks must be confirmed to meet the requirements for storing a 10 percent ethanol-gasoline blend, also known as E10.

If not, the tank could suffer damage such as rust due to the water content in E10.

The same applies to gasoline tanks in cars. Ronny emphasized that E10 fuel is safe to use if the tank and engine specifications are already compatible with ethanol.

“Again, what is the car's (tank) made of? If the car is well-prepared, I don't think there's a need to fear (rust),” said Ronny.

Seeing the massive preparations for E10, Ronny believes its implementation cannot be done on a large scale in the near future.

“If we rely on the current (domestic) bioethanol industry, it's not ready yet. And if we start building a bioethanol plant today, I'm not sure it would be finished in a year,” Ronny asserted.

It should be noted that the ethanol production process can actually utilize domestic resources such as agricultural waste. 

Photo : Pertamina

However, there needs to be a structured regulation to avoid a conflict of interest in the use of agricultural products, as both food and an energy source.

The government needs to ensure the readiness of SPBUs that will implement E10 and cooperate with domestic vehicle manufacturers.

This is to ensure that vehicles circulating in the country are safe to use E10 fuel.