PT Pertamina (Persero) officially produces bioavtur made from a mixture of used cooking oil (UCO) or used cooking oil. Pertamina's Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) product innovation aims to accelerate the clean energy transition and reduce emissions.
PT Kilang Pertamina International (KPI) produces SAF by applying high standards. The first shipment of Pertamina SAF was carried out on (12/8) after going through a series of quality tests at the KPI Laboratory Cilacap Unit and Lemigas.
Pertamina President Commissioner Mochamad Iriawan said that SAF is one of the green energy products, as well as a solution to the problem of used cooking oil waste.
"Pertamina has successfully processed used cooking oil into environmentally friendly energy raw materials. This is clear evidence that the work of the nation's children is extraordinary," he said on the sidelines of SAF's first lifting activity at the Pertamina Cilacap Refinery (12/8).
The production process is carried out with the Merah Putih Catalyst which is the result of Pertamina's formulation with ITB. This SAF product is claimed to have met ASTM D1655 and Defstan 91-091 international standards, making Pertamina SAF the first officially certified product in Southeast Asia.
Pertamina has also successfully initiated and explored the entire certified SAF ecosystem.
Meanwhile, President Director of PT KPI Taufik Aditiyawarman said that the fossil oil content in the form of SAF products is around 97%, the SAF production capacity at the Cilacap Refinery reaches around 1,200 kiloliters per day with a mixture of 3% used cooking oil.
"So the need for used cooking oil while around 40 kiloliters per day can produce Pertamina SAF approximately 1,200 kiloliters," he said.
The collection of used cooking oil is done by two methods. Namely, retail through public refueling stations (SPBU) and wholesale through collecting associations.
The best quality of Indonesian cooking oil
Matias Tumanggor, chairman of the Association of Used Cooking Crumbs Collectors for New and Renewable Energy Indonesia (APJETI), said that Indonesia's used cooking oil potential is quite large and has the best quality in the world.
He appreciates the government for utilizing the potential of used cooking oil as bioavtur and including environmentally friendly products.
"At present, the use of used cooking oil is mostly for candle raw materials. Now it has been used for bioavtur and there has been progress," he told SUAR (14/8/2025).
However, the domestic utilization of used cooking oil is still faced with challenges, namely illegal business actors.
To overcome this, his office is preparing a strategy to produce educated business actors.
SAF opportunity is high
Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) economic observer Fadhil Hasan said the opportunities for SAF development include high domestic and international demand, potential and alternative domestic raw materials available, as well as government and global policy support for the use of SAF as a low-carbon fuel.
Therefore, he expects the next step. Namely, developing a bioavtur roadmap for commercial aviation and encouraging bioavtur production on an industrial scale at an affordable economic price.
"As an effort to transition energy towards Net Zero Emission (NZE), the use of bioavtur must be appreciated. This is a very encouraging progress. Consumers also don't need to worry, because bioavtur standards are the same as conventional avtur, both with international standards," he said.
