New gas stations must sell biodiesel: Pertamina

State oil and gas company PT Pertamina has made it compulsory for the owners of new public gas stations to sell biodiesel and aked the owners of old gas stations to provide the same type of fuel, Koran Tempo reported on Monday.

?One of the conditions to open a new gas station is to sell biodiesel,? Pertamina?s spokesman Toharso said in Jakarta on Monday.

Biodiesel is a mixture of diesel oil and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) with the latter now making up 5 percent of the content. Pertamina will later increase the FAME content in the fuel to 10 percent, according to Toharso. FAME is derived from farm products, including palm oil, through transesterification process.

The main problem in marketing biodiesel, according to Toharso, is that there is now only one producer of FAME in the country, that is PT Eterindo Wahanatama in Gresik, East Java.

?We hope, there will be other producers. That?s why, we will open gas stations that sell biodiesel in a phased manner,? he said.

Pertamina is targeting to supply biodiesel to meet 50 percent of the transportation sector?s fuel requirement. Toharso said a present at least 34 gas stations in South and Central Jakarta are selling biodiesel. (*)