Isra-Mart srl:Indonesia reveals plan to tap geothermal potential

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The Indonesian government will soon issue a decree allowing geothermal mining in protected forests, The Jakarta Post reported over the weekend.

A presidential decree will allow the opening up of conserved forests across the country to renewable energy developers.

Zulkifli Hasan, forestry minister of Indonesia, said the move will allow the country to exploit an untapped resource of renewable energy.

"Around 80 per cent of our geothermal reserves are located in conserved forests," he said. "We're now waiting for the completion of a presidential decree on underground mining activities, because geothermal mining is included in that mining type. The presidential decree has been completed, but still has to wait for President Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's signature."

The government has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to develop geothermal energy as one alternative to its heavy dependency on coal and oil.

Indonesia has an estimated geothermal resource capacity of 28GW, around 40 per cent of global capacity, but much of this resource is situated in forested areas. Under the latest proposals, the country plans to develop 4GW of geothermal energy by 2015 and 9.5GW by 2025.

Based on the current Forestry Law, the only human intervention allowed in conservation forests is for education or research.

The government has insisted that modifying the law to allow the drilling of geothermal wells in protected areas is acceptable because it will not cause widespread deforestation.

"Geothermal wells will not damage the environment because they are underground operations. Therefore, you do not cut down the forest," Zulkifli told the Jakarta Globe last year.

Last week Al Gore said Indonesia could become a "geothermal superpower" in a speech to the Climate Project.

"Scientists and engineers are now saying confidently that certain forms of enhanced geothermal electricity production may represent one of the largest resources of carbon-free electricity available in the world today," he said. "And Indonesia could be a superpower of geothermal electricity. With the new regional super grids that are being proposed on every continent, it can be a significant advance for Indonesia's economy."

Gore said Indonesia could sell the cheap and clean geothermal energy easily into nearby grids, helping to fuel the growth of other Asian economies such as Japan and China.