"The Act of Energy Democracy in Indonesia"

Indonesia, the archipelago country, is surrounded by various biodiversity. It's located in the array of active volcanos which they called the "Ring of Fire". It has a huge potential in energy resources and distribution throughout the country. The climate, geographical situation and abundant natural resources play an enormous role in energy development. For instance, geothermal, hydro, solar, wind and biomass power.

Despite its great potential for renewable energy, fossil fuel is still the majority type of energy use.  Indonesia keeps a jewel beneath its surfaces. It can produce about 1.6 million barrels per day, which is an enormous amount and a lot of multi-national company has done exploration both onshore and offshore. 

Indonesia has been taking action on fossil fuel subsidies in recent years. Spending on fossil fuel subsidies in 2016 is projected to amount to less than 1% of GDP, versus more than 3% in 2014. Fossil fuel is mostly used for transportation and massive industries. Which can cause a great amount of pollution? Renewable energy development would be tough for Indonesia. Besides the lack of government support, citizens are already comfortable with fossil fuel energy. Many vehicles are designed with a fossil fuel energy engine. The country has a high dependency towards fossil fuel.

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Fossil fuel has always been the main energy support in Indonesia, however, it can cause many problems. The major problem with the use of fossil fuel is pollution. It has been proved that since the industrialization era in 1997 Indonesia's carbon emission kept on increasing. On 2013, it's recorded to emit 1.90 metric ton. Seeing these disadvantages makes the government sought for alternatives solution.

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Even fossil fuel still dominated the energy development, renewable energy investment is rapidly growing. From the data of the national ministry of energy, it indicates that renewable energy will grow up to 30% in 2020. The total investment of renewable energy can reach up to 11.74 trillion Rupiah. The governmental and private company are competing for renewable energy business because it can bring a lot of profit as well. Not just the company, people's support of renewable energy rises as the media and education spread such information. Indonesia main focus on renewable energy sources is hydropower, biomass and geothermal.

The multinational company based on energy business play a big role in energy support. PT. Pertamina, one of the biggest national energy company, has installed hundreds of renewable energies power plant. They targeted to increase renewable energy productivity 23% in 2025.  Among others, the geothermal power plant in Kamojang, Sulawesi and many more. These geothermal power plant can reach 1808.5 Mega Watt. Their solar and hydroelectricity power plant have a capacity of 259.8 Mega Watt. Moreover, 1812 Mega Watt on bioenergy power plant. These clean and green improvement can power about 67000 families.

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Due to the high demand for energy development, human resources must be qualified as well. There's one university which main focus is energy, named Pertamina University. It is a specialized university in the energy sector and close relationship between industries. Starting from the first year, they are already introduced to make an innovation for renewable energy.

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Energy democracy is not just supported by big cooperation, but small-scale residents too. Indonesia energy distribution is still not well allocated throughout the country, which makes remote areas unable to access energy needs for efficiently. To power their houses, they often use kerosene lamp, fire or just hiding in the dark. Seeing this problem, a group of brave residents creates a new solution; renewable energy.

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A group of young people gathered around to think an idea for renewable energy in Ciheras. A man named Ricky Elson made the Lentera Angin Nusantara community to both apply and educate renewable energy. A village in the Bantul district of Yogyakarta made their own energy. It's located near the sea and the intensity of the sun is high. Therefore, they made a hybrid solar and wind power plant.  It can produce about 87 Kilo Watt per day and will be distributed to local families. The power plant is not just powering the houses, but also gives extra income for villagers. The village is made as a tourism area which can help their economic problem. Residents powered by renewable energy is actually a lot. For instance, Medowo Village in Kediri has been powered by bioenergy and hydroelectric. 

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The urge to gain renewable energy access has increased throughout the media, including the online social network. An online donation platform named "Kitabisa.com" have collected millions of rupiah for renewable energy investment. For example, making a free solar panel for remote places and investing in electric cars.  This proves that crowd-funding can be the solution for equal energy distribution.

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Beneath its wonder, lies a great potential of resources.