Indonesia – climate and energy statistics

IndonesiaTotal national greenhouse gas emissions as a percentage of global total, 2004 figures

2%

However, this measures only direct emissions from the production and use of energy, not land use change. Taking account of deforestation and destruction of peat bogs:

Indonesia trails only the United States and China in greenhouse gas emissions, reports a study released … by the World Bank and the British government.

“Indonesia’s rank is primarily due to its high deforestation rate — about 85 percent (2,563 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent [MtCO2e]) of its emissions (3,014 MtCO2e) result from fires and forest clearing. Emissions from energy, agriculture and waste amount to only 451 MtCO2e.

The report echoes findings published last year by Wetlands International and Delft Hydraulics. That study, titled Peatland degradation fuels climate change, found that emissions from the destruction of Indonesia’s extensive peat bogs alone releases 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year — about ten percent of world greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. Each year hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatlands are drained and cleared for oil palm and timber plantations. Generally, developers dig a canal to drain the land, extract valuable timber, then clear the vegetation using fire. In dry years these fires can burn for months, contributing to the “haze” that plagues southeast Asian on a regular basis. Fires in peatlands are especially persistent, since they can continue to smolder underground for years even after surface fires on extinguished by monsoon rains.

(See Mongabay.com: Indonesia is 3rd largest greenhouse gas producer due to deforestation.)

Historical contribution – 1850 to 2000

< 1%

Change in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990

Exact figures are unavailable, as Indonesia does not have a target under Kyoto and because most greenhouse emissions are from deforestation and drying out of peat bogs, which are difficult to measure. However, it is clear that:

they are rapidly rising. They are now two and a half times larger than in 1990, and over that period have grown at a slightly faster rate than those of China… Indonesia’s emissions have risen faster than GDP growth, in contrast to most other countries. Over recent years, there has been a marked shift in Indonesia’s energy mix toward high-emissions sources. Most of the increased energy demand is met using coal, the most greenhouse gas intensive fuel, and oil products for transport. By contrast, use of gas (which has relatively low emissions) has stagnated since the financial crisis, and growth in renewable energies such as geothermal has been slow

(See Inside Indonesia: Bali’s climate conference.)

2000 per capita annual greenhouse gas emissions

14.9 tonnes, if land use change (deforestation) is included. Without land use change, the figure in 2000 was 2.4 tonnes. This had increased to 2.7 tonnes by 2005.

Energy used per unit of GDP (compared to USA)

112.4%

Balance of energy sources, 2008

  %
Renewables* 34
Oil 31
Coal 18.75
Gas 16
Hydro 0.5

* Most of this is use of wood and plants for fuel by households.

Energy security

Indonesia has the twelfth largest gas reserves in the world and is a significant gas exporter. It is more profitable for Indonesia to use gas for power generation and to export its gas that to sell domestically (see Inside Indonesia: Bali’s climate conference).

It has the fifteenth largest coal reserves, and is a significant coal exporter, though the government has set a cap on exports to keep more for Indonesian use (see AseanAffairs: INDONESIA Coal export to be limited in 2009).

It has no significant oil reserves and imports 500,000 barrels of oil a day.

Electricity generated in 2008

  %
Coal 41
Oil 28.75
Gas 17
Hydro 7.75
Geothermal 5.5

Electricity – supply and demand

Indonesia has been experiencing a power crisis since 2004. The massive power blackout on August 18, 2005 was evidence of the lack of infrastructure in the power sector and state- owned electricity company PT PLN’s poor peak load management, inadequate maintenance system, and overloaded transmission and distribution lines. With an average growth rate of 8.3% per year, the electricity demand will increase from 97.9 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2004 to 145.7 TWh in 2009. The electrification ratio is expected increase to reach 67.9% and new customers will increase by 10 million in the next five years. The government has projected that the financial requirement for power development during 2004-2013 is US$ 31.4 billion.

(See Electric Power Section in Indonesia by Anasia Silviati and CS Jakarta.)

Percentage of agriculture certified as organic

0.12% (though the amount that is, as a matter of fact, organic will be considerably higher).

Cars per thousand of population

21

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