Indonesia

Last edited: 6 August 2019

Over 30,000 parabolic solar cookers distributed in Indonesia with CDM funding to reduce kerosene consumption - Jakarta, Indonesia officials plan (2007) to reduce kerosene consumption by distributing 30,000 parabolic solar cookers as part of a Clean Development Mechanism project, according to a recent Jakarta Post article. The pilot phase of the project will take place in Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) regency, where sunshine is plentiful. “Jakarta consumes about 2.7 million liters of kerosene a day. A family using one liter of kerosene per day emits two tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year.” Kerosene is available to consumers at a state-subsidized price of Rp. 2,000 per liter (about $0.22). “The solar cookers will be provided for free by German company EnerXi GMbh to support the city’s attempts to take part in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project.” Solar Cookers Sent to Islands to Cut Kerosene - The Jakarta Post

See other significant solar cooking projects worldwide.

Events[]

Featured international events[]

NEW: 11-22 November 2024 (Baku, Azerbaijan ): COP29 - The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP29, will be the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference to be held at Baku Stadium. More information...

12-14 March 2025 (Bridgetown, Barbados): Sustainable Energy for All Global Forum - Building on Prime Minister Mottley’s Bridgetown Initiative for the reform of development finance, the Forum will address the challenge of how we can mobilize sufficient finance on the right terms to meet global goals, especially for the most underserved communities, countries and regions – such as Small Island Developing States. The event wil be co-hosted by Sustainable Energy for All and the Government of Barbados, led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley. Project site visits will take place Friday, 14 March. More information...

Requests for proposal[]

The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 15th December 2024 - Advances in Solar Thermal Food Processing (CONSOLFOOD2025) is being planned for the 5th, 6th and 7th of May, 2025 in Marseille, France. The gathering expects to attract, once again, top experts from all over the world to present and discuss topics related to advances in solar food processing and solar cooking. An exhibition of solar cookers will be available for viewing during the conference at the nearby the solar restaurant Le Présage. The solar restaurant, along with the demonstration cookers, will produce a solar lunch. The whole conference program will be delivered in hybrid format, so those who register, but are not present at Marseille, will be able to participate online. Your abstracts should be sent via email to Celestino Ruivo at cruivo@ualg.pt in .doc, .docx, or pdf format. You should limit your abstract to 400 words, and follow these guidelines. All abstracts will be reviewed and assessed by members of the scientific committee. The organizing committee will inform each author whether their submitted abstract has been accepted. The committee encourages all authors to write an optional full length paper for inclusion in our conference proceedings. Successful authors should pre-record their presentations, using Powerpoint, or similar software. They will be invited to submit either a) a short presentation, of about 7 minutes duration, or b) a longer presentation, of about 25 minutes to cruivo@ualg.pt by 30th March 2025. The expected conference fee is 200 euros before 1st April 2025. Interested people facing financial difficulties should contact the organizing committee.

See also: Global Calendar of Events and past events in Indonesia

News[]

March 2018: WINTREX Award recipient - Dr. Ajay Chandak and Promoters, Researchers and Innovators in New and Clean Energy have received the Gold Prize for their innovation of the Solar Paraboloid Concentrator at the World Invention and Technology (WINTREX) in Indonesia. Dr. Chandak reports this is the same design approach they use for their production solar cookers and industrial concentrators.The team was represented by Mr. Raman from the Indian Innovators Association.
August 2014: - Herliyani Suharta and A.M. Sayigh have published a comprehensive report detailing solar cooking efforts in Indonesia: Reducing Biomass and Kerosene Used For Cooking in Indonesia, in supporting the global efforts to reduce CO2 Emission

April 2008: The Indonesian government will remove subsidies on kerosene on April 1st 2008 as the second step in its kerosene to LPG conversion program. The time may be ripe for promoting solar cooking in Indonesia.

November 2007: Jakarta officials plan to reduce kerosene consumption by distributing 30,000 parabolic solar cookers as part of a Clean Development Mechanism project, according to a recent Jakarta Post article by Adianto P. Simamora. The pilot phase of the project will take place in Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) regency, where sunshine is plentiful. As reported in the article, “Jakarta consumes about 2.7 million liters of kerosene a day. A family using one liter of kerosene per day emits two tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year.” Kerosene is available to consumers at a state-subsidized price of Rp. 2,000 per liter (about $0.22). “The solar cookers will be provided for free by German company EnerXi GMbh to support the city’s attempts to take part in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project,” writes Simamora. Through CDM projects, developing countries can earn Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) based on the resulting amount of CO2 reduction. (One CER is equivalent to one ton of CO2.) To help meet Kyoto Protocol targets, developed countries can then purchase CERs from developing countries. According to the article, the price of one CER is between $5-10. This project is included among Most significant solar cooking projects.

May 2007: Thirty thousand solar cookers to be sent to Indonesia to cut kerosene use in European CDM project - The Jakarta Post
December 2006: Alcan is providing innovative solar cookers and pans to 1,000 rural Indonesian families in the country's Banda Aceh region as part of a â‚¬450,000 contribution with Klimaschutz e.V. to a "Clean Development Mechanism" (CDM) project aimed at preserving the environment. The parabolic solar cooker harnesses renewable solar energy, to boil water, killing bacteria and cooking food. It is intended to reduce developing regions' dependence on traditional sources of energy, such as firewood and fossil fuels. "As part of Alcan's commitment to sustainability, the Company is proud to participate in a project that will preserve the environment for future generations, through an innovative product like the solar cooker," said Peter Hutsch, Managing Director, Alcan Singen GmbH, location of the rolling mill at which Alcan manufactures the solar cooker's critical reflector component. "By substituting traditional sources of energy like firewood and fossil fuels with the solar cooker, we estimate that this project will annually save 3,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions. Alcan benefits from the CDM project in the form of CO2 credits, so-called Certified Emission Reductions, within the emission trading system", he added. Klimaschutz e.V. is serving as a partner for the local co-ordination of the so-called "Solar Cooker Project Aceh 1, Indonesia" project, in addition to constructing the solar cookers in Aceh and monitoring their use over the next seven years. The project is the first German CDM-project registered by the United Nations climate office. The CDM project is defined in Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol, which serves to protect the global climate in a sustainable manner and to promote the transfer of climate-saving techniques from industrial nations to developing countries. "This project once again demonstrates how Alcan's innovative aluminum solutions are well positioned to tackle both environmental and economic challenges," said Christophe Villemin, President, Alcan Specialty Sheet. "The solar cooker's reflector is constructed from Alcan's high-gloss rolled aluminum specialty sheet, Solar SurfaceTM 992, and has a transparent ceramic coating that protects against the weather, corrosion and mechanical damage." Currently, approximately 20,000 cookers are in use around the world and have been used effectively to provide clean water to victims of the 2005 tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia. It has been estimated, that up to 220 million solar cookers will be needed to reduce the dependence on traditional sources of fuel in developing countries. This number of solar cookers could also save approximately 700 - 800 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

History[]

Herliyani Suharta

The principal promoter of solar cooking in Indonesia, has been a scientist named Herliyani Suharta, associated with the Technical Implementation Unit Energy Technology Laoratory, BPP Technology. Thurough accounts of her activities with solar cooking are provided in papers, which Suharta has written in collaboration with colleagues.

History of solar cooking in Indonesia (1995-2004) - Suharta — The History of Solar Cooking in Indonesia 1995-2004. Source: Herliyani Suharta

Indonesian Sun Cooking Project

The articles describe the Indonesian Sun Cooking Project, sponsored by Earthwatch in the mid-1990s, in which almost 1,000 local participants were trained in a new technology with the use of over a 100 international volunteers from 11 countries. The local participants have in turn become mentors for others in their own communities. An additional 440 cookers were constructed and cooks trained at the time the article was written. A careful analysis of obstacles and constraints was completed as well, and modifications were made to the project to overcome them. While not entirely clear in the article, it appears that workshop participants were initially taught to make box cookers, which are fairly complex to build. The sheer difficulty of construction created a problem for the program. The government was not very interested in the project and provided no support. Shortages of wood for cooking were not present, so immediate need was not a large factor.

In response to the analysis, a variety of courses were followed. A detailed analysis of fuel usage and its cost was completed, in order to illustrate the potential savings possible by the use of solar cooking, which turned out to be considerable.

At the policy level, an analysis of carbon emissions that could be curtailed was also made. Some attempts were made to utilize the information for more effective dissemination strategies, which included community education programs on the energy saving topic and its application at the household level. Another, was the creation of a "home based worker" mode of delivering the product and training; the solar oven would be available through micro businesses in "kit" form, then assembled and sold by the potential saleswoman. Micro-financing of solar oven purchasing was also suggested.

The same group also did technical work in Indonesia, assessing climatic circumstances carefully and exploring design issues towards enhanced efficiency and lower consumer cost. The Indonesian solar cooking promoter group has remained active and committed to this effort. Other groups have worked in Indonesia, but less information is available.

Main article: History of solar cooking

Archived articles

Climate and culture[]

In April 2008 the Indonesian government announced the reduction of fuel subsidies and as a result the cost of cooking fuel has risen to double what it was 2 years ago and seems to be headed higher still. As of June, 2008: Kerosene, used for cooking, is up from 700 rupiah per litre to 2,000 rupiah, an increase of 186 per cent.