REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The National Energy Council (DEN) said the government must be prepared to change the paradigm of energy use from being exported to being maintained to boost national development.
The shift in the paradigm of energy use is an important clause in the national energy policy of 2014-2050, DEN member Rinaldy Dalimi said here on Friday.
He said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will sign the energy policy into a government regulation, after the government received a seal of approval from the House of Representatives (DPR) in January this year.
"That is the logical consequence. In the state budget, the proportion of energy is large because we put energy as an export item. This must not happen again in the future. Energy must become a development asset," he said.
He said the new government, which will lead the country from 2014 to 2019, should find an alternative to energy exports to maintain revenue in the state budget.
Coal is currently one of the country's main export commodities. Rinaldy said the government must have the courage to lower or even stop coal exports, which currently accounts for 75 percent of the domestic production.
"Coal exports must gradually be reduced and then stopped," he added.
National coal production is projected to rise to 390-420 million tons in 2014.
Coal must be used optimally to boost the domestic industry. For instance, it can be used as a raw material to generate electrical power.
The shift in the paradigm of energy use is one of the five important points of the national energy policy.
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