President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to issue a ruling allowing geothermal energy to be extracted in protected forests.
Most of Indonesia’s geothermal reserves are located in protected forests, especially in West Java, East Java, Sumatra and West Nusa Tenggara, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said.
“We’re going to discuss this right now. Currently, [exploiting geothermal energy in protected forests] is not allowed, although the law and government regulations have allowed it because we haven’t had a presidential decree on the issue,” Zulkifli said on Thursday before a Cabinet meeting.
The creation of geothermal energy plants would not destroy protected forests as they normally require only a very small portion of land, Zulkifli added.
“A geothermal [plant] needs a small area for drilling, between 10 and 20 hectares. Once the presidential regulation is issued, we can then process the licenses. We need large amounts of environmentally friendly energy.”
Geothermal energy is available in large amounts in Indonesia due to its many volcanoes.
