AUSTRALIA–INDONESIA JOINT SYMPOSIUM IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Jakarta, 13-17 September 2006

Energy technology for rural development: R&D activities
Dr M A M Oktaufik, Director of R&D Centre for Energy Technology, B2TE-BPPT

Useful energy supply to support rural development always receives great attention in the agenda of the Energy R&D institutions of the Indonesian government, since most of the commercial energy tend to be less available in this area. On the other hand, many “alternative” sources of energy, eg, renewables and coal (LRC), are abundantly available in the rural area, but most commercially not attractive. Therefore, the availability of such an appropriate energy technologies, based on the consideration of the local condition of resources and productive activities, is the main objective in many efforts of the related R&D activities.

This paper reviews some of the R&D activities, which related to renewable energy sources, eg, solar (PV and Thermal), Biomass, etc., and also non-renewables, eg, Low Rank Coal (Coal Briquette) for rural applications. In addition, this paper also discusses the conceptual approaches and lessons learned from those activities.

Dr Oktaufik received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, UK 1994. He joint BPPT as a researcher in Energy Conversion and Conservation since 1986, after graduating from the Engineering Physics Department of Sepuluh-Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) in Surabaya. He is now holds a position as the Head of Energy Technology Center (B2TE) of BPPT in Puspiptek since 2006. Previously, he was the Head of Thermal-Mechanical Energy Conversion Technology Research Group and then as the Head of Energy Efficiency Division of the Center. His interests include Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technologies, eg, Process Integration, Solar Thermal Engineering, Heating and Cooling Technologies, Energy Management, etc. Currently, he is also active as a Director for R&D and Education Division of the Indonesian Renewable Energy Society (IRES), and Co-Chair of the Energy Efficiency Society Communication Forum. He is also as an expert member of the Energy Task Force at the Ministry of Research and Technology.