As part of its Agriculture and Food Security Capacity Building (Agri-CaB) Programme, SESRIC organised a Webinar on “Prospect for Bioenergy Production from Sugar Palms” on 26 February 2025, with the facilitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.

The webinar brought together 45 experts and executives from relevant ministries and national institutions across 25 OIC countries. It featured distinguished speakers from various national institutions of Indonesia, namely the Center for Sustainable Forest Development of Ministry of Forestry, the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), the Department of Agriculture of Banten Province, the University of Indonesia (UI), and Universitas Negeri Gorontalo (UNG).

During the webinar, participants gained insights into the following topics:

• Forestry Modalities in Bioethanol Development to Support Energy Security by Mr. Gun Gun HIDAYAT, Ph.D, Director of Center for Sustainable Forest Development, Ministry of Forestry / Indonesia.
• Green Ethanol and Utilisation of Processing Waste from Sugar Palms as Energy by Dr. Saptadi, Researcher, Research Centre for Biomass & Bioproducts, Research Organization for Life Sciences & Environment, Indonesia National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).
• Value-Added Chemicals Production from Agricultural Waste by Prof. Misri GOZAN, Head of Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering at University of Indonesia (UI).
• Empowering Local Forest Communities Through Biofuel Production Using Palm Sap Distillation Technique: An Insight from Boalemo, Gorontalo by Dr. Zulham SIRAJUDDIN, Head of Agribusiness Department, Universitas Negeri Gorontalo (UNG), Indonesia.
• Development of Palm Sugar (Aren) Commodities in Supporting Food Security and Enhancing Added Value Products by Mr. Buhori, Export Farmer, Department of Agriculture of Banten Province, Indonesia.

The webinar aimed to highlight the future prospect of bioenergy resources with emphasis on the introduction of sugar palm bioethanol as biofuel product for sustainable development. This may also serve as an outlet for potential cross-country technological transfer on the breakthroughs of research and development attained, discussing challenges and opportunities of the sector for the OIC countries.

The webinar presentations are available here.

For more information about SESRIC’s Capacity Building Programmes, please visit: https://www.sesric.org/tcd-cab.php.

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