Cutting Carbon, Growing Savings: How UNIDO is Helping Indonesia’s Fertilizer Industry Slash Emissions

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is joining forces with the Indonesian Government and the fertilizer industry to lower the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions and help Indonesia meet its climate commitments.

The cooperation, which is part of a joint United Nations programme, is in its pilot phase, but UNIDO’s technical assistance to the fertilizer industry has already led to reductions in greenhouse gases. Four companies involved in the pilot phase of the project have already avoided a total emission of 328,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year compared to the 2018 baseline. As this technology gains wider adoption, the impact is set to grow significantly, potentially saving the industry around US$ 47 million through more resource-efficient production.

PT Pupuk Sriwijaya (PUSRI) in Palembang, South Sumatra, is one of the pioneers in the implementation of the programme. Here is how they have lowered their emissions while at the same time decreasing production costs.

In the midst of a spacious, sun-drenched industrial complex, a majestic scene unfolds – a towering structure adorned with intricate steaming machinery. Behold PUSRI’s patented 2B urea plant, designed to fight climate change by curbing greenhouse gas emissions. 

“PUSRI is fully committed to clean energy and innovation, but our progress had previously been hindered by lack of a clear guidance,” said Alfa Widyawan, Senior Vice President of Technology. “Thanks to a UN study, we can now get a glimpse of what PUSRI’s progress actually has been so far and how to improve further.”

Towards resource efficiency

That research, developed by the United Nations Partnership for Action on Green Economy (UN-PAGE) through UNIDO in close collaboration with the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas) and the Indonesian Cleaner Production Centre (ICPC), is the Resource-Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) study. RECP is an integrated approach to enhance transparency in material and energy flows, leading to increased resource productivity, waste minimization, improved chemical management, optimized water use, and enhanced energy efficiency.

Putting into use RECP practices in its urea plant, PUSRI has saved an average of 4,181 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year compared to its 2018 baseline. This is equivalent to the annual emission of 844 vehicles. The company has also reduced water consumption from 13.5 m3/tonnes of urea produced to just 3.6 m3/tonnes, significantly below the green industry standard ceiling of 5.5 m3/tonnes of urea – leading to lower input costs.

The benchmarking study used by PUSRI to launch these improvements was based on UNIDO’s 2019 Green Industry and Trade Assessment (GITA) report to strengthen the implementation of low-carbon development initiatives in Indonesia. It measures the country's industrial environmental performance in terms of air and water pollution, industrial waste, resource efficiency in the form of energy, water and material efficiency, as well as clean technology application in industrial production. PUSRI is actively pursuing low-carbon development by following the Indonesian Ministry of Industry's Green Industry Standard, and through the implementation of RECP practices.

Industry accounts for around 14% of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions, and the government set an ambitious target for the industrial sector to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Globally, fertilizers are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions: manure and synthetic fertilizers emit the equivalent of 2.6 gigatonnes of carbon per year – more than global aviation and shipping combined.

Towards Blue and Green Ammonia

PT Pupuk Indonesia, the parent company of PT Pupuk Sriwidjaja, is preparing to convert to blue ammonia and green ammonia production and further reduce greenhouse gas emissions as set out in its Blue and Green Ammonia 2030 Roadmap.

Whether it can achieve it will partly depend on whether the company can access hundreds of megawatts of renewable energy to power its plants. The source and supply of renewable energy is still a challenge, Mr Widyawan said.

UNIDO has assessed the environmental performance of the fertilizer industry in Indonesia, identifying resource efficiency opportunities, including through increased energy efficiency. “Following through with these recommendations industry-wide will help the country achieve its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to reduce GHG emissions of the fertilizer industry by 3.95 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030,” said Marco Kamiya, UNIDO’s Representative for Indonesia and Timor Leste.

To achieve this requires wide cooperation among stakeholders, he added: “Effective collaboration among corporations, government entities, and financial institutions is essential to establish sustainable funding avenues, ultimately expediting the adoption of resource-efficient and cleaner production techniques.”

PAGE brings together the expertise and experience of five UN agencies to support Indonesia in green development. This partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNIDO and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

This article is first published at UNIDO's website on Cutting carbon, growing savings: How UNIDO helping Indonesia's fertilizer industry --  https://www.unido.org/news/cutting-carbon-growing-savings-how-unido-hel…