Energy & CivilizationStudent Project Showcase: Fall 2023

Fall 2023

Fall 2023

Group Members

Archita Ray, Roland Chavez, Ingrid Wozniak, Rushil Jha

Problem Identification Video

Project Report

Executive Summary

This whitepaper addresses this main question: Should Indonesia pursue solar as a source of renewable energy to meet its ambitious goals of making the power-generation sector emissions-free by 2050 and cutting emissions by 31.8% by 2030? For sake of simplicity, all monetary amounts will be denominated in United States dollars (USD) and energy will be in units of kilo-watt hours (kWh). This paper will use academic sources from journals, the UC Berkeley academic database, and reputable think tanks.

In the 17th Annual Group of Twenty, or G20, Summit hosted in Bali Indonesia last October, the world’s most powerful nations came together under the theme “Recover Together, Recover Stronger.” (The White House, 2020) At the summit, Indonesia pledged to ensure emissions from the country’s power sector start to fall by 2030, and shared the ambitious goal of making the “entire power generation sector emissions-free by 2050.” (IEA, 2022) In return, Indonesia secured a pledge of $20 billion USD to finance its energy transition under the “Just Energy Transition Partnership” (JETP) – with countries such as the USA, Japan, Norway, Denmark, and the UK as key contributors. (United Nations Development Programme, n.d.) Additional components of the agreement include cutting emissions to 250 million metric tons for its on-grid power sector in 2030, increasing the share of renewable energy generation to 31.8% by 2030, and shutting down 1.7 GW of coal power capacity.

In light of this, our whitepaper directs its attention toward examining which renewable energy sources Indonesia should use to meet their ambitious goals, within the unique geographic, demographic, and economic context of the country.

In this white paper, we will evaluate, using scholarly sources, whether solar energy aligns optimally with Indonesia's ambitious objectives—considering alternative options such as nuclear power, carbon capture, and geothermal energy——while also acknowledging that fossil fuels such as coal briskets and petroleum are currently Indonesia’s largest export (OEC, 2021).

Final Paper: Balancing the Energy Equation: An Assessment of Solar, Carbon Capture, and Nuclear for Indonesia's Sustainable Future