Higher Education Role in Supporting Indonesian Government Policy in Developing Renewable Energy

Indonesia is a country blessed with natural resources potential to be utilized as the renewable energy. Actions should be taken to improve renewable energy based power generation due to the diminishing of conventional fossil fuel and its significant effects on global warming and environmental destruction. Indonesia needs a particular strategy to be able to reach the target of renewable energy utilization by 2025 and 2050. In term of energy consumption, Indonesia is one of the fastest growing countries due to its robust economic development, increasing urbanization and steady population growth. Indonesia uses 40% of the total energy in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member. Between 2000 and 2014, energy consumption in Indonesia increased by around 65% and is predicted to reach 80% in 2030. This high demand for energy can be fulfilled if all the sectors in Indonesia are hand in hand reaching the targeted goal of renewable energy share. Politeknik Negeri Sriwijaya as a higher education institution should play an active role in supporting government policy in developing renewable energy. This paper discusses POLSRI roles in supporting this policy to develop renewable energy in Palembang and South Sumatra. The literature data is collected from various sources discussing the energy policies of renewable energy. The objectives of this study are to provide the renewable energy development strategies in Indonesia, especially to achieve the target of 23% renewable energy mix in 2025 and 31% in 2050 from the final energy mix following the national energy policy (Government Regulation No.79 of 2014) primarily from the power generation sector. (paper)