BRIN Tests Nickel–Tin Catalyst for Palm Biofuels; Lab Results Are Not Commercial SAF

Jakarta — Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has reported catalyst research aimed at turning vegetable oils into hydrocarbons, with potential routes to green diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Researcher Kiky Corneliasari Sembiring described palm-oil experiments and a nickel–tin catalyst at a webinar on 20 October 2026. BRIN published its account and ANTARA reported it on 23 October. Laboratory results do not mean commercial SAF production has begun.

BRIN identified triglycerides in vegetable oil as a starting material for several conversion pathways. Transesterification, hydroprocessing, pyrolysis and hydrolysis involve different steps and products. A percentage reported for one experiment should not therefore be interpreted as the yield of certified jet fuel from a complete production chain.

What the palm-oil tests showed

According to BRIN, hydrolysis breaks triglycerides into fatty acids and glycerol. Its palm-oil experiment ran for 20 minutes across a temperature range of 170 to 330 degrees Celsius. Fatty-acid recovery rose with temperature, approaching 90% at 300 degrees Celsius. That is a hydrolysis-stage result, not the proportion of finished aviation fuel obtained.

The research also examined a nickel–tin catalyst supported on activated carbon as an alternative to precious-metal catalysts. For how this compares with the catalysts used in commercial plants, such as sulfided NiMo and CoMo, see our explainer on HVO catalysts and vegetable oil hydrotreating. In a separate deoxygenation test using refined, bleached and deodorised palm oil (RBDPO), BRIN reported about 85% hydrocarbons and 15% fatty acids. The agency characterised this as evidence of the potential to convert vegetable oil into hydrocarbons. Its account did not provide specifications for finished fuel, industrial throughput or aviation certification.

ANTARA independently reported Kiky's explanation of the conversion methods and the hydrolysis test. BRIN's primary account included the additional deoxygenation result. The two percentages refer to different experiments: they cannot be added together or used to calculate plant output. The suggested lower cost of the alternative catalyst is a research objective described by the scientist, not a verified commercial production-cost comparison.

Used cooking oil and the emissions comparison

Kiky also discussed used cooking oil and other non-food feedstocks. In a comparison presented by BRIN, fuel from used cooking oil had an emissions intensity of around 18 grams of CO₂ equivalent per megajoule, against roughly 89 grams for fossil jet fuel. BRIN described a potential reduction of around 80% in the scenario cited. ANTARA carried the figures but noted that the result depends on feedstock, processing, energy requirements and emissions-accounting methods.

The comparison does not show that every litre of SAF made from palm oil or waste oil necessarily cuts emissions by 80%. The production pathway, origin of the feedstock, energy inputs and accounting boundary can change the outcome. The published account did not supply a complete lifecycle assessment for every supply chain or show that the tested product met aviation-fuel standards. The emissions claim must remain attached to its stated scenario rather than presented as a universal property of biojet fuel.

Research rather than new fuel capacity

The development is a technology finding, not an announcement of new operating fuel capacity. Different conversion routes may lead from vegetable oil to different products, and the catalyst tests do not establish marketable quantities of green diesel or SAF. Product quality, catalyst durability, feedstock supply and economics at a larger scale remain matters to demonstrate.

For Indonesia, the work broadens discussion beyond conventional biodiesel blending to hydrocarbons and waste-oil feedstocks. But BRIN's experimental percentages should be kept separate from the B50 mandate and national SAF plans. Regulatory targets and actual deliveries require evidence of their own.