Molasses Supply and Land Checks Challenge Indonesia's E50 Plan

Jakarta — Indonesia's ambition to raise the ethanol blend in petrol towards E50 is running into a feedstock and land constraint. Deputy Coordinating Minister for Food Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said on Friday, 6 November 2026, that sugarcane molasses already has domestic users, including agriculture and animal feed. The government plans to revisit its supply and land scenarios with several ministries; E50 is not yet a fuel generally available to motorists.

Molasses is not an uncommitted resource

In interviews reported by Kompas.com and CNBC Indonesia, Hanif described competing uses for this sugar-processing byproduct. Redirecting existing supply towards ethanol production could disrupt agricultural and livestock supply chains. A higher petrol blending target therefore needs a workable upstream plan, not just a percentage announced for fuel sales.

Hanif said talks would involve the agriculture, energy, land affairs and forestry ministries. The discussions will consider feedstock availability and land-use rules. A proposed interministerial meeting should not be mistaken for an approved plantation scheme, a refinery investment decision or an E50 launch date.

According to CNBC Indonesia, Hanif raised degraded land as one option under assessment. He described roughly 9.7 million hectares as an indicative potential, while stressing that land status must be checked and forest areas excluded. An earlier 2 million-hectare sugarcane requirement proposed by the Agriculture Ministry also still needs verification, he said. Neither figure represents an approved area ready for cultivation.

Why the comparison with B50 matters

Hanif contrasted ethanol's supply challenge with the existing oil-palm plantations that underpin Indonesia's B50 biodiesel programme. That is his assessment of feedstock readiness, not proof that all biodiesel financing and supply challenges have been resolved. The B50 guide explains palm-based FAME blended into diesel; E50 instead refers to ethanol blended into petrol.

The government has previously outlined an E20-to-E50 ambition. In ANTARA's report on a 3 November presidential meeting, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said the president had asked about readiness for E20 and that a strategic plan was being prepared with the agricultural sector. Those remarks describe policy preparation rather than evidence of nationwide E20 or E50 sales. Hanif's latest comments underline the unresolved upstream questions.

What must be clarified next

The policy needs a verified estimate of how much molasses can be diverted without displacing current users, how alternative feedstocks could add supply, and where new cane cultivation could legally proceed without converting natural forest. The reporting examined here does not present a final government decision based on the ongoing map checks and interministerial discussions.

Media Biodiesel will distinguish indicative land estimates from formally designated land and blending ambitions from actual fuel distribution. Biodiesel and ethanol also serve different fuel markets. Until supply arrangements and an implementation schedule are settled, E50 remains a policy proposal, not an operational outcome.