Indonesia’s national flag carrier Garuda said it has a plan to mix aviation turbine fuel (avtur) with bio-fuel for its aircraft, beginning in 2016, in an effort to cut down greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Novianto Herupratomo, Garuda Indonesia’s operational director, all aircraft of the airline are capable of using bio-fuel, but the change would depend on the availability of the fuel which is made from crude palm oil and is still being tested.

The state-owned airline uses some 1.8 billion litres of avtur per year. The figure is estimated to reach about 2 billion litres in 2016.

In December 2013, the Indonesian Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the use of renewable energy in the aviation sector, under which avtur is to be mixed with 2 percent of bio-fuel in 2016 and the rate will be increased to 3 percent in 2020.

The Indonesian Ministry of Transportation has also encouraged shipping lines to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of oil.-VNA