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Regulatory capture reflects a phenomenon in which a regulatory agency, initially established to cater the interests of the public, formulates a policy based on private or 'special' interests. Actors within the legislative process are influenced by external parties or may even fall for regulatory capture as they have engraved a mindset that sides with the regulated industry. Regulatory capture is more likely to occur when there is a lack of public participation, transparency, and imbalance access to information. It is also much more prominent when the regulation is made to govern a profitable sector. Although regulatory capture has been numerously addressed, this paper focuses specifically on the challenges posed by regulatory capture in Indonesia's energy sector, particularly with respect to one of its profitable sectors – the coal-fired power plant industry. Despite Indonesia's expressed intention to transition to renewable energy and the apparent environmental impacts of coal-fired power plants, regulations regarding such a sector are still made to favour businesses. This relates to the fact that many political actors who hold positions as legislators and regulators also wield important positions in Indonesia's coal-fired power plant companies. This paper illustrates the tension and struggle between the two contrasting interests of businesses and the public by looking into the theoretical framework of regulatory capture and public interests. Subsequently, it extracts the elements of regulatory capture and utilizes it to identify whether regulatory capture is inherent in Indonesia's coal-fired power plant industry. Ways to prevent regulatory capture are further explored. In doing so, this paper resorts to a doctrinal and normative method. The analysis conducted leads to the conclusion that there are apparent signs of political influence in the coal-fired power plant industry, indicating the existence of regulatory capture. As such, measures to prevent and eradicate regulatory capture should be implemented by the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tapioca is a starch extracted from cassava and is one of the most important products of the secondary food industry in developing countries such as Indonesia. However, the processing of cassava to extract tapioca generates nutrient-rich wastewater. In this paper, the bioelectricity and biomass production from microalgae Spirulina platensis within a hybrid Microalgae-Microbial fuel cell to reduce the chemical oxygen demand in wastewater from home-made tapioca industry is investigated. Native microbes in tapioca wastewater are used as inoculum in the anode chamber to generate electrons, while Spirulina culture in cathode chamber produces oxygen for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction. Cheap graphite rods, singlet or doubled, are used as electrodes and the influence of dark/light period is also studied. The experimental results show that the device generates electricity up to 14.47 ± 0.7 mW·m−2 when doubled graphite rods are adopted, the membrane surface area is 2.85 cm2, and dark/light cycle is 0:24. The chemical oxygen demand removal is 67% in this configuration, while the average productivity of Spirulina is approximately 55.38 ± 6.39 mg·L−1·day−1, with average growth rate constant of 0.172 ± 0.015 day−1. The proposed systems for tapioca wastewater treatment provides an encouraging way to reduce treatment costs, to generate renewable bioelectricity and to produce useful microalgae biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains the energy mix of China's overseas electricity investments across Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) recipient countries. We focus on Indonesia and Pakistan. Our research is based on both newly gathered project-level data and in-depth interviews with stakeholders of Chinese-backed power plants in Indonesia and Pakistan. We examine (1) why Chinese actors are involved in renewable power generation in Pakistan and not in Indonesia, and (2) why Chinese-backed coal-fired projects in Pakistan are cleaner than in Indonesia. We argue that variations along the three dimensions – scope, governance regime, and issue linkage – lead to different energy mixes in Chinese-invested power plants across BRI countries. This framework specifies how supply and demand factors interact across multiple levels regarding the formulation and implementation of China's overseas electricity projects. Our findings shed new light on the environmental implications of BRI projects and the dynamics of renewable energy development in emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of promoting clean (renewable) energy production through feed-in tariff (FIT) schemes on Indonesia’s economy and on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For numerical analysis, we designed a hybrid computable general equilibrium (CGE) model that explicitly incorporates electricity generation technologies. The Indonesian FITs have been stipulated in Government Regulation No. 79/2014 on National Energy Policy. We assume that the government sets a 15% subsidy rate for renewable generation technologies. Two possible financing schemes are implemented: (i) the FIT is paid by electricity consumers through the endogenous electricity tax rate; and (ii) the FIT is financed by a carbon tax adjustment. The results show that the effects of both FIT scenarios on macroeconomic and CO2 emission accounts are negligible. These negligible effects are due to the low shares of renewables (geothermal and hydro) generation load in total electricity mix. Therefore, we argue that Indonesia’s current FIT regulation is insufficient to boost the national clean energy production and therefore is ineffective to reduce the national emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used the Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) model to confirm the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Indonesia, considering income, fossil energy consumption, renewable energy consumption, and forest moratorium and restoration policies. In the long-run, our model suggests that CO2 emissions will continue to rise simultaneously with income, implying that the EKC hypothesis is not valid for CO2 emissions in Indonesia. We found that fossil energy consumption has a positive effect on the rise of CO2 emissions, whereas renewable energy consumption, forest moratoriums, and forest restoration policies have a negative impact on CO2 emissions. This research emphasises the necessity of reducing reliance on fossil energy, increasing the use of renewable energy, and conserving Indonesia's forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the use of development communication for youth empowerment in renewable energy projects in Indonesia. During development, youths can be agents of social change and drivers of development. However, their participation is never free from the power dynamics of development actors, i.e. between the government and rural communities, or between youths and elders. Using an appreciative inquiry technique involving community groups in two hamlets in Kulon Progo regency, Indonesia, this study finds that communication development is oriented primarily towards finalising infrastructure development, and fails to consider active participation. Meanwhile, although youth groups hope to be involved in designing and furthering the usage of renewable energy, they feel that their elders are hesitant to involve them in said projects; trust and power distance issues reduce them to passive participants. This study suggests that development communication in rural communities should be planned carefully, and that local values should be incorporated into the process. Although development communication may not result in youth empowerment, it may nonetheless shed light on power gaps and trust issues in youth-elder interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the European Union's recast Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), the EU aims to phase out feedstock biofuels that involve high indirect land-use change (ILUC) by 2030, which includes crude palm oil only. Indonesia, the world's leading producer of crude palm oil, contests this regulation, claiming that the classification of biofuels as being produced with high- or low-risk ILUC is discriminatory and inherently protectionist. This study examines the critical ambiguities of protectionism and sustainability, using a legal framework to empirically ascertain the nature of RED II and Indonesia's institutional response. Southeast Asian palm oil and European vegetable oils (such as rapeseed and sunflower oils) are considered 'like products' under World Trade Organization criteria that emphasise product-related process and production methods. RED II has the potential to qualify for exemptions under GATT article XX. However, the extraterritoriality of RED II, which aims to reduce emissions, is contested, as is the unilateral nature of the ILUC risk measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]