Universitas Indonesia (UI) officially launched the UI Net Zero Initiative (UI NZI) which is a follow-up to the soft launch in June 2024. With the theme “Sustainability Symphony: Harmonizing Energy Transition, Conservation, and Green Economy for Accelerating Net Zero Transition,” the activity held on September 19-20, 2024, at The Margo Hotel Ballroom, Depok, included a workshop and innovation exhibition from various UI sustainability research.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Dedi Priadi, DEA, as the Vice Rector for Human Resources and Assets at UI, emphasized that UI NZI aims to educate the public about the importance of the green energy transition and open the door to research collaboration with partner universities. “In this activity, the Letter of Intent (LoI) of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education was signed by representatives from UI NZI research partner universities, as a symbol of the launch of UI NZI,” said Prof. Dedi.
The signing of the LoI was carried out by 11 universities, eight of which were present in person, namely Institut Teknologi PLN, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Universitas Tadulako, Universitas Pertamina, Universitas Lampung, Universitas Hasanuddin, Universitas Khairun, and Universitas Sriwijaya. Three other universities— Institut Teknologi Kalimantan, Universitas Papua, and Universitas Sumatera Utara—also signed the cooperation agreement.
The research collaboration will be realized through guidance, scientific publications, utilization of joint research facilities, and the preparation of a UI NZI roadmap for the next five years. Prof. Dedi hopes that this initiative can make a real contribution to national efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 31.89% through research results and policies.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Widodo Wahyu Purwanto, DEA, as the Chair of UI NZI, said that this initiative was prepared to become a leading research center in two main areas: energy transition and conservation and green economy. “UI NZI will utilize the potential of 10 UI research institutions involving 200-300 researchers to strengthen cross-disciplinary research, in order to produce technological innovations and policy recommendations, both at the national and international levels,” said Prof. Widodo.
This step is also in line with the government’s efforts to maximize the potential of Energi Baru Terbarukan (EBT), or New and Renewable Energy, in Indonesia. Dr. Hariyanto, Head of the Planning Bureau of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said, “We are committed to reducing dependence on coal-fired Steam Power Plants. Instead, we will maximize the renewable energy sector, including utilizing geothermal energy which has a potential of 23,965.5 Megawatts.”
As part of this event, UI NZI also held two workshops focused on environmental and sustainability issues. The first workshop was moderated by Prof. Dr. Haruni Krisnawati, S.Hut., M.Si., Expert Staff to the Minister of Environment and Forestry for Energy Sector. She discussed “Tren Pengurangan Emisi dan Aksi Iklim” (Emission Reduction Trends and Climate Action), with an emphasis on government policies encouraging Indonesia to become emission-neutral. According to Prof. Haruni, collaboration between the public and private sectors is essential to achieve the target through technological innovation and increasing public awareness.
The second workshop, presented by Prof. Dr. Teguh Kurniawan, S.Sos., M.Sc., Chief of Innovation and Comparative Governance Research Cluster, discussed “Governing Sustainability: Co-Creation Dimensions and Multi-Scalar Dynamics in Green Transition in Indonesia.” He highlighted the importance of collaborative governance involving various actors and scales of government in realizing the green transition in Indonesia.
With the official launch of UI NZI, Universitas Indonesia hopes to lead various sustainability initiatives at the national level and strengthen the contribution of academics in achieving the net zero emission target in Indonesia.
