Indonesia, S. Korea partner for seaweed biodiesel

Indonesia announced plans to work with South Korean researchers to develop biofuel from seaweed.

Indonesia's Ministry of Fishery and Marine Resources wants to capitalize on the country's ample seaweed supply but lacks the technology to do so.

The Korea Institute of Industrial Technology has technology to process seaweed into an energy source, Indonesian officials said. However, South Korea lacks the feedstock, said Soen'an Hadi Poernomo, spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Fishery and Marine Resources.

"That country's need for energy is large but its supply of natural resources, namely seaweed, is small," Poernomo said in a news release.

The project expects to use the Geladine variety of seaweed being cultivated in Maluku, East Belitung and Lombok. The intent is to lower the price of biodiesel from about $2 per liter to $1 a liter.

Indonesia harvested 1,079,850 tons of seaweed in 2006 but is expected to reach 1.9 million tons in 2009.

In September, South Korea's government signed a deal to lease 25,000 hectares (61,750 acres) of Indonesian coastal waters to grow seaweed for bioethanol fuel.