Jakarta (The Indonesian News) – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has instructed the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) to accelerate a range of strategic research projects, including wildfire prevention, renewable energy, waste management and vaccine development.
BRIN chief Arif Satria said the president had emphasized the importance of applying research findings to address national challenges and deliver direct benefits to the public.
To combat forest and land fires, BRIN is working with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the Ministry of Forestry and the Indonesian Air Force. The effort involves the use of dry ice and weather modification operations.
“These activities are already underway. Thankfully, several areas have received rainfall. This is a blessing for which we should be grateful,” Arif said at a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
For the longer term, BRIN is also developing research on fire-spread modeling to strengthen wildfire prevention efforts, Arif said.
The agency is also studying the use of palm oil waste as an alternative energy source. Indonesia is estimated to generate 229.9 million cubic meters of palm oil mill effluent (POME) annually.
“If the potential of POME and empty fruit bunches from oil palm plantations is harnessed and converted into electricity, the resulting power-generation capacity is estimated to reach 3.9 gigawatts,” he said.
BRIN is also developing metal-organic framework (MOF) technology to improve gas storage. Arif said the innovation could help expand biogas utilization while reducing Indonesia’s reliance on imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which costs the country approximately 97 trillion rupiah a year.
In waste management, BRIN will collaborate with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and universities to promote the adoption of waste-processing technologies at the household and village levels.
“The president has directed that technologies suitable for households and villages be implemented promptly so they can deliver direct benefits to the public,” Arif said.
In the health sector, Prabowo has also called for faster vaccine research, particularly for malaria. BRIN currently has four malaria vaccine candidates and is conducting research in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma.
“With his full support, we hope to accelerate vaccine development by as much as three years ahead of the original schedule, particularly for malaria vaccines,” Arif said.
To strengthen Indonesia’s pharmaceutical self-sufficiency, BRIN is also developing 19 herbal medicine candidates intended to qualify as fitofarmaka—herbal medicines that meet Indonesia’s highest standard of evidence-based clinical validation.
The candidates will undergo a series of tests, including clinical trials, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM), Arif said.
Source: Press Release of the Government Communications Agency of the Republic of Indonesia (Bakom RI)
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