Integrating R&D and Business in Bioenergy Projects in Indonesia

Abstract

Research and Development (R&D) is the first phase to enhance technologies before they can be accepted in the market. Innovation and creativity will bring the best products to be delivered to the clients. There are several steps that have to be followed by scientists. Once the step has been skipped, the product will be a failure in the market introduction. The R&D in the bioenergies is tremendously growing fast worldwide. There are few products, which are actually not ready in the international market, have been introduced in Indonesia by foreign companies. This fact will bring negative precedence to the technology itself. Moreover, it will bring more people to be skeptical to the specific technology and will return to the obsolete technology. It is unnecessary risk that has been taken not in a wise way. To prevent this issue, a good cooperation is needed between scientists and entrepreneurs. Once a new technology has been launched in the market, it will bring competition not only to the same type of technologies but also to the previous obsolete technologies. Does our product ready for the market? That is one of the first typical questions need to be answered by scientists. On the other hand, the entrepreneurs need to be selective and conducting a technology selection. They need prepare for the worst scenario for their products. They need to cooperate closely with scientists. Some of entrepreneurs are either simply forget the important role for R&D or tried to skip it. PT Maris Sustainable Indonesia,, part of Maris Group, is one of the technology provider companies that is working closely with scientists worldwide. We believe that a technology is a long-run process. We learned mistakes from our researches and long-term experience in business. We improved our technology based on those mistakes. After more than thirty two (32) years experience in business, we could bring value added to our projects. Furthermore, we also integrated a matured R&D into our renewable energy projects. Several worldwide experiences in bioenergy projects (the Netherlands, India, China, and Indonesia) will be briefly discussed.