Sci&Tech History

In bio fuel development in Indonesia, as mentioned by Executive Director of Kreatif Energi Indonesia enterprise, Johan Begin Bukit, the information that been received by the farmer is not precise. The farmers think that jatropha is similar with ‘planting gold’ so they set a high price for jatropha, whereas the early concept of jatropha development is as an interval plant in unused area. A similar concept also proposed by actor A and actor B that placed jatropha as an element in bio refinery value chain, so economic value of jatropha can’t be obtained only from its oil, but also from their side product.
Shifting from bio refinery concept which designed to increase farmer income into jatropha trader has raised a new dependency between farmer and buyer. This dependency can be seen in Garut farmer case that cut through their jatropha plantation because the business man who promises to buy their harvest doesn’t return. Beside social-politic aspects, success of bio fuel development in Indonesia also influenced by knowledge assimilations between local and non-local. According to head of Partnership Program in Research of Crumbs Crop and Plant for Industry Institution (BALITTRI), Ir. Dibyo, nowadays jatropha cultivation is full with euphoria and has no direction . Similarly, Johan said that the government hasn’t given an adequate direction to the farmer. Both of their statements indicate that there are no local knowledge that rises between farmer and party which introduce them to jatropha.
A positive shifting occurs in actor C network. His involvement with the farmer has rise farmer awareness about the animal waste potential to generate energy and calculation of the money that s/he can save from fossil fuel that they used to buy. “I have to spent money once, and then use it (the reactor) for a long time,” said Omar, farmer that used actor C bio reactor in Lembang. The farmer ability to calculate the economic beneficiary is one of actor C goal, “I try to develop it, awareness that they can increase their efficiency and productivity in working. I’m only give one of the infrastructure. ” The situation change when the regional development or husbandry agencies start to give bio gas reactor to the farmer for free. Isam, one of actor C employee said that this aid has rise jealousy among the farmer, especially from they that don’t receive the reactor aid. This aid also influence relation between farmer and the reactor, in farmer society that buy the product, there are some awareness of the reactor economic value, while in the society that get the reactor as an aid, that awareness doesn’t rise. This situation represented in their daily activity to maintain the technology. In the first society, technology has become part of their economic productivity and it performance keep being watch, while in the second society whenever the technology has broken, they return to their old habit by using fossil fuel.

Popularity: 25%

Indonesia has a long history in farming. Since the New Order government has launched policy on rice self-sufficient or sometimes called green revolution, social-technique-politic elements has entered farmer daily life. According to Loekman Soetrisno, the green revolution has succeed to change farmer culture from anti-technology into open to technology, but is also raised a new problems for the farmer. The problems for example are dependency on superior kernel—which is uniform—has stimulated the farmer to leave their local kernel, food plantation sub-sector become fragile from plant disease, the farmer become dumb by forgetting their local knowledge and dependent their knowledge from the agricultural technology package that introduced by the industry (Noertjahyo, 2005:23).
Similar, S. Indro Tjahjono said that the appearance of village apparatus such as LKMD, LMD, KUD, and Babinsa has made a mystification, disinformation, and brain washing in order that the farmer change their way of farming. As an entry point, the apparatus introduce new commodities and way of farming which focused to increase agricultural input, such as kernel, fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, etc from multi national corporation which owned by urban people. This new way of farming beside not environment friendly, also create dependency and designed as an instrument to exploit the grass root (Tjahjono, 1996).

Popularity: 34%

In bio fuel development in Indonesia context, how can we steered the bio fuel development? Moreover, who steered who? Fisher purposed what he called “reflexive awareness,” for actors to become attentive to nested processes, structures, interactions, and interdependencies, both immediate and more removed, within which they operate (Fisher, 2006). Reflexive awareness also implicates equality, so that there is no dominant actor who can dictate the others what to do. The absence of dominant actor can be found when Indonesia’s president launched several regulations that addressed to several parties for support bio fuel development in Indonesia. The regulations failed to emerge bio fuel network, especially to develop the production chain. There are villages that have a bio fuel factory without access to raw material, other have raw material but failed to produce oil because of wrong treatment, and some others villages root up their jatropha field because there is no buyer. Resistance to follow bio fuel road map that been designed by the Bio fuel National Team also influenced by the absence of government assurance to support bio fuel policy. For example, national public enterprises that been pointed as a stand by buyer for bio fuel, gain a huge loses so they decrease the number of bio fuel consumption. This reaction influences other actors and disturbs the whole trajectory. Can this trajectory be maintained by conducting several reflexive changes, or bio fuel development in Indonesia runs into a chaotic way?

Popularity: 21%

In 2006, government launched Presidential decree numbered 5/2006 on “National Energy Mix” which targeted bio fuel as a source to fulfill 5% of national energy need on 2025, followed by presidential instruction numbered 1/2006 on “Supply and Utilization of Bio fuel as Alternative Fuel”, presidential decree numbered 10/2006 on “The Establishment of National Team for Bio Fuel Development to Accelerate Poverty and Unemployment Reduction,” Government Regulation No. 1/2007 on “Income Tax Facilities for Investment Activities in Specific Industries and/or Particular Region,” and Government Regulation No. 8/2007 on “The Government Investment.” These regulations are a part of government policy to support bio fuel development in Indonesia by creating job for 3.5 million people unemployment, increasing income for on-farm and off-farm workers in bio fuel sector up to the Regional Minimum Payment, development of bio fuel plantation in 5.25 million ha land, 1000 energy self sufficient villages and 12 special bio fuel zone, fossil fuel reduction until minimum 10%, and accomplishment of bio fuel local demand and export in 2010 (DESDM, 05/07).

From the newspaper report, increasing income for on-farm and off-farm is still a big questions. Many bio fuel implementation makes the farmer confuse and disappointed because after they plant Jatropha, the party that promise to buy their plant doesn’t keep their word. In another case, the price that is offered is too low.

Popularity: 23%

How can a specific scientific issue become well known? One of the answers is media. Al Gore with his movie, An Inconvenient Truth has helps us to understand relation between human activities and the global warming, although to see its implication need a further research. In Media, Culture & Society journal, it is said that news construction is moving from scientific facts to public opinion. The construction of news involves the commitment of actors—mainly experts—and the development of a framework references. Unfortunately, by the limitation of space, mass media can not always followed the issue. Expert which have already involved have to continue this global warming prevention movement to other parties.

Popularity: 21%

“Turning technology into a tool for human development often requires purposive effort and public investment to create and diffuse innovations widely. Investment in creating, adapting and marketing products that poor people can afford or need is inadequate because their incomes are too low and do not present a market opportunity for the private sector.” (UNDP 2001, 43)

Revolution industry which initiated by James Watt invention has delivers production into the next step: mass scale. Mass production allow us to buy product with a lower price but is also rise labor class which widening gap between capital class and labor class. Marxist, Smith, Keynesian economist try to explain and solve this condition with several approaches, and in some country, choosing one of the approaches can be success. In the same time, there is a duality from the country when it deals with other country. In their own country, they use a closed system to protect their local market, while when they make an engagement with others; they exploit the resources from the other countries.

Where is the influence of technology then? Before answering the question, we have to reflect it to our self first, what is on your mind when you hear the word technology? Hand phone, internet, and computer? Well, those artifacts are technology that we get from foreign tradition, while in Indonesia; we know indigenous knowledge like the Badui do to warm their body in the cold night, or preventing their nature. It is an indigenous knowledge which stabilized by technology that they have by heritage. While mass production is a culture that we get from the foreign. Can it fit with our culture? What should we do to make it happened in order to facing the global market?

Popularity: 30%

Today, I was talking with my lecturer about technology and culture. He said that several philosopher which used to be pointed when talking about this subject are Martin Heiddeger, Michel Foucault and Paul Virilio. The last name is new for me. Virilio see relation between technology and culture to analyze war.

This one of his quote which I took from Wiki: “The first deterrence, nuclear deterrence, is presently being superseded by the second deterrence: a type of deterrence based on what I call ‘the information bomb’ associated with the new weaponry of information and communications technologies. Thus, in the very near future, and I stress this important point, it will no longer be war that is the continuation of politics by other means, it will be what I have dubbed ‘the integral accident’ that is the continuation of politics by other means. ”

Lately, technical artifact is no longer the main issue, information does. It influence how our daily life run, such as how we talk, choose our cloth, and in the election time, who will we choose to be the next leader. Of course, there are still reality beyond the appearance, but can we still recognize it?

Popularity: 28%

Technique is a translation from human will into action to control something with their mind, and to think unconscious things, quantify qualitative things, make the nature generally can be understood, and control the chaos into order.
(Jacques Ellul) 

Since ancient times, human have already connected with the nature. The engagement changes along with human ability to understand the nature, and moreover, modify it. If in the ancient times, the nature influence our way of eat, life and survive, which was nomad, now, nature warn us about global warming, energy problem, food crises, and disease which never seen before. What can technology do? Is it created in order to defeat the nature with efficiency like we have done in the industry revolution, or is it time to turn back?

In several countries in Europe, global warming and energy problem have already become a central issues. Renewable energy such as electricity based on wind, solar cell, and bio fuel has been developed seriously. In the other side, some of them are still depending on developing country like Indonesia to get raw material for the energy. This condition is quite similar when we export our oil; the difference is only the commodity, oil replaced with Jatropha or palm oil.

Popularity: 18%

Recently, there is an article which criticizes public university performance. The article tells about how private universities surpass public university in the universities rank list. Should we aware about this phenomena or it is natural, because the private university which succeed have a high tuition fee? Natural or not, by presidential regulation about foreign capital, it is possible for foreign investor to invest until 49% in Indonesian university.

Popularity: 17%

In the last workshop, bio energy development has raised several issues: energy, food and forest security. The problem occur because all of them use land as their basis, and I think because we don’t have any planning which based on rural society. Bio energy, similar with oil, become an export commodity. While our food need hasn’t been reached yet, and now, the problem become more complex with the forest issue.

Can technology help? Is it a technology matter?

Popularity: 20%