Jakarta. Brazil is looking to bring the world’s largest palm oil producer Indonesia onto the Global Biofuels Alliance, a group of countries that seeks to bump up the uptake of sustainable biofuels.

Biofuels took the center stage when Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hosted his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto in Brasilia on Wednesday local time. According to a joint declaration issued after the talks, both sides see themselves as major bioenergy producers. The 40-point document also wrote that they wished to work together in international fora -- including BRICS or G20 -- to advocate policies that promote the sustainable production and use of biofuels. To this end, Brazil wants Indonesia in the relatively new Global Biofuels Alliance.

“President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva encouraged Indonesia to consider becoming a member of the Global Biofuels Alliance,” the statement reads.

The Global Biofuels Alliance only came into being during India’s G20 chairmanship in 2023. The group is now home to 29 countries, including leading biofuel producer US. Fourteen international organizations, including the World Bank and the Indonesia-founded palm oil council CPOPC, are part of the alliance. The group also provides technical support for national biofuel programs.

Indonesia is taking advantage of its palm oil abundance to produce biodiesel. Southeast Asia’s largest economy even mandates a 40 percent content of palm oil-based fuel in its biodiesel in a policy better known as the B40. The number corresponds to the palm oil content, which continues to increase over the years.

Brazil is among the world’s top producers of ethanol, another biofuel type. It primarily uses its abundant sugarcane supplies as feedstock. Indonesia already produces its ethanol -- also from sugarcane -- although its output is still far from being on Brazil’s levels.

During the presser, Prabowo sang the praises of Brazil’s biofuel drive.

"You are giving a good example with your use of biofuels and innovations in the field of agriculture," Prabowo told Lula.

Prabowo said that the Brazilian government had accepted Jakarta’s request to send its technical teams to study the country’s technology and innovation. The retired army general went on to say how Indonesia aimed to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2040. Prabowo claimed that experts had told him that Indonesia might be able to entirely use renewables much earlier.

“Again, we see your success in developing biofuels,” Prabowo said.

The Brazilian government data showed the country’s biofuel production had set a historical record in 2023. Ethanol and biodiesel production totaled nearly 43 billion liters. National biodiesel output had topped 7.5 billion liters. As of the first four months of 2025, Indonesia had distributed at least 4.3 million kiloliters of the palm oil-based B40 fuel, the Energy Ministry reported. Indonesia is planning to raise the mandated palm oil blend to 50 percent next year.