When a scientist or engineer works in the laboratory, the challenge is to bring the results to the real world.
“The lab, from the time I was in school until I headed my own lab on campus, became a world in itself. Once brought out to be promoted, it was as if we had met another world,” said Dr. Ahmad Agus Setiawan, Expert Staff to the President for Energy, in the Webinar on “Diseminasi dan Kick Off Duta Transformasi Kementrian Keuangan Tahun 2021″ held on Wednesday (31/3).
Agus said that from the past until now, Indonesia needs to accelerate the energy transition. According to him, dependence on fossil fuels in our country has reached the stage of addiction. World trends, obligations, and the current situation force us to think that fossil fuels have limits and can eventually run out.
“Now is the time for us to think about other energies as more sustainable alternatives for the next 100 years or more. In fact, a country that is energy-safe like America is still researching continuously on renewable energy,” he explained.
Agus said that now is the momentum. It is because the application of science and technology is now rapidly being driven by a pandemic situation. However, he revealed that it is not easy. The challenge for an engineer or scientist is to bring the results of their research into the real world.
Agus departed from the ASEAN Science and Tech Fellowship in 2018. At that time, he was given an understanding of how to bring science and technology to promote evidence-based policy-making. This program lasts until 2019, but he is still in close contact with his colleagues there.
When the pandemic hit the world in early 2020, Agus and his colleagues took a look, seeing how to handle a case like this requires a science and technology approach. And it turns out that this is not easy because both of them must work together to determine the right policy.
This, according to Agus, was similar to the specific conditions that hit Indonesia in the period 2004 and 2006. When the tsunami and earthquake hit Indonesia, he felt helpless as he saw that many of his colleagues were also victims.
Agus revealed that he and his colleagues at UGM had conducted a research to supply sustainable energy and water. However, the research was still being held in the laboratory because there was no place to apply it. Finally, in 2007 there was a call for proposals from UNESCO. His team then took the chance.
“By collaborating with Australian academics as well as assistance from UGM friends, we are producing real project proposals based on the vision that this will be applied from our lab. We are grateful that we won the 2007 Mondialogo Engineering Award with our proposal, entitled Development of Sustainable Power and Water Supply for Remote Areas and Disaster Response and Reconstruction in Indonesia,” he explained.
Since then, Agus has always imagined how to use renewable energy for the archipelago of Indonesia. “From answering the challenge of how to bring that from the laboratory into real, I have continued to move forward until now, including becoming expert staff of this presidency as well. I only answered this call from Mother Earth to achieve prosperity,” he concluded.
Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/20954-merealisasikan-penelitian-dari-laboratorium-menuju-dunia-nyata
