Universitas Gadjah Mada and the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will focus on the development and utilization of geothermal energy to anticipate the depletion of oil and gas reserves.
This surfaced in the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Geological Agency and UGM which was held on Friday (2 / 10) in the Multimedia Room, UGM Central Office.
Head of the Geological Agency, Dr. Ir. M. Surya, said that the agency has managed to find 120 gas potential basins from the previously known 60 basins. While for geothermal resources, 260 locations have been found from the previous 120 locations. "The focus of geothermal has become important because now a lot of regions are requesting geological maps of about 150 thousand, as well as biochemical and bio-industrial samplings," he said.
M. Surya also said that the geological agency he is leading is one of the energy and mineral resources institutions with a staff of 1527 people, which is supported by geologists. His institution has even become one of the few institutions in Southeast Asia that has the most sophisticated facilities.
"We give more attention to serving the public, such as giving map information and recommendations from the results of geological studies of the energy and mineral resources," he explained. Through cooperation with UGM, he will revive the cooperation in the field of geology which has been built since the 1980s.
In this occasion, the Rector of UGM, Prof. Ir. Sudjarwadi, M. Eng, Ph.D., welcomed the implementation of the signing of the MOU. The Rector hopes that this cooperation will inspire the society. "Any activity undertaken with partners will be more beneficial to the interests and prosperity of the society," he said.