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Like many Indonesian motorists, Mella Yusthiani is keenly awaiting the government’s final decision on whether to restrict the use of subsidized gasoline come April 1.

Should the restriction go through, the 22-year-old college student says she might consider switching to natural gas as a cheaper alternative.

“Using gas will undoubtedly be the more economical solution,” she says.

But she adds that she is unwilling to invest just yet in the gas conversion kit necessary for the switch, pointing out that the government has done little to educate motorists about the alternative.

“The kit is pretty expensive,” Mella says. “I think I’ll just wait until lots of people have started using it before I join in.”

Although the government has said it will encourage the transition to compressed natural gas and liquefied gas for vehicles, little has been said about the technical aspects of making the move, including the modifications, safety aspects and cost savings involved.

Eka Wahyono, technology director at state aerospace firm Dirgantara Indonesia, is adamant that CNG, and to a lesser extent LGV, is the way to go.

DI is developing a converter kit, comprising of a storage tank and engine attachment, that can be retrofitted to most existing cars, allowing them to run on CNG. The company hopes to get the kit certified before April 1.

“The unit will serve as an auxiliary fuel system, so when the gasoline runs out, the driver can switch to using CNG, and vice versa,” Eka says.

The concept is that the gas is stored at high pressure in special tanks fitted in the car’s trunk. A fuel line feeds it to the engine. To switch between CNG and gasoline, the drivers simply flicks a switch on the dashboard.

The benefits are also obvious: CNG is cheaper and cleaner than gasoline. Subsidized Premium fuel costs Rp 4,500 ($0.50) per liter, but drivers are expected to pay double that should the restriction go into effect later this year.

A kilogram of CNG, by comparison, costs Rp 4,100. Mileage is also improved. A car can go up to 40 percent farther on a kilo of CNG than on a liter of gasoline.

An LGV system also runs from an auxiliary tank. The price at the pump, though, is a bit steeper, at Rp 5,600 a kilogram — after a Rp 1,000 subsidy.

There is also the issue of engine performance. Premium is the lowest-grade gasoline available in the country and has an octane number of 88. The lower the figure, the more likely an engine is to misfire, or “knock.” Unsubsidized Pertamax and Pertamax Plus boast higher octane numbers of 92 and 95, respectively. CNG, because it is essentially pure methane, can have an octane rating of up to 130.

It also burns cleaner than gasoline, emitting fewer pollutants such as nitrogen and sulfur oxides, and 40 percent less carbon dioxide for the same amount of energy produced.

It is also a safer fuel than gasoline, dispersing rapidly in the atmosphere in the event of a leak and thereby virtually eliminating the chances of an explosion.

Eka adds that the conversion kit developed by DI is built to withstand the high pressure needed to store the gas, and then some.

Eka says his team is applying for Indonesian National Standards (SNI) certification for their kit before they market it.

“There are rules about safety and in Indonesia we have to comply with the SNI,” he says.

“Our target is that by April 1, we will have SNI certification.”

A converter kit for diesel engines in already in the works but is only expected to be ready by 2013. Eka says the system, called dual-fuel, is more complicated than the bi-fuel kit for gasoline engines because the diesel and gas are used in tandem rather than separately.

But if CNG is so clearly superior to gasoline, why is it not universally used? That, Eka says, is a matter of infrastructure.

There are very few refueling stations in the country that offer CNG, and they are concentrated in a handful of big cities. The problem, he says, is that an extensive network of pipes and pressurized storage tanks must first be built to support a CNG pump.

“To accommodate an LGV pump at an existing gas station, for instance, takes just three to four months [of retrofitting],” Eka says.

“Whereas with CNG, you have to first lay down the entire pipe network. The national infrastructure to support CNG is still very poor.”

Another problem Eka foresees is the fact that the storage tanks take up a hefty portion of trunk space, making them far from ideal for smaller cars like hatchbacks.

For such cars, DI is looking at a donut-shaped tank design that fits in the spare wheel well.

“It’s already in use in Thailand and South Korea,” Eka says.

For now, though, DI has not yet begun mass production of the converter kits, expected to retail for about Rp 12 million each. Eka says the company is still waiting for the government’s signal.

“As long as there’s the order from above, we’re ready to start production,” he says.

“DI supports the government in its energy policy. We need to be energy independent because it’s important for our national interests.”