We welcome article submissions from experts in the areas of coal, mining,
shipping, etc.
To Submit your article please click here.
|
|
|
Sunday, 20 June 10
OUR COAL: ITS DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES
 Indonesia’s production of coal has been growing amazingly. In the mid 1980s, national coal production was less than 1 million tons per annum, whereas energy planners (in the fourth Five Year Development Plan: 1989-1994) pointed at 10 million tons as the national production target.
The current production has jumped dramatically, recorded as 237 million tons in 2008 (predicted to achieve 270 million tons this year), making Indonesia a world class producer and the largest exporter of coal around the globe. The skyrocketing growth of our coal production has also incited many controversial issues.
Coal is considered as the dirtiest among fossil fuels, making environmentalists oppose their wide use
as fuel.
However, the proposal for ceasing use of coal — power generation, for instance — would be challenged by power utilities demanding low cost fuel that coal may offer and by the government, which has the responsibility to provide electricity as well as have revenue from exploiting its energy resources.
Despite the world’s rising anxiety of global warming, IEA (International Energy Agency: World Energy Outlook 2009) statistics shows that the world consumption for coal, for the last decade, is still growing the fastest among primary energy sources.
The environmental problem associated with coal in Indonesia is not limited to green houses gases (GHG), but also damage and pollution since its exploitation, transportation and uses to post mining.
It is easy to find where many coal fields are not mined appropriately according to “good mining and environmental practices”, coal transportation is not considering safety standards and is damaging rivers, (public) roads and seashores.
The coal mining has polluted the land, water and air of especially Kalimantan, where more than 90 percent of Indonesia’s coal mining operations take place.
It is sad that many of the previous mining areas have been abandoned without being properly reclaimed, whereas thousands of hectares of the island’s tropical forests have been converted into desert.
The soaring exploitation, including its negative impact on the environment, has a strong correlation with the number of licensing/permits awarded.
The introduction of the 1999 Regional Autonomy Law, subsequently followed by the 1999 Fiscal Balancing Law between the Central and Regional Governments have — to some degree — impacted on the coal licensing regime, where larger authorities had been given to regional/local governments.
Under the new licensing regime by local governments, requirements for coal permits tend to be relaxed whereas monitoring has not been done properly.
As a result, the number of permits (Mining Authorization/KP) has been growing considerably (currently 462, of which 169 are producing), coal production increases, but also environmental problems and the issues of illegal mining exist.
The question of who really owns the KP licenses exists, which was defined as that it can be owned by Indonesian national/companies only.
While the largest part of coal in Indonesia are being produced by large companies (the holders of Coal Contract of Work/PKP2B), some coal is mined by small scale and illegal miners.
It is believed that a significant amount of coal has been produced by illegal miners (some 5 million tons annually) and part has gone to meet export demand.
Wherever in the world, illegal miners lack interest in responsible mining and mine rehabilitation practices. Illegal mining is a problem for potential investors, the environment and government revenues.
The government has introduced measures to crack down on problems, including arresting illegal miners.
However, it cannot be the only solution since illegal mining is actually rooted in underemployment, local poverty and weak law enforcement, while the number of people involved in these activities is quite significant.
An alternative to confrontation to illegal miners by the central government (who awards the large scale PKP2B mining license) should be a cooperative and more comprehensive approach.
“Despite the world’s anxiety of global warming, IEA statistics shows that the world consumption for coal is still growing the fastest among primary energy sources.”
Work together with local/rural governments and communities to reduce poverty, educate/assist the illegal miners to increase their awareness on good mining practices (including mine rehabilitation), provide transition period fiscal incentives to encourage illegal mining toward the regulated mining sector, among others.
It needs to maintain an appropriate balance between the soaring exports of coal (about three quarters of production on average) and the domestic growing demand for the same fuel.
Push for exports is still coming largely from the traditional East Asians (Japan is the largest), while the coal-hungry India and China are also increasing their demand for our coal.
The exports will be competed with by the Blue Print for Energy Management 2005-2025 pointing out that one third of Indonesia’s energy primary energy mix in 2025 is to be supplied by coal, (the current share is about 15 percent).
Even though it is often mentioned that our coal reserves are quite large (current proven reserves of 5.5 billion tons; estimated resources of 105 tones) and that our reserves for coal are much larger than that of oil and gas, we should watch their fast rate of exploitation cautiously.
It needs to recalculate the benefit of exploiting them, taking into account their damage to the environment and what is left post mining. Where have all the revenues from exploiting that coal gone? Is the escalating export not jeopardizing the domestic energy security in the near future?
We have ample experiences, for instance in exploiting the resources-rich Kalimantan. The forests, oil and gas reserves have been exploited for about four to five decades, but it seems that the island has not enjoyed the fruits of the excessive exploitation: the current regional economy remains weak, infrastructure is poor and energy supplies for local uses have not been secured.
It needs to promote the terms “resources balance, depletion, sustainability”, start internalizing the costs of environmental impact and enforce those concepts into workable policies for our coal mining development.
The writer is the senior energy planner and an economist with the National Development Planning Agency. The opinions expressed are his own.
Source: The Jakarta Post ( Hanan Nugroho)
If you believe an article violates your rights or the rights of others, please contact us.
|
|
Friday, 30 September 11
MINING BILL CLEARED, FIRMS TO SHARE 26% PROFITS WITH LOCALS - NDTV
NDTV reported that, The Union Cabinet cleared the draft mining bill aimed at regulating mining activities Friday. The bill proposes a profit-sharing ...
Friday, 30 September 11
INDIAN IRON ORE MARKET GETTING ACTIVE - FEARNLEYS AS
Handy
The Atlantic market continued its strong trend with fresh cargoes entering the market. Vessels open US Gulf fixed tick above US$ 27k back to t ...
Friday, 30 September 11
KRISHNAPATNAM PORT WINS GLOBAL PORT & COAL PORT OF THE YEAR AWARDS
COALspot.com - Krishnapatnam Port, a dynamic new generation world class port located in the East Coast of India has been adjudged the winner in the ...
Thursday, 29 September 11
INDONESIA'S MINERS FACE AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE - RUPERT WALKER
An evolving regulatory framework for the country's minerals industry could threaten its profitability and stifle investment.
The five-year surge ...
Thursday, 29 September 11
DRY BULK MARKET FALLS MID-WEEK, FURTHER DROP EXPECTED NEXT WEEK ON CHINA HOLIDAYS - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The dry bulk market, as reflected by the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) retreated by 0.36% yesterday reaching 1,920 points, with the Capesize segment suffer ...
|
|
|
Showing 5056 to 5060 news of total 6871 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- White Energy Company Limited
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- The University of Queensland
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
|
| |
| |
|
