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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)
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Saturday, 03 September 11
FEW SHIPS REPORTED FIXED FROM INDONESIA TO INDIA - VISTAAR
COALspot.com - The freight market continued the upward trend during last week with BDI up by about 13 pct closing at 1,740 points and cape index up ...
Saturday, 03 September 11
TNPL TO BUY 240K MT OF NON-COKING COAL
COALspot.com - Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL), is seeking to procure 240,000 MT +/- 5 percent of non-coking imported coal with ...
Friday, 02 September 11
CAPESIZE DEMAND LIFTS DRY BULK MARKET ONCE AGAIN - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
In what proves to be the best week of the year for Capesize owners, strong demand has helped propel the dry bulk market to new highs yesterday. The ...
Thursday, 01 September 11
EWP TO BUY 195KT OF VIETNAM COAL
COALspot.com - Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO) has issued an International open bidding for 490kt of sub bituminous coal, according to a bid invitation ...
Thursday, 01 September 11
DRY BULK MARKET TAKES GREAT LEAP FORWARD - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU
In what turned out to be a rather hopeful ending of the month, the last day of August saw the dry bulk market’s benchmark, the BDI (Baltic Dry ...
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- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Australian Coal Association
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- PTC India Limited - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- White Energy Company Limited
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Planning Commission, India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
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