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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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Thursday, 21 July 11
DRY BULK RATES EDGE FURTHER DOWN ON WEAK MARKET SENTIMENT - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The dry bulk market fell once again on Wednesday marking the ninth straight day of losses. The industry’s benchmark, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI ...
Wednesday, 20 July 11
ANTWERP RECEIVES THE CAPESIZE MG COURAGE
The deepening of the Western Scheldt has made the port of Antwerp easily accessible not only to Ultra Large Container Ships of over 10,000 TEU but a ...
Wednesday, 20 July 11
KALIMANTAN GOLD APPOINTS COMMISSIONER TO SUBSIDIARY
Kalimantan Gold Corporation Limited has announced the appointment of Dr. Bambang Setiawan as Commissioner (a senior advisor) to the Board of PT Kali ...
Wednesday, 20 July 11
CHALLENGER GETS TABANG PROJECT IUP PERMIT
COALspot.com - Challenger Deep Resources Corporation has been getting exploration permit or Izin Usaha Pertambangan (IUP) for its Tabang coal in Eas ...
Wednesday, 20 July 11
TCM COAL PROJECT IN SOUTH KALIMANTAN MOVES TO FINAL FEASIBILITY STUDY
COALspot.com - Pan Asia Corporation Ltd has executed a formal agreement with an underground mining group KOPEX to undertake a final feasibilit ...
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- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Australian Coal Association
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Planning Commission, India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- PTC India Limited - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
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