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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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Monday, 07 February 11
RICHARDS BAY COAL TERMINAL EXPORTS SURGE, BUOYED BY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA AND INDIA
COALspot.com - Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) announced today that 2010 exports have exceeded the last two years’ performance, said in a re ...
Monday, 07 February 11
RBCT SHIPPED 28.67 PERCENT LESS COAL IN JANUARY
COALspot.com - Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) is the single largest export coal terminal in the world, shipped 4,389,925 MT of coal in January 20 ...
Sunday, 06 February 11
THE PANAMAX & SUPRAMAX FUTURES FOR 2011-2013 WAS AT AROUND US$ 16,500 & US$ 15,000 PER DAY RESPECTIVELY
COALspot.com - With the Chinese new year holidays this week, the market has been fairly quite as expected.
The BDI saw a bigger drop compared to ...
Saturday, 05 February 11
INDONESIAN ENERGY MINISTER HAS SIGNED A DECREE FOR COAL TRANSPORTATION PERMITS ON FRIDAY
COALspot.com - Minister of Energy, Darwin Minister Saleh said, that, he had signed a decree for transportation and sale of coal, which was the ...
Saturday, 05 February 11
ANCHORAGE LOADING POINT MOVED TO MUARA JAWA
COALspot.com - The Ministry of Transportation Republic Indonesia has announced that, the loading point at Muara Berau, East kalimantan h ...
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- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Australian Coal Association
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- VISA Power Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- PTC India Limited - India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
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