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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, 18 September 10
ECI / CHINA FREIGHT ROUTE DOWN BY 1.22 PCT OR US$ 225 PER DAY AND CLOSED AT US$ 18,123 PER DAY - VISTAAR
COALspot.com: The BDI was under pressure this week and was almost down by 11 pct and closed at 2676 points.
The Cape and Panamax index was almost ...
Friday, 17 September 10
CWP COAL WASHING PLANTS MACHINERY LANDS ON RUSSIAN MARKET!!
Press Release: CWP Coal Washing Plants Machinery Industry & Trade Co. which was founded in 1990, has been operating in Izmir with its closed pro ...
Friday, 17 September 10
FREIGHT RATES TO DECLINE FURTHER - ICICI SEC
Broking firm ICICI Securities said tanker freight rates reported a sharp drop with rates of Suezmax and Aframax carriers declining by 16% to USD 8,6 ...
Friday, 17 September 10
R-POWER, ADANI, GMR TO BID FOR $1-BN MINE
Reliance Power, Adani Power and GMR are in the race for a coal mine asset in Australia. The valuation of the asset is close to $1 billion (Rs 4,600 ...
Thursday, 16 September 10
RPG GROUP BUYS 10% IN AUSSIE COAL FIRM RESOURCE GENERATION
Dealcurry reported that, India's RPG Group's Integrated Coal Mining Limited (ICML) has acquired 10% stake (18,268,053 shares) in Resource Generati ...
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- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- The University of Queensland
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- VISA Power Limited - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- White Energy Company Limited
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- PTC India Limited - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
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