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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, 12 October 15
DRY BULK SHIPPING: MARKETS ARE SLOWLY IMPROVING FROM A VERY LOW LEVEL AS THE DEMAND SIDE FALTERS - HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
The dry bulk market is in the midst of a shift in demand patterns, which coupled with a tonnage supply overhang, has been facing headwinds over the ...
Monday, 12 October 15
BDI WEIGHED DOWN BY CAPE
COALspot.com: The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) has come back down again this week. The BDI is a benchmark index used to assess the overall cost of moving ...
Sunday, 11 October 15
TANKER SHIPPING: MORE OPTIMISM IN SIGHT FOR TANKERS IN THE WINTER SEASON - BIMCO
Demand:
2015 has been the year of the tanker. The fundamental improvements with slow supply-side growth for some years coupled with low oil pri ...
Friday, 09 October 15
US WEEKLY COAL OUTPUT UP 1.2 PERCENT TO 17.7 MMST
COALspot.com – United States the world’s second largest coal producer has produced approximately totaled an estimated 17.7 million shor ...
Thursday, 08 October 15
CAPESIZE: MOST PEOPLE AGREE A SPIKE IN RATES WILL HAPPEN; WHEN, HOW LONG AND HOW SUBSTANTIAL? - FEARNLEYS
Cape
Depressives start of the fourth quarter, with c3 approaching USD 12 pmt and c5 presently in the mind 5's. According to Fearnleys ship br ...
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- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Australian Coal Association
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
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