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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, 20 July 15
CFR SOUTH CHINA COAL SWAPS GAIN WEEK OVER WEEK
COALspot.com: API 8 CFR South China Coal swap for Q3’ 2015 delivery declined US$ 1.18 (2.27%) per MT month over month.
A commodity swap ...
Sunday, 19 July 15
BDI GAINED AND CROSSED 1000 MARK THIS WEEK
COALspot.com: The BDI gained and crossed 1000 mark after many months this Friday. The BDI was up almost 20 pct and closed 1048 points on 17 July 20 ...
Saturday, 18 July 15
INTERVIEW : FRANZ ESCALANTE, CHIEF OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS, MINERA CHINALCO, PERU
We are interested in the technology of Autonomous trucks, the new-generation trucks are not remote controlled, they are truly autonomous - Franz Es ...
Friday, 17 July 15
COAL PRODUCTION IN THE U.S. INCREASES SHARPLY FOR THE WEEK ENDING JULY 11
COALspot.com – United States the second largest coal producer in the world has produced approximately totaled an estimated 16.4 million short ...
Friday, 17 July 15
INDONESIAN POWER-STATION COAL SWAPS DECLINE CONTINUES THIS PAST WEEK
COALspot.com: Indonesian coal swap for delivery Q3 2015 declined month on month and week over week, this past week.
The Q3 swap was declined $ ...
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- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Australian Coal Association
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- The University of Queensland
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
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