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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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Friday, 24 April 15
CHINA IRON ORE MINE CLOSURES TO SLOW ON GOVERNMENT SUPPORT - FITCH
Fitch Ratings expects fewer Chinese iron ore mine closures in 2015 as the government takes steps to support the industry, which has been struggling ...
Friday, 24 April 15
IS INDIA THE 'NEW CHINA' WHEN IT COMES TO THE DRY BULK MARKET? - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
The dry bulk market has been feeling the “heat” of China’s slowdown and together with the industry’s own failings, with ove ...
Friday, 24 April 15
GLOBAL STEEL PRODUCTION OUTSIDE OF CHINA CONTINUES TO FARE VERY POORLY - JEFFREY LANDSBERG
COALspot.com: Data released this week showed that global crude steel production totaled approximately 138.05 million tons in March.
Wha ...
Friday, 24 April 15
WEEKLY U.S. COAL PRODUCTION ESTIMATE FALLS 5.7% FROM LAST WEEK
COALspot.com – United States the second largest coal producer in the world has produced approximately totaled an estimated 17.0 million short ...
Wednesday, 22 April 15
PANAMAX : ATLANTIC HOLDING ON TO THE GAINS OF THE PREVIOUS WEEK; PACIFIC BUSINESS SLID QUIETLY
COALspot.com: The Dry Bulk market managed to close off the week on a positive note last Friday, while as opposed to what we have been used to, it w ...
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- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- PTC India Limited - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Australian Coal Association
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Planning Commission, India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- White Energy Company Limited
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- The University of Queensland
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
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