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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, 06 December 14
MUNDRA PORT MAKES HISTORY BY HANDLING THE LARGEST BULK CARRIER TO CALL ON WEST COAST OF INDIA
COALspot.com: Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd, India’s largest port developer and part of Adani Group, yesterday said its Mundra Port successf ...
Friday, 05 December 14
CHINESE SPECIAL STEEL MAKERS' RISK PROFILES MORE RESILIENT - FITCH
Fitch Ratings says the risk profiles of Chinese makers of special steel, especially high-end products, are more like those of manufacturers and mor ...
Friday, 05 December 14
U.S. YEAR-TO-DATE COAL PRODUCTION REACHED AROUND 905 MMST - EIA
COALspot.com – United States the world's one of the largest coal producers, produced approximately 19 million short tons (mmst) of coal i ...
Thursday, 04 December 14
CAPE MARKET IS DEVELOPING FROM BAD TO WORSE
Handy
The Atlantic market has been pretty stable and balanced this week, Fearnleys AS says in its latest weekly report.
The broker furt ...
Thursday, 04 December 14
DRY BULK MARKET; ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING WEEK
COALspot.com: For those who have been hoping to see alignment of freight direction across the Dry Bulk market, this must have been another disappoi ...
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- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- PTC India Limited - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- The University of Queensland
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
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