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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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Wednesday, 08 October 14
OIL COULD FALL TO USD80 BEFORE SHALE SUPPLY RESPONSE - FITCH
COALspot.com: Brent oil could fall as low as USD80 a barrel before triggering a self-correcting supply response with shale-oil drillers cutting inv ...
Wednesday, 08 October 14
IS THERE ANY BRIGHT SIDE ON THE DRY BULK SEGMENT? - YANNIS OLZIERSKY
In the movie “Life Of Brian”, a character on a nearby cross was singing the famous “Always look on the bright side of life” ...
Tuesday, 07 October 14
TAIPOWER TO IMPORT 525K MT OF LOW ASH AND EXTRA LOW SULFUR SUB-BITUMINOUS COAL
COALspot.com: Taiwan Power Company intends to procure 525,000 metric tons of low ash and extra low sulfur sub-bituminous coal for Taipower thermal ...
Tuesday, 07 October 14
SUB-BIT FOB INDONESIA COAL SWAP SHOWS A FLAT TO WEAK TREND THIS PAST WEEK
COALspot.com: Indonesian coal swaps November 2014 delivery flat week on week and gained US$ 0.10 (-0.20%) per mt day on day. The swap also lost US$ ...
Tuesday, 07 October 14
THE RIO TINTO CONFIRMS THAT NO DISCUSSIONS ARE TAKING PLACE WITH GLENCORE
COALspot.com: The board of Rio Tinto notes the recent press speculation regarding a possible combination of Rio Tinto and Glencore.The Rio Tinto bo ...
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- Aditya Birla Group - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Parliament of New Zealand
- White Energy Company Limited
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- PTC India Limited - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- MS Steel International - UAE
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Australian Coal Association
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
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