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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, 19 May 14
API 8 CFR SOUTH CHINA COAL LOST 2.49% MONTH ON MONTH
COALspot.com: API 8 CFR South China Coal swaps for average Q3 14 deliveries lost 2.49 percent month on month and closed at US$ 74.35 per mt as on F ...
Sunday, 18 May 14
FREIGHT RATES ARE EXPECTED TO BE FIRM NEXT WEEK
COALspot.com: The freight market was steady with the BDI was closed slightly higher at 1027 points or up 3.00 pct week on week.
The Cape ...
Friday, 16 May 14
KOMIPO IS LOOKING FOR 60K MT OF LOW VOLATILE BITUMINOUS COAL
COALspot.com : Korea Midland Power Co., Ltd. has invited bids through International open bidding for 60,000 Metric Tons (MT) of low volatile bitumi ...
Friday, 16 May 14
U.S. COAL PRODUCTION TOTALED APPROXIMATELY 18.9 MMST
COALspot.com – United States the world's second largest coal producer, produced approximately 18.9 million short tons (mmst) of coal i ...
Thursday, 15 May 14
PANAMAX : SHORT PERIOD UP TO ONE YEAR REPORTED IN THE 12.000-12.500 RANGE - FEARNRESEARCH
Handy
The Supra and handy market seems to be affected by the recent holidays in Singapore which still relatively quiet. There are some Indo / ...
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- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- The University of Queensland
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- White Energy Company Limited
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- PTC India Limited - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Planning Commission, India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
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