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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, 14 April 14
CHINA'S MEASURES TO STIMULATE ECONOMY'S GROWTH COULD OFFER ROOM FOR STABILITY IN SHIPPING MARKETS - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
Since the outbreak of the 2008-crisis, the shipping industry, in most of its aspects, i.e. dry bulk and tanker markets alike, has been dealing w ...
Sunday, 13 April 14
INDONESIA TO INDIA FREIGHT MARKET DECLINE CONTINUES
COALspot.com: The freight market continued to drop this week and BDI almost touched 1000 points. BDI closed at 1002 points fell 16.85 pct week o ...
Saturday, 12 April 14
HOW DO YOU CALCULATE LOSS OF EARNINGS FOLLOWING A COLLISION? - INCE & CO
KNOWLEDGE TO ELEVATE
The recent case of Astipalaia vs Hanjin Shenzhen [2014] EWHC 120 (Admlty) has revisited the existing case law on asses ...
Friday, 11 April 14
US COAL PRODUCTION IN MARCH INCREASED 9.69% TO 82.6 MMST MONTH ON MONTH
COALspot.com – United States the world's second largest coal producer, produced approximately 19.10 million short tons (mmst) of coal ...
Thursday, 10 April 14
DRY BULK MARKET IS RISING CLAIMS BIMCO - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
Despite the recent fall of the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), when one compares the first quarter of 2014, to similar quarters of the recent past, it i ...
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- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- PTC India Limited - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Planning Commission, India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
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