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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, 07 March 14
INDONESIA TO PRODUCE 421 MMT OF COAL IN 2014
Coalspot.com: Indonesia finally agreed to increased 2014 coal output by as much as 6 percent to 421 million metric tons from its previous plan, a se ...
Friday, 07 March 14
US PRODUCED 19.4 MMST OF COAL IN PAST 7 DAYS, SAYS EIA
COALspot.com – United States the world’s second largest coal producer, produced approximately 19.4 million short tons (mmst) of coal in ...
Thursday, 06 March 14
PANAMAX MARKET IS STRUGGLING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES - FEARNRESEARCH
Handy
The Handy/Supra market experienced a rate increase in the Pacific. The activity itself is not too big, but spot tonnage is clearing up and ow ...
Wednesday, 05 March 14
THE BIG BULKERS HAVE IN FACT WITNESSED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN BOTH BASINS
The BDI continues to gain back some of the lost ground, although in reality there isn't a lot to celebrate abou ...
Wednesday, 05 March 14
LEAVE IT TO CAPES TO CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF THE DRY BULK MARKET - INTERMODAL
Chartering (Wet: Stable- / Dry: Stable+)
Leave it to Capes to change the direction of the Dry Bulk market. The big bulkers managed to drag the BDI ...
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- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Australian Coal Association
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- PTC India Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
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