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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, 22 February 14
POTEN RAISES THE QUESTION OF ACCURACY IN CALCULATING TANKER FREIGHT RATES - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
As the tanker market has grown in complexity over the course of the past few years, the question of whether the traditional methods of assessing rat ...
Friday, 21 February 14
INDONESIA PLAN TO CAP COAL OUTPUT AND HIKE ROYALTY; START MUSIC
COALspot.com: Energy and Mineral Resources Ministy of Indonesia is planning to increase the royalty for coal miners particularly for Mining Business ...
Friday, 21 February 14
THE WORLD'S SECOND LARGEST COAL MINER MINED 19.2 MMST OF COAL IN A WEEK, EIA SAYS
COALspot.com – United States the world’s second largest coal producer, mined approximately 19.2 million short tons (mmst) of coal in a w ...
Friday, 21 February 14
DRY BULK MARKET SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
The dry bulk market has slowly started to emerge from the downfall it's been since the start of the year, as rates have began to pick up over the c ...
Friday, 21 February 14
INDONESIA COAL OUTPUT CAP TO HURT MINERS RELIANT ON VOLUME GROWTH, FITCH SAYS
Fitch Ratings says that the credit profiles of mining sub-contractors and miners highly reliant on increasing volumes to support high debt servicing w ...
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- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Economic Council, Georgia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- The University of Queensland
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Australian Coal Association
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
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