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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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Sunday, 22 December 13
QUIET FREIGHT MARKET DUE TO LONG HOLIDAYS
COALspot.com: The market was soft this week with all indices down. However towards second half of the week the futures on segments was firming up.
...
Friday, 20 December 13
US PRODUCED 2.71% MORE COAL WEEK ON WEEK
COALspot.com – United States the world’s second largest coal producer, produced approximately 18.9 million short tons (mmst) of coal in ...
Friday, 20 December 13
DRY BULK MARKET SLUMPS AHEAD OF HOLIDAY SEASON - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
As has been the case in recent years, the dry bulk market has been on a downward trend ahead of the Holiday Season for a large part of the world. Th ...
Thursday, 19 December 13
SHIPPING CONFIDENCE HITS THREE-YEAR HIGH - MOORE STEPHENS
Overall confidence levels in the shipping industry rose to their highest level for more than three years over the three-month period to November 201 ...
Wednesday, 18 December 13
SNP ACTIVITY IN CHINA SEEMS TO BE SLOWING DOWN - CHRISTOS TRAGEAS
Approaching the end of the year, SnP activity in China seems to be slowing down in comparison to the first half of this quarter, as most Chinese Shi ...
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- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
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- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
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- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
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- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
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- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
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- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
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- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
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- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Planning Commission, India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
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- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- PTC India Limited - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- White Energy Company Limited
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
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