We welcome article submissions from experts in the areas of coal, mining,
shipping, etc.
To Submit your article please click here.
|
|
|
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)
If you believe an article violates your rights or the rights of others, please contact us.
|
|
Friday, 01 November 13
DRY BULK MARKET IN FIRST POSITIVE SIGN IN DAYS - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
Owners of dry bulk carriers are well aware of the rollercoaster ride that has been the market for their vessels over the past few years. This trend ...
Thursday, 31 October 13
HANDY: ACTIVE; PANAMAX: QUIET; CAPESIZE: NO LIGHT
Handy
The handy market had an active week however not directly translated into the rates we´ve seen in the Pacific. We see more coal and baux ...
Wednesday, 30 October 13
INDONESIAN STATE OWNED COAL MINER HAS EXPORTED 7.02 MILLION TONS OF COAL IN 9 MONTHS
COALspot.com : PT. Bukit Asam, Indonesian state owned coal miner has sold 13.24 million tons of coal for the period January - September 2013. Accord ...
Wednesday, 30 October 13
DRY BULK MARKET HAS LOST FURTHER GROUND THIS PAST WEEK - INTERMODAL
Chartering (Wet: Firm+ / Dry: Stable-)
The Dry Bulk market has lost further ground this past week, as de-creased activity in both basins for both C ...
Wednesday, 30 October 13
CAPESIZE: DOWNWARD; SUPRAS AND HANDIES: STABLE - INTERMODAL
The Dry Bulk market has resumed its downward movement, noting another dip for a third week in a row. The larger size segments were responsible for p ...
|
|
|
Showing 4036 to 4040 news of total 6871 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- White Energy Company Limited
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Planning Commission, India
- Australian Coal Association
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- The University of Queensland
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- PTC India Limited - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
|
| |
| |
|
