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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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Tuesday, 27 August 13
AUSTRALIA NEWCASTLE COAL EXPORTS JUMPED 15.59 PERCENT ON WEEK
COALspot.com: Power plant and semi-soft coking coal shipments from Australia's Newcastle port up 15.59 per cent week on week to 2.76 million mt for ...
Monday, 26 August 13
CARRIAGE OF COAL CARGOES FROM KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA - WEST OF ENGLAND P&I CLUB
The Club has recently been advised by consulting scientists and engineers Dr J H Burgoyne and Partners (International) Limited that the number of in ...
Sunday, 25 August 13
API 8 CFR SOUTH CHINA COAL: HEADING TO NORTH
COALspot.com – Sub-Bit Indonesia coal swaps (FOB ) for average Q4 2013 delivery US$ 2.39 up month on month. The swap was moved positive ...
Sunday, 25 August 13
THE FREIGHT MARKET S7 & S8 SECTOR IS EXPECTED TO BE STEADY/FIRM NEXT WEEK - VISTAAR
COALspot.com - The freight market continued to be firm with all indices moved positive except for Panamax which was slightly down (2 pct down).
T ...
Friday, 23 August 13
US PRODUCED MORE COAL WEEK ON WEEK - EIA
COALspot.com – United states the world’s second largest coal producer produced totaled approximately 20.80 million short tons (mmst) of ...
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- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
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- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
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- VISA Power Limited - India
- PTC India Limited - India
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- CNBM International Corporation - China
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
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- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
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- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Australian Coal Association
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Planning Commission, India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- The University of Queensland
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- White Energy Company Limited
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
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