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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, 28 June 13
U.S. PRODUCED 1.52 PERCENT LESS COAL WEEK ON WEEK
COALspot.com – United states the world’s second largest coal producer produced totaled approximately 19.40 million short tons (mmst) of ...
Thursday, 27 June 13
US COAL EXPORTS BEATS CHINESE COAL IMPORTS AS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL COAL TRADE - BIMCO
The influence of American coal exports on seaborne transportation has grown significantly over the past decade. In 2002, the US exported 20.1 millio ...
Thursday, 27 June 13
HANDY : USD 12000 FOR SPOT COAL INDO/CHINA AND AROUND USD 13000 INDO/ECI - FEARNLEYS
Handy
Atlantic rates hold well. Continent to Far East is worth more than USD 14k daily whilst USG to Far East pay 23/24k a day. On the route from B ...
Thursday, 27 June 13
DRY BULK CARRIERS DOMINATE NEWBUILDING ORDERS AS SHIP OWNERS ARE ENCOURAGED BY LATEST FREIGHT RATE RALLY - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
Newbuilding orders for dry bulk carriers were already high, compared to last year, prior to the latest rally of the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), which ha ...
Tuesday, 25 June 13
CAPESIZE MARKET TO REMAIN BULLISH SAYS ANALYST - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
The dry bulk market has been experiencing its long-awaited rally, with the Baltic Dry Index, the industry's benchmark rising to healthier levels fo ...
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- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Planning Commission, India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- White Energy Company Limited
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- The University of Queensland
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Australian Coal Association
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- PTC India Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
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