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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, 24 May 13
US'S COAL PRODUCTION INCREASED WEEK ON WEEK
COALspot.com – United states the world’s second largest coal producer produced totaled approximately 18.90 million short tons (mmst) of ...
Friday, 24 May 13
OPG POWER VENTURES OF INDIA LOOKING FOR 210,000 MT OF 4,200 GAR INDONESIAN THERMAL COAL
COALspot.com - OPG Power Ventures Plc (OPG) is an AIM listed (London Stock Exchange) and fast growing developer and operator of power plants in Indi ...
Thursday, 23 May 13
HANDY : THE ATLANTIC MARKET REMAINS UNCHANGED - FEARNRESEARCH
Handy
The Atlantic market remains unchanged. USG-Feast rates were around USD 19k. Little change from last week in the Pacific, fewer stems and tonn ...
Thursday, 23 May 13
COLOMBIA SHIPPED 11.74 MILLION TONS OF THERMAL COAL IN Q1
COALspot.om - Colombia produced about 18,388,972.94 mt of coal for the first quarter of 2013.
Q1' 2013 coal production was around 21.42 p ...
Wednesday, 22 May 13
COKAL SIGNS JV WITH MDM, FOR BARITO RIVER BARGING
COALspot.com - Cokal Limited (ASX: CKA) has announced that it has entered into a 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) with Meratus Advance Maritime (MDM) one of ...
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- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Australian Coal Association
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- White Energy Company Limited
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Minerals Council of Australia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Planning Commission, India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- The University of Queensland
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- MS Steel International - UAE
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
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