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.
|
|
Tuesday, 30 October 12
NEW BUILDING ORDERING ACTIVITY KEEPS ON RETREATING - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
Ship owners have refrained from placing any new orders of vessels during the course of the past few days, according to shipbroker reports. According ...
Monday, 29 October 12
US COAL EXPORTS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH 125 MILLION TONS THIS YEAR - EIA
COALspot.com - US coal exports are expected to reach 125 million tons this year, surpassing the old record of about 113 million tons set in 1981, sa ...
Sunday, 28 October 12
SUB-BIT INDONESIA COAL SWAPS (FOB ) FOR DECEMBER 2012 DELIVERY STAYED FLAT D-D
COALspot.com - Sub-Bit Indonesia coal swaps (FOB ) for December 2012 delivery flat on D-D but gained 0.38 percent on W-W on Friday, 26 October 2012, ...
Sunday, 28 October 12
INDONESIA TO INDIA SUPRAMAX FREIGHT MARKET FAIRLY STEADY - VISTAAR
COALspot.com - The Cape size sector continued to remain active with iron ore movement being steady. All other sectors were down.
The BDI was up b ...
Friday, 26 October 12
SHIPPING MARKETS HEADING FOR DIVISION AND MULTI-TIER WILL BECOME THE NORM - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
It seems that something is expected to be fundamentally different in the way that the shipping markets will be operating in the future, according to ...
|
|
|
Showing 4526 to 4530 news of total 6871 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- White Energy Company Limited
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Australian Coal Association
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- The University of Queensland
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
|
| |
| |
|
