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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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Monday, 23 July 12
NTPC INVITES BIDS FOR 2.6 MILLION TONS OF LOW MOISTURE IMPORTED COAL
COALspot.com - India’s largest electricity generator, NTPC Limited, incorporated in 1975 as a public sector company wholly owned by Government ...
Sunday, 22 July 12
NEW CHAIRMAN FOR AUSTRALIAN COAL ASSOCIATION
The Australian Coal Association (ACA) announced that Mr Ross Willims has been appointed as its new independent Chairman effective November 5 2012. M ...
Sunday, 22 July 12
CENTRAL KALIMANTAN COAL RAILWAY NETWORK WILL BE BUILT BY 2015 - THE BORNEO POST
The borneo post reported that, a declaration to build a coal railway network is signed today (12/07/2012) in front of the Indonesian Vice President ...
Sunday, 22 July 12
COAL PRICES IN MIXED TRENDS; STOCKS REMAIN HIGH AT BOTH ENDS
COALspot.com - Sub-Bit Indonesia coal swaps (FOB ) for September 2012 delivery fell 0.99 percent on last Friday closing (d-o-d) and 1.19 percent com ...
Sunday, 22 July 12
TATA POWER SIGNS A LONG TERM COAL SUPPLY AGREEMENT WITH PT ANTANG GUNUNG MERATUS, INDONESIA
COALspot.com - Tata Power, India’s largest integrated power utility, last Friday announced that it has signed a long term coal suppl ...
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- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Planning Commission, India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
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