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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, 01 May 12
VIETNAM FEARS IT MAY NOT SEEK COAL SUPPLIES - TBKTSG / VIETNAMNET BRIDGE
TBKTSG / VietNamNet Bridge reported that, with five coal-run thermopower plants under construction, PetroVietnam alone would need 18 million tons of ...
Sunday, 29 April 12
THE FREIGHT MARKET EXPECTED TO BE STEADY NEXT WEEK - VISTAAR
COALspot.com - The BDI continued to go up with the support of Panamax/Supramax and was up by 8.34 pct closing at 1,156 points.
The cape index was ...
Sunday, 29 April 12
INDONESIAN SUB-BITUMINOUS COAL SWAPS FOR MAY 2012 DELIVERY WAS STABLE THIS WEEK
COALspot.com - Indonesian sub-bituminous coal swaps for May deliveries stable this week, according to DSP of SGX AsiaClear OTC Coal Swaps. In the me ...
Friday, 27 April 12
BUKIT ASAMS NET INCOME UP 14% IN 1Q 2012 (UNAUDITED)
Press Release - PT Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk, announced the Consolidated Financial Statements and Subsidiaries per 31 March 2012 (Unaudited).
Reve ...
Thursday, 26 April 12
AUSTRALIAS COKAL EXPANDS MET COAL POTENTIAL INTO WEST KALIMANTAN
COALspot.com - Global metallurgical coal group Cokal Limited (Cokal) (ASX:CKA) announced today it has completed the acquisition of 75.2% of PT Silan ...
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- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- The University of Queensland
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- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Minerals Council of Australia
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- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
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- Eastern Energy - Thailand
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- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
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- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
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- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
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- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
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- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
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- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
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- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
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- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
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- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
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- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
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- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
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- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
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- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
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- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
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- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
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- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- White Energy Company Limited
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
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- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
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- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
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- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Planning Commission, India
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