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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, 27 March 12
DRY BULK MARKET KEEP RISING FOLLOWING THE SAME TREND OF LAST WEEK - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The dry bulk market kept its upward momentum this week, on the same reasons of those last week. That is, the smaller ship types are still on the ris ...
Monday, 26 March 12
WEEKLY DRY MARKET OVERVIEW - MARIA BERTZELETOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The Baltic Dry Index follows its upward incline for fourth consecutive week by rising to more than 900 points, up by 37% from the bottom low in the ...
Monday, 26 March 12
GOLDEN MINES FY11 REVENUE JUMPS 209% - INSIDER STORIES
Insider Stories reported that, coal miner PT Golden Energy Mines Tbk (GEMS), that is controlled by Sinar Mas Group, recorded a 209% jump in revenue ...
Saturday, 24 March 12
AUSTRALIA'S MINERAL TAX : BENCHMARK FOR OTHER COUNTRIES - SUNIL K KUMBHAT
COALspot.com - Natural resources rich counties like Australia , Indonesia , South Africa , Brazil etc are going through a spectacular resources boom ...
Saturday, 24 March 12
THE AVERAGE CHARTER RATES WAS AT CAPESIZE $ 4,546 PER DAY VS SUPRAMAX / $ 10,819 PER DAY - VISTAAR
COALspot.com - The BDI crossed 900 points this week closing at 908 points up by 3.89 pct. All other sectors were up except for cape index whic ...
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- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Planning Commission, India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- PTC India Limited - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- The University of Queensland
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Economic Council, Georgia
- White Energy Company Limited
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
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