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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, 20 February 12
COAL BOOM AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN - SUNIL K KUMBHAT
COALspot.com - The dawn of the 21st century has seen a shift in the world's commercial balance of power, with the dominance of the US, Europe and J ...
Sunday, 19 February 12
THE SPOT FIXTURE RATES WERE REPORTED AT HIGH LEVELS - VISTAAR
COALspot.com - "The markets seems to holding back this week appears the momentum which picked up last week may slow down" - Capt. Reddy of ...
Sunday, 19 February 12
INDIKA ACQUIRES MULTI TAMBANGJAYA - INSIDER STORIES
Insider Stories reported that, PT Indika Energy Tbk (INDY) announced that wholly-owned subsidiaries have signed a conditional sale and purchase agre ...
Friday, 17 February 12
COLOMBIA COAL PRODUCTION, EXPORTS JUMP IN 2011: GOVT - COLOMBIA REPORTS
Colombia Reports reported that, colombia's coal production jumped 15.4% in 2011 to 85.8 million tonnes versus the previous year while exports rose ...
Thursday, 16 February 12
GEARING UP FOR THE EMERGING OIL & GAS OPPORTUNITIES IN MYANMAR
Press Release - Myanmar Ministry of Energy and Centre for Management Technology (CMT) to Co-host MOGP (Myanmar Oil, Gas & Power) Summit on 28 - ...
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- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Australian Coal Association
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
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