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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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Thursday, 19 January 12
SOUTHGOBI RESOURCES SELLS MORE THAN FOUR MILLION TONNES OF COAL IN 2011, 58% MORE THAN 2010
COALspot.com - SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX: SGQ, HK: 1878) has successfully complets year 2011 on guidance in terms of coal sales and production.
...
Thursday, 19 January 12
14TH VOGP MEETING IN HO CHI MINH CITY HANDS OUT LATEST UPDATES AND DEVELOPMENTS IN VIETNAM'S ENERGY INDUSTRY
Press Release: At upcoming 14th Vietnam Oil Gas Power on 27-28 Feb in Ho Chi Minh City the industry’s most influential names including Petrovi ...
Thursday, 19 January 12
DELTA DUNIA SEALS US$820 MIO CONTRACT INSIDER STORIES
Insider Stories reported that, PT Delta Dunia Makmur Tbk (DOID) has announced that its primary operating subsidiary, PT Bukit Makmur Mandiri Utama ( ...
Wednesday, 18 January 12
WARM WINTER ACROSS EUROPE HAS IMPACTED NEGATIVELY COAL DEMAND - BRS
With the Chinese New Year just a week away, all markets are slowing down. The drop in freight rates for all sizes has been significant over the past ...
Wednesday, 18 January 12
DRY BULK MARKET'S DRAMA CONTINUES IN START OF NEW WEEK - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
A flurry of newbuilding deliveries, coupled with a slow start to the new year, a typical trend for the dry bulk market, has led the industry's benc ...
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- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- The University of Queensland
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Planning Commission, India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- White Energy Company Limited
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
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