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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, 08 November 11
COAL MINER ABM INVESTAMA PLANS $290M PUBLIC OFFERING - JG
The Jakarta Globe reported that, ABM Investama, an Indonesian coal miner controlled by the Hamami family, plans to raise as much as Rp 2.6 trillion ...
Monday, 07 November 11
CHINA'S COAL IMPORTS STEAM AHEAD
Chinese seaborne coal imports have grown greatly in recent years, up from 39.2mt in 2008 to 167.7mt in 2010, with the result that China became a net ...
Saturday, 05 November 11
DEMAND SLUMP THREATENS MORE PAIN FOR BULK VESSELS - VISTAAR
COALspot.com - The market continued to fall with BDI dropping below 2,000 points by around 10 pct and closing at 1817 points. The cape index also co ...
Saturday, 05 November 11
BERAU STARTS TO EXPLORE BINUNGAN SITE - INSIDER STORIES
Insider Stories reported that, coal miner PT Berau Coal, a 90% owned subsidiary of PT Berau Coal Energy Tbk (BRAU), is busy to hold exploration in B ...
Friday, 04 November 11
INDIAN IRON ORE MARKET REMAINS DEAD - FEARNLEYS
Handy
The Atlantic market kept its strong position from last week. Even with fewer fixtures reported. Fronthauls still around 25k, wit ...
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- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- The University of Queensland
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
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