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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 Japan challenged by the rapid industrialisation of hungry new economies. The rise of the so-called BRIIC nations - Brazil, Russia, India ,Indonesia and China - is giving birth to new global financial centres, vibrant industrial markets and above all surging demand for raw materials to supply new projects.
But where does environmental responsibility fit into this drive for resources?
Growing demand for thermal Coal has created a new coal boom, which is great news for Coal producing countries such as Indonesia, Australia , south Africa . The demand of coal is growing at a massive rate in Asia particularly India and China. Both the coal hungry countries are making efforts to secure supplies by acquiring Coal mines or forming Joint ventures for their new power generating plants.
The demand is fuelling the world prices of coal, although prices are still not as high as witnessed in 2008 when everything peaked before the global financial crisis but there all indications that by 2012/2013 coal prises will reach to record high.
The India and China are becoming the mainstay of the market . Both the countries are having huge Coal reserves ,but still they are importing huge qty of coal to meet there increased demand and as such they are effectively driving the world Coal market and its prices. India’s demand for coal is expected to grow at a faster rate than any other country in the world.
India's rich untapped mineral resources of more than 20 mineral types - including gold, copper, coal and bauxite but the fact that many of these resources are located in rural, heavily forested areas with predominantly tribal populations has raised concerns over the environmental impact of mining operations.
The country has a long history of environmental damage caused by both domestic and international mining companies, as well as the ecological problems from hundreds of abandoned mines in areas like Bihar's Jharia and Rhaniganj coal fields. Like China, India has been plagued by the environmental problems associated with illegal and unlicensed mining operations, which the country's Directorate General of Mines Safety has been ill-equipped to deal with due to funding deficiencies.
Similarly China has come under fire from human rights activists and environmental groups alike for its arguably lax approach to both worker safety (the country has become the mining disaster capital of the world in recent years) and environmental accountability. The Chinese Government's approach to corporate and environmental responsibility has been characterised by outside observers as simply paying lip service to the environment - hinting that ISO guidelines for mining would be welcomed - without implementing practical measures to promote change.
The environmental impact of mining operations in Brazil is also under sharper scrutiny than many other countries, primarily because its borders contain the lion's share of the Amazon rainforest, a haven for biodiversity and one of the most important eco-systems in the world.
As such, environmental awareness is particularly strong in the Brazilian mining industry. Experts from the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards are playing a leadership role in the further development of the recently introduced ISO 26000 international standard on social responsibility. Furthermore, licensing for new mining projects is often legally conditional on the drafting of comprehensive environmental impact studies, reports and extensive public consultations, particularly in areas inhabited by tribal groups.
Although carrying out mining operations in a region like the Amazon will be controversial, the environmental commitment seen here and echoed by many other Brazilian mining companies (including industry giant Vale, which has a complex environmental quality management system based on ISO 14001 standards) provides a useful model of awareness for other BRIC nations, and the global mining industry in general, to follow.
India is emerging as a fast economy, targeting 9-10% annual growth. Realizing the underlying growth potential will largely depend on it's ability to meet energy requirements. Energy sector whose growth targets inter alia depend on coal. At a 9% growth rate, the capacity requirement will be 960Gw and energy requirement will be 4,806 billion kWh. In the light of these projections, coal demand is estimated to rise many fold. Main concentration of Indian companies remains in Indonesia as many new mines are opened for exploration , exploitation and production .Today Indonesia is one of the most rapidly developing coal producing country in the world.
For a strong economy, one needs strong infrastructure and power plants. For strong infrastructure and power plants , one needs steel. Steel is the backbone of an economy, and it is metallurgical coal and thermal coal that is used to produce steel and electricity.
An increase in Coal production is the opposite of what the global climate change forums have wanted to see because coal without any doubt is one of the dirtiest and filthiest fossil fuel in terms of CO2 and when it comes to harmful emissions that most environmentalists and energy economists agree causes global warming.
Coal consumption is going in a direction that policy makers would prefer it not to go.
Critical question is whether there is a willingness amongst coal producers and power generating plants to make their technology cleaner, so it emits less greenhouse gases(GHG) which leads to global warming .Energy scientists have long been voicing concern on the rise in the level of Greenhouse gases, which leads to Global warming and climatic changes that are detrimental to economies worldwide.
The disastrous consequences for global climate change is one topic that has now taken very serious dimension but hardly been realised in a serious enough way by the nations across the world.
The new thermal plants being built are certainly more efficient than older ones. There exist technology to have emission-free power plants - the only constraint is the cost. The cost of clean coal technology is very high, yet when we look at the alternatives to coal, they are even higher than that - for example, nuclear, solar, wind. The real costs of all these alternatives are still to be determined, but there is no doubt that clean coal technologies can double the cost of coal in generating energy.
None of the alternatives appears to be commercially viable right now for required generation of energy without considering subsidies and tax incentives . If any country accepts sustainable growth and development as the way forward, it subsumes the climate change issues.
At the same time, no country can ignore the inherent contradiction in the expression ‘sustainable growth’.
Growth essentially involves exploiting natural resources for human benefit and countries have to strike a delicate balance between environmental sustainability and economic growth. It is easier said than done.
As the climate issue impinges on everyone, wisdom demands that nations sink their petty differences in approach and strategy to stem the danger from spreading further and squeezing the survival prospects of one and all.
Principally, the efforts boil down to reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, caused primarily by accelerated economic development through exploitation of fossil fuels rich in carbon dioxide.
Every action does not need to be official or based on protocols. In any case, every country need to adopt new methods and ways of doing things in optimising the use of exhaustible resources, energy and water. Corporations / Institutions must carry out energy analysis and incorporate environmental accounting practices to reduce green house gas emission levels at their facilities. The government, in turn, could enforce a form of taxation based on companies’ contribution to climate change.
Climate change is today's biggest problem, threatening mankind with extinction. The problem, largely of man's own doing, must be treated as an emergency by all.
The president of Indonesia issued a Presidential decree instructing all central and regional authorities to support the moratorium by suspending the granting of permits for the use of “primary natural forests” for two years. This Presidential decree is part of Indonesia’s efforts to comply with the bilateral agreement between Indonesia and Norway on forest conservation.
Various governments worldwide are beginning to put regulations in place and to encourage development of more sustainable sources of power generation in order to protect populations worldwide from the immediate detrimental effects on life and health, and to protect the environment for future generation.
By : Sunil K Kumbhat , Jodhpur( Rajasthan ) India
Views expressed herein are personal views of the author and not that of COALspot.com.
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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
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- White Energy Company Limited
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Australian Coal Association
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Parliament of New Zealand
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- The University of Queensland
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Planning Commission, India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
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