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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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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 - ...
Wednesday, 15 February 12
HBA FOR FEB 2012, CLIMBS 2.09 PERCENT AND REACHED US$ 111.58 PER TON
COALspot.com - The Indonesian coal reference price for February climbs 2.09 percent to US$111.58 per ton after losing past three months. ...
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- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Australian Coal Association
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- PTC India Limited - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
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