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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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Monday, 13 February 12
WEEKLY DRY MARKET OVERVIEW - MARIA BERTZELETOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The current sentiment in the dry market resembles memories from the end of 2008, when the Baltic Dry Index closed at the level of 663 points on Dece ...
Sunday, 12 February 12
INDONESIA HAS ISSUED A REGULATION TO BAN THE EXPORT OF UNPROCESSED MINERALS AND METALS BY 2014
COALspot.com - The Indonesian government has finally issued a ministerial decree (7 Year 2012 dated 6 February 2012) to ban the export of unpro ...
Sunday, 12 February 12
THE BALTIC DRY INDEX CLIMBS 10.51%
COALspot.com - "The markets touched record lows not seen since mid 80’s. However there was some good news with signs of market recovery a ...
Saturday, 11 February 12
A SNAPSHOT ON THE ECONOMIC AND SHIPPING ENVIRONMENT - GOLDEN DESTINY
The week was highlighted with intense worries in the eurozone for Greece to secure its second bailout of $130billion by applying a ...
Saturday, 11 February 12
WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF IN THIS SHIPPING CYCLE? - CLARKSONS / HELLENIC SHIPPING
A slightly dubious "best man" joke runs as follows… Best man (giving his wedding speech): "Have you noticed how history repeat ...
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- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Australian Coal Association
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- The University of Queensland
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
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