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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, 20 July 10
CHURCHILL PLANNING TO PRODUCE 35 MILLION TONNES PER ANNUM FROM ITS EAST KUTAI COAL PROJECT
According to Churchill's website, the East Kutai Coal Project is a world-class thermal coal deposit, with a JORC Mining Reserve of 961 milli ...
Tuesday, 20 July 10
DRY BULK SHIPPING MARKET FINDING SOME SUPPORT, AS OWNERS TAKE CAPE SIZES OFF THE MARKET
With the Baltic Dry Index finally having reached bottom, at least according to market analysts, the dry bulk industry is looking to begin its long r ...
Monday, 19 July 10
INDONESIA EXPORTS 24.49 MILLION TONNES OF COAL IN JUNE 2010
COALspot.com: Indonesia, the world largest coal exporter, exported 141.249 million tons of coal in the first half of this year. In June 2010, Indone ...
Monday, 19 July 10
CHINA ONCE AGAIN DOMINATING SHIPPING FREIGHT RATES, WHILE OVERSUPPLY OF TONNAGE RAISES CONCERN
The ending of the week brought a cheerful note among dry bulk ship owners, as the sinking benchmark of the industry, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) fina ...
Saturday, 17 July 10
THE DRY BULK MARKET CONTINUED THE DOWNWARD TREND - VISTAAR
COALspot.com: The indices continued the downward trend this week also with BDI at 1,720 points and cape size index at 1676 points and the charter ra ...
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- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- The University of Queensland
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Australian Coal Association
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
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