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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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Thursday, 08 July 10
KPCL RECEIVES 8 QUALIFIED BIDS TO SUPPLY 500,000 MT OF COAL
COALspot.com: Indian state utility KARNATAKA POWER CORPORATION LIMITED has opened price bid yesterday.
According to a participant, the quo ...
Thursday, 08 July 10
DRY BULK MARKET STILL PLUNGING, NOW STANDING AT 14 MONTH LOWS
The dry bulk shipping market’s demise isn’t over yet, as the industry’s main benchmark, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) has been on a f ...
Wednesday, 07 July 10
MACQUARIE SEES CHINA COMMODITIES PRICE FALLS AND CUTBACKS AHEAD - MINEWEB
MineWeb reported that, The research arm of Australia's Macquarie Bank - one of the most reliable of China watchers - in its latest briefing on Chin ...
Wednesday, 07 July 10
COAL PRICES ON THE RISE
Caixin online reported that, China's domestic coal prices have seen a 26.2 percent year-on-year rise in May. Meanwhile, the volume of coal im ...
Tuesday, 06 July 10
INCREASE IN DRY BULK SPOT FIXTURES UNABLE TO BOOST RATES, LOSING STREAK CONTINUES
Yet another week began on a negative note for the dry bulk shipping market, with the Baltic Dry Index posting its 28th straight losing daily session ...
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- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- The University of Queensland
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Australian Coal Association
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Planning Commission, India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
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