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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, 27 February 12
INDONESIAN COAL EXPORTS TO CHINA DROPS 39.76 PERCENT IN JANUARY 2012
COALspot.com: Indonesia, the world largest coal exporter, shipped 28.21* mln mt of coal in January 2012, slightly lower than its December 2011 ...
Monday, 27 February 12
WEEKLY DRY MARKET OVERVIEW - MARIA BERTZELETOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The pessimism in the dry market persists with the Baltic Dry Index still trying to find a steady pace of growth and average time charter earnings fo ...
Sunday, 26 February 12
THE FREIGHT RATES FOR INDONESIA TO INDIA IS LIKELY TO BE FIRM FOR NEXT 2/3 WEEKS - VISTAAR
COALspot.com – “There was not much change in the BDI and other indices this week except for the Panamax which was down by 11.91 pc ...
Friday, 24 February 12
DRY BULK MARKET POSTS FIRST REBOUND IN A WEEK - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
As was expected since mid-week, the dry bulk market's benchmark, the BDI (Baltic Dry Index) has managed to put a stop in a 6-day losing rally, endi ...
Thursday, 23 February 12
2.5 PANAMAX VESSELS PER AVAILABLE CARGO FOR MARCH DATES - FEARN BULK
Handy
Another depressing week for Supras in both basins. Lack of fresh business and over-supply of tonnage in the Atlantic pushed rates south. Cont ...
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- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- The University of Queensland
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- MS Steel International - UAE
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Planning Commission, India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
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