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Your letters: Develop more green energy
The following two letters refer to an article titled âCBM [coal bed methane] could redraft Indonesiaâs energy charts,â (The Jakarta Post, April 21) by Rohmad Hadiwijoyo
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he following two letters refer to an article titled 'CBM [coal bed methane] could redraft Indonesia's energy charts,' (The Jakarta Post, April 21) by Rohmad Hadiwijoyo.
Why does a country so blessed with renewable resources produce electricity by burning fossil fuels anyway?
Indonesia could easily produce all the electricity it needs from a combination of solar panels, geothermal energy, hydropower, wind farms, biomass and biogas.
This abundance of electricity could then also be used for transportation by promoting the use of electric motorcycles and electric cars.
An additional benefit of that approach would be a dramatic improvement of the air quality, especially in the big cities.
All it takes is the reallocation of government subsidies from polluting fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.
I have nothing against coal, oil and gas, especially when
they stay in the ground. I just don't like the pollution they
produce.
My background is 25 years of designing large scale utility systems (power generation, cooling systems, drinking water production, large air conditioning systems, etc.), mainly for offshore oil and gas platforms, so I understand how producing electricity from fossil fuels works.
As an engineer I am just saying that I don't understand why we need to produce electricity from fossil fuels when we have the energy of the sun, wind, waves, geothermal, etc. all at our disposal, virtually for free, with very few negative effects on the environment.
Indonesia has an urgent problem. The country will need to produce a lot more electricity in the coming years. I am sure that engineers can resolve the problem the old fashioned way, at the expense of enormous air pollution.
I am also sure that engineers can also resolve the problem with renewable energy.
The initial investment costs will probably be a little higher (the government may want to subsidize), but the air quality will be a lot better for ever after.
Indonesia has to provide electricity to the population as it is. And, unfortunately, the problem is going to get much worse!
On average Indonesians currently only consume 10 percent of the electricity consumed by an average person in a developed country. In the next decades, therefore, Indonesia may need to build 10 to 15 times more electricity-generating capacity than currently installed.
This is where education becomes important, as you already said.
The public will need to decide whether they just want to keep on building more power plants that run on dirty fossil fuels (coal, oil) or whether they, as a nation, want to be as energy efficient as possible and produce their energy needs with much cleaner renewable energy.
Luckily the Indonesian people have the power of democratic election and, therefore, ultimately the politicians will be forced to do whatever the population wants. To me, making the change to renewable energy as early as possible, just makes good business sense.
Obviously, when not properly designed or installed in the wrong place, we can find disadvantages in all renewable choices. But then again there are far more disadvantages to keep on going down the fossil fuel route.
Koes Oomen
Jakarta
To the writer of the article:
I appreciate the observations that you made regarding the coal industry of today. It is rather disturbing 'that many projects already approved by the government could not go through as expected.
'Business people in the energy sector are no longer enthusiastic about investing in CBM projects' because the export tax element of 25 percent (by past records) and the stipulated production capacities for today (about 8.9 million metric standard cubic feet per day [mmcfd]) have reduced coal sales to a
minimum.
It's a shame that no definitive reasons were given and it has come to such a helpless situation without a glimpse of when the government will initiate higher production programs again. Waiting for the price of coal to increase? Can things change with a new President in place?
In 2002, I visited one of the mines opposite the Loa Janan district in Samarinda, I had to cross the River Mahakam and
travel about 2 kilometers by jeep to the interior before reaching the mine site.
At that time, coal was excavated by way of shaving the sides of the nearby hills ' one could see the rich seams of coal in symmetrical columns.
Yes, it's a fact that massive amounts of water are needed in coal mines where the crushed coal has to be washed (to free the gas) before loading onto the pontoons.
What I saw was that the water pumped from the Mahakam to wash the coal and the same water and tailings were directed into the same river!
No wonder, reports have it that the river mouth of the Mahakam is beyond saving.
For now, it looks like there is an ongoing stalemate with the coal mines, virtually without a direction.
Some reports indicate that coal in South Sumatra was sold to local villagers purely due to the continuous dipping of coal prices worldwide.
Until and unless the government takes steps to revive the industry, a lull will persist.
Luwanto
Jakarta
