Indonesia aims to balance coal and forests
Reuters | 7 July 2008
FRANCE: Indonesia, the world’s number one coal exporter and a major greenhouse gas emitter, is struggling with conflicting green and growth aims. The world’s fourth-most populous country, with 226 million people spread across 17,500 islands, needs a substantial growth in electricity production to fuel economic growth. It wants to increase coal-fired electricity generation by over 40 percent in the next decade, cut emissions and preserve rainforests at the same time. Analysts doubt it can manage all three.
“Indonesia is not in a position to be reducing greenhouse emissions at all. Their coal-fired power plant construction programme is already under way and Indonesia is quickly expanding coal production to be able to supply its own growing domestic demand and exports” — Brian Ricketts, coal analyst at the Paris-based International Energy Agency
Indonesia’s energy-related CO2 emissions must rise because, according to government figures, its coal consumption is going to at least quadruple to 90-100 million tonnes a year by 2017. But while poised to boost its own emissions, in addition to exporting its own polluting coal, Indonesia is attempting to add a new income stream as a high earner of carbon credits if it agrees to be paid to preserve its forests. Until its coal-fired power initiative takes effect, Indonesia is a leading polluter due to deforestation, peatland degradation and forest fires, a World Bank report said. Environmentalists say that if these activities are taken into account it ranks as the world’s number three emitter of greenhouse gases. Deforestation accounts for 20 percent of man-made carbon emissions.
“Indonesia emits a rather modest 380 million tonnes CO2 a year from fossil fuels, the serious emissions are the ones from logging, burning and drainage of peatswamp forests: 2 billion tonnes a year CO2.” — Wetlands International
If the REDD initiative agreed at last December’s climate talks in Bali goes ahead, Indonesia could earn tens of billions of dollars annually. This would be a strong revenue stream in addition to perhaps $50 billion a year from coal exports in years to come.
