Jakarta,- Indonesia Mining Association (IMA) Executive Director Hendra Sinadia said coal is still in demand amidst energy transition efforts.

He said that although the energy transition has been echoed, no one knows when coal will be replaced by green energy.

“The fact is that despite the news that many are leaving coal, demand continues to strengthen,” he said in CNN Indonesia's Money Honey Podcast.

Hendra said that the high demand for coal can be seen from exports which have continued to increase in the last five years. Therefore, he is optimistic that the coal business is still promising.

Although he does not know how long coal will last before it is replaced by green energy, he ensures that Indonesia's coal wealth is still large, and can even be used for the next 500 years.

Hendra said coal mining emissions are actually not that big. Pollution, he said, comes from steam power plants (PLTU).

“We from the association produce coal, yes, then coal is used by PLN, a power plant. Well, the pollution that many people see is from the power plant,” he said.

“So the point is how we reduce waste emissions from power plants, the PLN,” he said.

Hendra said the energy transition is how countries reduce dependence on coal, especially reducing carbon emissions. He said the energy transition can be done by using renewable energy in mining activities to reduce waste emissions.

He said coal companies have committed to reducing emissions gradually.

“We are already using biodiesel blends, so instead of diesel, diesel is blended, now 40 percent of the diesel mixture is biodiesel, which means we are reducing 40 percent of emissions from coal transport vehicles,” he said.

He said the key to making coal usable for hundreds of years is carbon capture technology. With carbon capture technology, the carbon that comes out or is generated from the power plant can be captured and planted again so that the emissions that come out can be suppressed.

Sources : cnnindonesia.com  May 06.24