Hans Nicholas Jong, The Jakarta Post 14 Aug 15;
Increasing the number of coal-fired power plants (PLTU) from 42 to 159 will increase the risk of death from air pollutants in Indonesia from 6,500 a year in 2015 to 15,700 in 2024.
The government plans to add some 117 PLTUs in the next decade to meet the demand for more power.
A study conducted by Harvard University revealed that air pollutants from the burning of coal at 42 existing power plants resulted in at least 6,500 deaths per year from strokes, heart and lung cancers and other respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
The number will increase to 15,700 once the 117 new plants are constructed. The 117 new plants do not include other plants that the current government plans to install in its ambition to produce another 20,000 megawatts of energy. The ambitious project includes the construction of the controversial plant in Batang, Central Java, which continues to face protests from locals in he area.
“Emissions from coal-fired power plants form particulate matter and ozone. Both of these things are detrimental to human health,” Shannon Koplitz, a Harvard researcher from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences said during a presentation of the research earlier this week.
Koplitz said that coal burning is the number one source of mercury pollution in the world. Besides mercury, other dangerous substances include a fine particle called PM2.5, comprising dust, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, toxic metals such as timbale, arsenic, chromium, nickel and cadmium and ozone.
The dangerous particles were transmitted by the wind from the power plant sites to nearby areas. Based on wind speeds, the research showed that PLTU Jati B in Jepara, Central Java, for example, generated air pollution in Jepara, Pecangaan, Kembang, Karangsari, southern Semarang, Rembang, and eastern Rembang.
Air pollutants from PLTU Jati B, contributed to at least 1,020 deaths from the yearly total of 6,500. It is considered one of the biggest power plants that in the country.
The study also analyzed the impact of the controversial PLTU Batang in Central Java.
The Batang power plant is estimated to put at risk roughly 780 lives per year and could impact Pekalongan, Tegal, Semarang and Cirebon by 2020.
Harvard University and Greenpeace Indonesia conducted the study from 2014 to 2015. The methodology used in the survey compared the World Health Organization’s data of diseases caused by emissions in the country to characteristics of pollutants from the coal burning of 42 existing power plants to reach an approximate number of deaths stemming primarily from the emissions of coal-based power plants.
The 42 power plants include six on Sumatra Island, four on the Bangka Belitung Islands, 18 in Java, four on the Nusa Tenggara Islands, five in Kalimantan and five in Sulawesi.
Based on the study, Greenpeace recommended that Indonesia start shifting toward renewable energy sources to generate power. Currently, renewable energy, such as geothermal, solar, mini and micro hydro only contribute 1.25 gigawatts of power for the country.
“We can optimally use renewable energy 10 years from now only if the government provides supporting policies and implements stricter emissions controls,” Greenpeace Southeast Asia Head of Climates Arif Fiyanto said.
Separately, state-owned electricity firm PLN said that every coal-fired power plant project required an environmental assessment (Amdal) to get a green light. Therefore if a power plant was environmentally destructive, it would not pass the assessment.
“And they have to be approved by the government,” PLN corporate secretary Adi Supriono told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. “As for the report from the Harvard University, I don’t know about that so I cannot give any comment.” (rbk)
Coal-Related Death Toll to Climb, Warns Greenpeace
Erin Cook Jakarta Globe 14 Aug 15;
Indonesia's coal mining industry is set to generate cheap energy for millions — but with a very large human cost. (Reuters Photo/Dwi Oblo)
Jakarta. The international environmental NGO Greenpeace this week released a report slamming the effects of Indonesia’s coal power plants, offering a dire warning for the health of communities and environment around the plants and calling on the country to move toward more sustainable methods of generating power.
The “Human Cost of Coal Power” report used research provided by Harvard University combining both known levels of emissions from the country’s existing power plants and projections for the more than 100 plants currently in planning or construction stages.
“Air pollution is responsible for over 3 million premature deaths globally every year,” the report said. Of this figure, 6,500 deaths are in Indonesia.
Greenpeace predicts that each new 1,000-megawatt power plant will directly cause an additional 600 Indonesian deaths each year — resulting in a figure of 28,300 deaths across the archipelago annually.
The research found pollution emitted from these plants can contain toxic particles “including mercury, lead, arsenic and cadmium,” causing “increased risks of lung cancer, stroke, heart diseases and respiratory diseases” for communities in plant-impacted areas. Children, the elderly and pregnant women are most at risk of sustaining life-threatening illness and disease.
The report cites President Joko Widodo’s announcement, made shortly after he was elected last year, to expand Indonesia’s energy generation with a strong focus on coal power. Heralded by the business community as a boon for greater foreign investment, Greenpeace has condemned the move.
“[It] will clearly dramatically increase the existing estimate of mortality and mobility resulting from power generation,” the report said.
In addition to causing hundreds of “avoidable” deaths, the current energy policy puts Indonesia at odds with much of the rest of the world, which is moving toward sustainable, and ultimately more lucrative, methods of energy generation.
“The current plans to increase reliance on coal power in Indonesia directly contradict the global trend of recognizing the problems with fossil fuels and shifting to renewable energy.”
Greenpeace disputes government policy which argues that, for the millions of Indonesians living without ready access to electricity, coal-generated power is the best option to quickly and efficiently fill the gap.
Of the Joko-endorsed power plants, which are slated to generate an additional 35,000 MW by 2019, “over 65 percent will be built in Java and Bali” — areas in which “the electrification ratio reaches almost 100 percent.”
The NGO goes so far as to suggest the reliance on coal is in fact “unconstitutional,” quoting Article 28H(1) of the Constitution which “protects the right to a healthy environment.” By failing to provide robust clean air and pollution regulations the government has failed to meet its responsibilities to Indonesians, Greenpeace argues.
The report offers a number of recommendations to the energy sector, including stronger monitoring of emissions and violations of environmental standards and the shutting down of plants which fail to meet these standards.
Referring to its own estimates of increased deaths, Greenpeace calls on the government to pivot away from “dirty” methods of energy generation and focus instead on “renewable energy and the latest cutting-edge, energy-efficient solutions [which] enable us to keep the lights on without coals.
“Indonesia must cancel its plan to build more power plants.”
