Why Indonesia needs to move on from coal
A closer look at the disastrous effects of coal to the environment
The pursuit of economic growth has always come at the expense of energy efficiency and sustainability. Manufacturing process utilizes energy to transform materials into goods for satisfying and sustaining the overall quality of life. However, in the process of doing so, it uses an immense amount of energy that increases the consumption of coals. Consequently, the projection of energy caused by economic activities is accompanied by the increased rate of carbon emission. The aforementioned problem is particularly worrisome when a sizable population is taken into account, thereby multiplying the carbon emission rate corresponding to the large amount of energy needed. With more than 250 million people, such a problem is of a particular concern for Indonesia, where the increasing demand for electricity to generate economic growth has caused the rise of carbon emissions. This potentially jeopardizes the country’s fragile ecosystem. Hence, a sustainable energy alternative is needed and seems to be the most promising option.
A call for sustainable energy is urgently needed
Coal Deteriorates Air Quality
The suffocating pollution of coals are threatening lives
Using coal has the impact of forming hazardous pollutants such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. When combusting a coal, it produces those toxic chemicals, thereby polluting the air quality. This is because during the combustion process, coal’s carbon composition reacts with oxygen in the air that produces carbon dioxide. As a comparison, sustainable energy such as nuclear does not significantly release those harmful byproducts such as mercury, carbon dioxide, and many other harmful pollutants. The process of extracting energy from uranium, or known as fission, only produces steam. Hence, in most nuclear reactors, the by-product of electricity generation is water unlike pollutants found in conventional coal power plants.
With that said, generating electricity through coals with high intensity will release more of those toxic pollutants into the atmosphere. Such a harrowing situation is exactly what is happening in Indonesia, where the average economic growth of 5.4 percent has increased demand for electricity, subsequently escalating carbon emissions rate approximately by 5 percent annually.
Regrettably, the release of those pollutants will be absorbed by the clouds that will initiate acid rain capable of killing trees and plants and contaminating the soil and water sources such as lakes and reservoirs. In consequence, the people’s health is compromised. Multiple researchers have attributed the cause of birth defects and premature deaths in several big cities in Indonesia to air pollution and contamination of soil and water from acidic rain.
The difficulties of managing coal waste
Contamination of land and water jeopardizes people’s wellbeing
Waste management is an equally important aspect that needs to be considered by the government and society, as it will inevitably impact the surrounding environment. Given that the combustion of coals generates harmful pollutants, it is then no wonder that the residuals of the coals, known as coal ash, also release hazardous pollutants when they are stored in landfills and abandoned mines. However, the most worrisome part of this possible threat is the fact that coal residuals require large ponds to be disposed of, mainly due to the ashen state of the waste that can easily fill up spaces.
Moreover, the more electricity is needed, the more coals are combusted, therefore multiplying the amount of ash residuals to be disposed of. To further illustrate, a 1,000 megawatt coal power station produces 3,000 tonnes of waste annually, while a 1,000 megawatt nuclear power station produces only 3 cubic meter of waste. Nevertheless, the latter’s waste can be reprocessed and recycled, which has been done by countries such as France and Russia, and some waste can even be restored underground in canisters and sealed with rocks and clay (known as repository). Even though there is currently an ongoing process of recycling coal waste to be used as concrete materials, a research from University of Texas found that while it is possible to do so, not all of the ash is of high quality to serve such a purpose. Thus, with an incredible amount of waste generated, there will still be waste left in the disposal area.
Such a situation has become a glaring problem in Indonesia that it can no longer be ignored. The mounting coal waste from nearby thermal power stations in West Java, for example, has caused children and health-compromised adults to experience rashes and bronchitis due to the growing number of ash residuals being dispersed to the air. The clearing of land to open up more space for coal residuals has also contaminated the region’s water sources, making the water tastes salty and reducing the its quality. Although another alternative proposed by the government was to relocate the disposal area to another location, it will not stop the problem from persisting as the plant operator would have to clear new land for the new disposal place. Thus, the problem will continue; it is just that the victims will be of different communities. Departing from that, regions such as that in West Java can utilize sustainable energy that provides safer and better waste management systems that might become a permanent yet impactful solution to the problem.
Land Clearing for Coal Mining
Accelerating the already existing deforestation
Touching upon the problem of opening up lands for energy power plants, coals contribute to said problem. It is not the clearing of land for the power plants that is the most worrisome, but the expansion of coal mining places to be the biggest culprit of landscape changes. Coals need to be dug out from the ground, which comes at the expense of removing forests, prairies, and watersheds. Hence, the more energy coal power plants need to generate, the bigger the areas that will be swapped into places for coal mining, expanding the scope of damages. Even then, this expansion of coal mining does not correspond to a larger energy it produces. For comparison with other sustainable energy such as solar, coal fire only produces 15 GWh per acre of mined land, while a solar farm can generate 18 GWh per acre of land. Moreover, the land use of sustainable energy such as solar can be reduced by implanting solar panels at the top of high-rise buildings and houses, which save up spaces. Coal power plants, however, are not as flexible, where they need to clear lands to extract coals for producing electricity.
Land footprints are quite a serious concern in Indonesia that needs to be addressed, particularly because of the rapid declining rate of forests that are vital in sustaining the country’s ecosystem. In South Kalimantan, where majority of its once-forested areas were transformed into coal mines, has experienced a worsening instance of flood because of the lack of trees and the alteration of swaths that serve as watersheds. The recent disastrous flood in mid-January this year has seen more than 100,000 people being displaced. Even when the government encourages coal companies to rehabilitate their mines, the extent of damage they have inflicted on the surrounding ecosystem is too extensive that it may become irreversible. Hence, any additional land clearing should not be a burden that the country needs to bear, considering that other sectors such as agriculture, palm oil plantations, and biodiesel have accelerated the millions of hectares of forest loss in the country. Considering such a problem, the effort of sustainable energy development must take into account the options that have the least land footprints, while still generating sizable energy comparable to or more than that of coal.
Conclusion: Coal must be replaced
Towards a better living condition for Indonesian
The increasing demands for electricity have caused detrimental effects to the environment, especially given Indonesia’s over-reliance on utilizing coals to fulfill said demands. The erosion of soil quality, contamination of drinking water supplies, and the pollution of clean air have all impacted Indonesians. Hence, a sustainable energy alternative is needed to counter such problems. Instead of planning to build new coal power plants, the extensive damages that coal has inflicted on society should be an alarm for the government to halt such plan. It is no longer an affordable price that the country could pay, considering that by the year 2050, the country is targeting to achieve a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement. Otherwise, we will seal our fate in demise.
Written by Satria Aryawangsa, a sophomore at Universitas Gadjah Mada majoring in International Relations, with concentration on Global Politics and Security.
edited by Sandy Sanjaya, a European Master’s in Nuclear Energy student, with interest in energy, data science, and critical thinking.
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