Indonesia relies heavily on coal, but China no longer favors overseas coal power—the energy poor get caught in between.
Category: Energy
Triptych from the burning land
A documentary film on artisanal coal mining in Muara Enim, South Sumatera, Indonesia.
Vung Ang and Suralaya: So far yet so close in experience
The plight of two communities in Indonesia and Vietnam are connected to the political and economic calculations of a player thousands of kilometers away: South Korea.
Global race for electric car components is threatening indigenous peoples in North Maluku
Indonesia is keen to benefit from the global demand for nickel but seems to be ignoring the social and environmental impact of mining it.
Life and death in Muara Enim, Indonesia’s “dirty energy barn”
In Muara Enim, Indonesia, not only is coal mining not going away, it’s the only livelihood many people know. Meanwhile, a state-backed coal company hardly tolerates locals’ artisanal mines.
In coal-hungry Indonesia, dirty fuels are made ‘renewable’
Indonesia targets zero carbon emissions by 2060 but the country is still heavily dependent on dirty energy, and policies are not friendly to the development of renewable energy.
IKEA and Rockefeller foundations launch initiative to fund renewables distribution
The initiative aims to reduce 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions and improve 1 billion lives by kick-starting post-pandemic economic recovery and enabling emerging economies to leapfrog to renewable energy.
South Korea faces a public reckoning for financing coal plants in Indonesia
Residents in Indonesia’s Suralaya are dealing with respiratory ailments and declining fish catches. They blame the South Korea supported power plants. Despite protests, the Jokowi government plans to expand coal-fired power projects.
Indonesian journalists cover impacts of Chinese investment
Access to information and data, resources, are some of the challenges faced by journalists when reporting on social and environmental impacts There needs to be a change in the current form of collaboration
Pollution and foreign debt: Indonesia’s unhealthy addiction to coal
This story was first published by China Dialogue on 14 April 2021. Over the years, married couple Edi Suriana and Masitah have grown accustomed to the great smokestacks that emit a constant plume of thick smog a few hundred metres from their home. The stacks belong to the Suralaya coal plant on the westernmost edge of the […]