Singapore Have No gas fields, But Prices Cheaper than RI

The price of gas in the country too expensive. It complained of a number of businessmen Textiles and textile products (TPT). Surprisingly, in Singapore the gas price is much cheaper than in Indonesia, whereas Singapore has no gas, he can also be a gas, imported from Indonesia.

For information, the price of gas industry in Indonesia touched US $ 8-10 per Million Metric British Thermal Units (MMBTU). More expensive than the price of gas industry in Singapore is around US $ 4-5 per MMBTU, Malaysia US $ 4.47 per MMBTU, Philippines US $ 5.43 per MMBTU, and Vietnam around US $ 7.5 per MMBTU. 

"We're the upstream industry, the gas consumption is very large, but upstream is still subject to price much more expensive than Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia," said Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Ade Sudrajat in the event Breakfast Meeting Industry Ministry , Jakarta, Monday (08/29/2016). 

Besides about gas, textile entrepreneurs also complain permission generator usage of EMR is considered burdensome to employers. 

"If we have a generator or generator itself must obtain permission from the EMR, permission hard. We use a generator for PLN can not love a guarantee electric flame continues. We are doing the purchasing generators that PLN can guarantee electricity. This unrest in the textile entrepreneurs," said Ade. 

These complaints, eventually making domestic textile manufacturers prefer imported yarn and fiber than their own production. 

"Finally finished snowball (snowball) as ultimately more fabric producers imported yarn and fiber, rather than domestic production. Because of what? Cheaper imports," he added. 

Expresses, costs for energy contributing 28% of the cost structure of the upstream textile industry such as plant fibers and yarns. 

"The energy of this gas in particular is most needed in the upstream textile. So backbone of the textile production process, but gas is expensive, but the cost structure to 28%," said Ade.

Read More

Aircraft N219 Made in Bandung Current Sign Testing Phase

After introduced to the public in November 2015 and then, the best original works of the children of Indonesia namely N219 is now entering a phase of the test or tests. Previously, the testing process is done using 4 units of prototype N219.

"Now begins the test for the structure. Starting with the wing structure static test, then the test development for the main landing gear," said Program Manager PTDI to N219, Budi Sampurno to detikFinance, Sunday (21/08/2016)

In addition, the PTDI engineers are conducting a static test article (TD1). PT DI also do the design and rig test dummy.

"Parallel with that makes document test requirements including the determination of strain gage, then test plan. Friends dround test to set the equipment for the test case by case. Starting from the last ultimate limit load," he said.

"If now friends synchronization actuator test again to try one first case, but not yet completed. To meet the load envelope are approximately 6 case," he said.

Related to the time of first flight or the first flight originally done in August 2016, Budi explained that there are some things that should be revised. As a result, PTDI do a retest before N219 made its maiden flight. When all the testing process proceeds smoothly, N219 maiden flight will be conducted at the end of 2016

"Keep in mind test requriment which are already in the Constitution DGCA (MoT) requested to be changed. What used by critical stress'm amended by critical load, so we make / revise the test requirements, test plan and modify whifel tree also defines the position of the actuator," he added ,

As is known, the N219 is a passenger aircraft with a capacity of 19 people. Propeller aircraft, the aircraft will be the original work of Indonesia when it passes the certification test. Airbus Group itself is willing to help PTDI to conduct testing and certification of N219.

Previously, engineers had given birth PTDI passenger plane propeller engined turboprop, N250. Designed plane when BJ Habibie failed to enter the certification process despite first flew economic crises since 1998. Now, N250 only become scrap metal and stored in PTDI headquarters in Bandung.
(Feb / feb)

Read More

This step Surviving Amid Sluggish Pertamina Oil and Gas Industry

PT Pertamina (Persero), a State-Owned Enterprises in the integrated energy sector, projects of oil and gas reserve ratio or the Reserve Replacement Ratio (RRR) to grow 200-400% per year to meet national energy needs.Natural production decline (decline) and the drop in world oil prices pose the greatest challenges Pertamina today.Bambang Manumayoso, Governance Team Leader (Transformation) Upstream Pertamina said various efforts were made, not only to survive today, but also how can still grow in the future. This is done because Pertamina is an arm of government must secure the national energy."Pertamina is Indonesian Flag Carrier. Pertamina, which according to the law, the only one who should maintain national energy security, both oil and gas and geothermal," said Bambang in Jakarta, Tuesday (16/08/2016).According to him, the efforts made by Pertamina today is the fall in production by using appropriate technology. In addition, Pertamina must also continue to explore to replace or add to reserves that had been produced."Pertamina's upstream strategy, namely how the production and Reserve Replacement Ratio (RRR) of oil and gas should go up, so the reserves that have been produced can be replaced with a new, higher reserves," said Bambang, who is also the Director of Development of PT Pertamina Hulu Energi.Pertamina projects of oil and gas production growth of 8% per year during 2015-2030. In the 2010-2015 period, the performance of the company's oil and gas production grew an average 6% per year with an average oil and gas reserves increased by 4.4% per year.Bambang said the other keywords to withstand the impact of falling oil prices is the cost of production per barrel. If in August 2014, the oil price was around US $ 70 per barrel, in February 2016 the price dropped to US $ 26 to US $ 27 per barrel."Pertamina has a big challenge. But with the efforts undertaken by Pertamina can still survive, although profits are also declining," he said.Therefore, said Bambang, who do Pertamina is to change the old paradigm that tends to 'Production at any Cost' to Creating More Values ​​(Production and Value of Investment) of all its assets.According to him, Pertamina continues to make the process of differentiation of all its assets, by using clustering of assets and asset portfolios so that it looks where that can provide the greatest value to the lowest impact. The gradation of each asset will be evaluated various attempts to do to be able to give a positive value for the company.Currently, the new business paradigm Pertamina upstream models continue to be intensified. Operationally such as, improved performance both in terms of volume and value, optimization of investment (Capex), undertake concrete actions for growth (especially Business Portfolio), implementation of the Operational Excellent on each of the projects have major implications for Pertamina, housekeeping sustainable business processes and development HR.Efficiency and rationalization programs are also being conducted, by lowering the cost per barrel. If the first few assets with operating cost over US $ 30 per barrel, it could be suppressed to below US $ 20 per barrel."Average has dropped all. Of that much we can a lot lower. So the reduced operational costs," he concluded.

Read More

Products in the US and Europe Embargo, Manufacturers AK-47 Log in to Business of Fashion

Kalashnikov, AK-47 weapons manufacturers, opening new business lines namely fashion to souvenirs. The latest, the arms manufacturer whose shares are majority owned Russian authorities have opened fashion stores that sell clothes to souvenirs with pictures displaying the icons, AK-47.

One of the outlets or boutiques newly launched Kalashnikov was in Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow.

In this kalasnikov Boutique, sold a variety of fashion products such as t-shirts with symbols of the AK-47. Here also sold a model of AK specifically for souvenirs.

Quoted from the BBC, Sunday (08/21/2016), Kalashnikov boutique opening measures undertaken as part of corporate expansion by selling a variety of fashion products to civilians.

"Kalashnikov is one of the most famous brand when people think about Russia. So we are proud to provide souvenirs with Kalashnikov brand to the public to take home," said Marketing Director Kalashnikov, Vladimir Smitriyev.

Embargo from the US and Europe Inspires Kalashnikov Sign Business Fashion

In 2014, the United States (US) and the European Union imposed a witness to Russia because Moscow assessed invaded Crimea region, Ukraine. As a result, the products of Russian origin such as AK-47s banned entry into Europe and America. However, before sanctions are imposed, as much as 70% of products sold AK rifle variants and exported to Europe and the US.

Now, Kalashnikov doing orientation change business with a focus on the domestic market. One way to survive, Kalashnikov went into the fashion business, 'military style' that sells clothing and accessories under the brand AK-47.

Kalashnikov targets to open 60 boutiques across Russia until the end of 2016.

Read More

Trump rattles industry with fracking position

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is stirring unease in the oil and natural gas industry with his remarks about hydraulic fracturing.

Trump supports fracking, but says towns and states should be allowed to ban the drilling practice. That position is at odds with industry groups and congressional Republicans, who say the practice is safe and should be permitted nationwide.

Oil industry representatives remain behind Trump, arguing he would be better for energy development than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, but his remarks about fracking have raised eyebrows. 
“It does show that although there’s all this talk about being a businessman, there is a lot of nuance when you’re talking about an industry that he’s not familiar with,” said one lobbyist who requested anonymity to speak freely about the Republican nominee. 

“I think that there is an education process that the candidate still needs to understand.” 

Trump’s comments on fracking came in an interview with the Denver television station KUSA. 
“I’m in favor of fracking, but I think that voters should have a big say in it,” Trump said in the interview. “I mean, there’s some areas, maybe, they don’t want to have fracking. And I think if the voters are voting for it, that’s up to them.” 

He said the country needs fracking, “but if a municipality or a state wants to ban fracking, I can understand that.”

An oil refining industry executive who also requested anonymity to talk about Trump said the comments were concerning. 

“He said states and municipalities,” the executive noted. “That’s a big leap, and I’m sure he doesn’t appreciate the big leap he just took.” 

“The hope from the industry perspective is that if [Trump] gets elected, he would surround himself with detailed-oriented folks, and we’d be able to at least work with them,” the refining official added. 

Trump’s position on fracking fits in with his broader election message, where he has often advocated moving power away from Washington. In the controversy over transgender bathroom laws, for instance, he has called for letting local communities and states make the decision.

“The oil industry probably doesn’t need to be afraid that a Trump administration would tackle fracking in a way that severely restricted production,” said Kevin Book, an analyst and managing partner at ClearView Energy Partners.

“Is he pro- or anti-oil? He’s pro-oil. He’s said as much,” he said. “But he’s not clearly going to support the oil industry in all of its requests.”

Opponents of fracking say the practice — which involves using high-pressured water to unlock oil and gas from rock — is dangerous and can pollute groundwater, soil and air. While those advocates have had little success outlawing the practice on the federal or state level, they have had success in passing bans on the local level. New York has even banned the practice statewide.

Industry representatives see local fracking bans, and political attempts to encourage them, as a major threat to the country’s growing energy production.

“Banning fracking means stripping American citizens of their personal property rights,” said Steve Everley, spokesman for North Texans for Natural Gas, an industry-backed group run by FTI Consulting to fight local fracking bans. 

“There's a reason why these bans have resulted in costly lawsuits, and unfortunately it's local taxpayers who are stuck with the bill.” 

Experts at the state level should be the ones to regulate the drilling practice, the industry officials say. 

“Developing oil and gas resources in Colorado can be a complex issue that doesn’t lend itself well to sound bites,” Dan Haley, president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said in a statement after Trump’s interview aired.

“In Colorado, the state Supreme Court has declared that local governments cannot ban fracking. Instead, the industry is regulated by the state under the most rigorous rules in the country.”

Even Colorado’s Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who has endorsed Clinton, opposes local bans on fracking.

“I don’t think he understands, completely, the issue,” Hickenlooper told The Denver Post after Trump’s comments. “But that’s not unusual for him.” 

Clinton also wants local communities to be able to ban fracking. But for the most part, the question of local control is handled by state governments and is not something the federal government can dictate. 

Trump has expressed strong support for fossil fuels. He used a May speech in North Dakota’s oil patch to rail against the energy policies of President Obama and Clinton, and promised billions of dollars of economic activity from new oil and gas production and a rollback of regulations. 

But some of his statements have also confounded the oil industry. He has promised to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline only if the United States could get “a piece of the profits,” has demonized oil as a “special interest” and said he supports the federal ethanol mandate. 

Overall, the industry isn’t holding its breath for a Trump or Clinton presidency. 

“Nothing against either candidate, but we all wish there were better candidates,” Scott Sheffield, head of Pioneer Natural Resources Co., said at a forum last week.

Read More

Tech industry, privacy advocates pressure Commission on export control bill

Technology industry groups are rushing to lobby the European Commission to change a draft bill, before it’s proposed in September, that would require export controls on surveillance products.

Companies are anxious that new, tougher export rules for a range of items, including biometrics and location tracking software, will clamp down on Europe’s technology industry and even push firms to move out of the EU.

The executive plans to require special licenses before companies export items that could be used to abuse human rights, according to a leaked draft proposal published on EurActiv.com two weeks ago.

But industry groups have warned that the new rules will make it harder to export a broad range of commercial products like telecoms equipment or smartphones.

“If you have additional Europe-instigated burdensome conditions that apply to European companies then clearly it puts them at a disadvantage,” said John Higgins, director general of DigitalEurope, a trade association that represents large internet companies like Google and Microsoft and national tech industry groups from EU countries.

Firms might choose to relocate to the United States, where there are laxer export rules, Higgins told EurActiv.

“It’s a given that the industry supports the aims of dual use export controls but the existing ones are fine. This is a backwards step,” he said.

The Commission’s trade policy unit DG Trade is handling the bill, which includes sweeping changes to a seven-year-old law on so-called dual use products that can be used either for military or civil purposes. Under the current law, companies need licenses to export products if they can be used to build weapons of mass destruction or violate a trade embargo. The new proposal adds a licensing requirement if exports can potentially harm human rights and includes a list of potentially harmful technology products.

Tech industry groups met with a member of EU Digital Commissioner Günther Oettinger’s cabinet last week to appeal for the new measures to be softened.

But at this point, Oettinger and other commissioners would have to delay the bill significantly if they want to make any big changes to the new measures, sources told EurActiv. The executive is expected to present the proposal in late September.

Industry groups say Oettinger is planning to meet with tech companies over the new export control measures in early September.

Pressure is also mounting on the Commission from national governments that want to get rid of the requirement for export licenses if a product can be used for human rights abuses.

Austrian, Finnish, French, German, Polish, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and UK diplomats circulated a memo, seen by EurActiv, asking the Commission to scrap the list of products that will be subject to EU export controls and instead broker an international agreement that involves countries outside the EU.

After the Commission proposes the bill, it will be negotiated between national diplomats and the European Parliament before being passed.

“Unilateral EU lists would be less effective, undermine the competitiveness of EU industry” and would not comply with existing EU weapons control law, the diplomats’ note reads.

“Targeted sanctions are the primary instrument to prevent the misuse of technology for human rights violations,” it continues.

The draft proposal has drawn criticism from privacy advocates as well.

London-based NGO Privacy International published a reaction to the leak earlier this week that called the measures to protect human rights a positive move. But the Commission’s proposal to require licenses for digital forensic tools could weaken cybersecurity technology, the group said.

“Like Intrusion Software, Forensic Tools can be used to enhance and improve cybersecurity, and by extension protect human rights globally, and must not be restricted when moving between international parties to remedy problems with IT systems,” Privacy International researcher Edin Omanovic wrote in a blog post.

Udo Helmbrecht, director of the EU cybersecurity agency ENISA, is at the extreme end of the export control debate.

During a meeting about encryption with the EU law enforcement agency Europol in May, Helmbrecht argued that a United States government policy in the 1990s backfired. By limiting exports of strong encryption, the US technology industry suffered commercially and encryption within the country was weakened, leading to security breaches and hacking attacks.

Helmbrecht insisted that governments should “refrain from limiting in any way the export of security features in computer software”.

Read More

From 0 to 100: Should an Accelerator Be Your Business Incubator?

For any business to flourish, time is an essential delimiter.

It is never easy to start from scratch and still power the organization into the pinnacles of profitability, at least not overnight.

Every entrepreneur must learn to be patient as resources need to be utilized in a proper manner for getting those desired results.

Moreover, it is all about the momentum when business growth is concerned as profits are usually elusive to begin with.

That said, an idea is what kick-starts any entrepreneurial crusade and not getting instantaneous results can dampen the spirits, initially.

There will always be business owners who are impatient and often on the lookout for quicker results. For all those and even the budding strategists, an accelerator might just be the right move.

However, I include "might" in my sentence for a plethora of reasons. While several accelerator-empowered success stories are enough to motivate us, some failures must also be analyzed before taking the plunge.

Accelerators in Detail

In simple words, an accelerator is an intensive program with short-term visibility and massive impacts, extremely beneficial toward providing growth resources to the businesses.

Organizational enhancements include networking, mentorship, education and even basic funding. Rather than looking for separate services a startup can just involve an accelerator, making things uncomplicated and necessarily less-expensive.

Most programs offered by the accelerator last for a few months targeting the less developed areas of the firm. To be precise, most accelerators are time bound and invest quick money into the concerned business. Most importantly, they derive profits from the company’s equity shares.

Approaching an accelerator program isn’t as straight-forward as it looks. Different standards are laid down by each alongside stricter requirements. Some accelerators are highly selective offering lengthy applications to fill in. Interviews are often conducted for zeroing in on the most eligible participants which can pay off the services, in days to come.

Admittedly, businesses in the modern era can benefit hugely from niche accelerators. This way resource allocation is highly specific and based upon the services offered by the organization. As for startups, it will be easier to bring in industry-specific essentials and get specialized for the given set of programs.

Advantages Accelerators Offer

Involving an accelerator is largely advocated by budding startups as incubators can often be necessary for growth. These benefits of an accelerator are most impactful to a startup:

Speed

For the impatient entrepreneurs, an accelerator might just be the perfect way out. These entities speed up the process only if your business strategies are viable enough. Most accelerators have a pre-defined approach when it comes to selecting the participants. That said, once the startups are chosen, services are rendered in a twinkling of an eye. It will only be a few months and the newly established organization will scale unbelievable heights.

Access 

Most organizations who are on their own, find it difficult to survive in this competitive market. Accelerators provide them with the required accessibility towards funding, customer base and even technology. Suppose we are planning to establish a tech startup, addressing smartphone issues. Even if funding is organized, an accelerator can still provide insights regarding the prospective customer base.

Similarly, for setting up an eatery, funding is indispensable and this is where an accelerator comes to rescue. Most of the resources are provided by the accelerators, including the motivational ones. Business stalwarts believe accelerators to be entities, offering mentorship directs, housing support and even manpower during the existing program.

Credibility 

Most startups lack credibility as they are new and often come with a clean sheet. Being associated with a reputed accelerator will surely enhance the credibility, pulling in more allies. This in turn helps grow the business network, building an extensive mesh, out of it.

Is the Accelerator in Sync With Your Goals?

Not every firm will need an accelerator to grow as the requirements and provisions are completely specific to the business goals. For example, a tech startup will require more networking provisions than say, a flower shop. While the compared businesses come with drastic variations, enrolling for different accelerator programs might just benefit both.

Moreover, using an accelerator is usually advisable to the companies who have just started their entrepreneurial journey. For the more established ones, focusing on the minimum viable product and other aspects like collateral, market proposition will be a better idea.

According to market experts, companies undergoing moderation for acceleration are often diverted from the original path of rendering services— reason being overemphasizing on the business incubator. Cumulative efforts, main reasons for starting the journey, are often ignored in due course of time.

However, since the inception of Accelerators, companies are constantly receiving huge benefits. Once we determine our position in the given arena, it is all about connecting to the individuals with similar experiences. This mantra of business growth is best exhibited by an accelerator.

Even if it takes us time to segregate our requirements, services from the accelerator can just leave a lasting impression and effect on our organizational fate. These entities are more like tools which give that initial push to your business— more like an overindulgent parent which believes in you. That said, overindulgence isn’t parenting anymore, it’s enabling.

Read More

French Muslims to create foundation to finance mosques

A new foundation will be created to help finance mosques in France and keep out radical benefactors, the head of the French Muslim Council said Monday.

Anouar Kbibech proposed the foundation would be used to fund the construction and running of mosques and would be financed by fees paid by actors in the halal food sector.

France, home to Europe's largest Muslim community, is a secular state that prohibits the use of state money for places of worship. Prime minister Manuel Valls said Sunday he wants to put an end to the financing from abroad for the construction of mosques.

"Almost all Muslims of France are attached to a serene, open, tolerant Islam and they are fully respecting the values and laws of the Republic," Kbibech said on LCI television.

After meeting Kbebich, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he wants the foundation to be launched in October.

The debate about the financing of mosques in France was revived by last week's slaying of an elderly priest in a Normandy church by two Islamic extremists. Some observers have suggested foreign influence over certain mosques and prayer rooms in France could encourage the radicalization of attendants.

Cazeneuve said 20 Muslim places of worship have been shut down in recent months due to radical views being exposed there.

"There's no room in France for those who call for and stir up hatred in prayer rooms or mosques and do not respect the principles of the Republic," he said.

He added the government is working on a way to guarantee "total transparency" in the financing of the mosques while at the same time "strictly respecting the secular principles of the Republic."

The French Muslim Council, the CFCM, is also working to improve the training of imams in France so that they have a better knowledge of the country's secular history and the institutions of the Republic, Kbebich said.

On Sunday, dozens of Muslims in France and Italy attended to Catholic Mass as a gesture of interfaith solidarity following the attack on the priest.

Read More

10 Tips for the First-Time Business Owner

I write Entrepreneur.com 's Young Entrepreneur column because I believe there are far too few resources directly addressing the nonacademic trials and tribulations young entrepreneurs face along their journey. Whenever possible, I encourage up-and-comers and established entrepreneurs to mentor the next generation of dream-seekers; for it is this insight and insider education that will provide the foundation for the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. With that, here are 10 pieces of advice that I wish someone had given to me before I launched my first venture.

1. Focus. Focus. Focus.
   Many first-time entrepreneurs feel the need to jump at every "opportunity" they come across. Opportunities are often wolves in sheep's clothing. Avoid getting side-tracked. Juggling multiple ventures will spread you thin and limit both your effectiveness and productivity. Do one thing perfectly, not 10 things poorly. If you feel the need to jump onto another project, that might mean something about your original concept.
2. Know what you do. Do what you know.
   Don't start a business simply because it seems sexy or boasts large hypothetical profit margins and returns. Do what you love. Businesses built around your strengths and talents will have a greater chance of success. It's not only important to create a profitable business, it's also important that you're happy managing and growing it day in and day out. If your heart isn't in it, you will not be successful.
3. Say it in 30 seconds or don't say it at all.
   From a chance encounter with an investor to a curious customer, always be ready to pitch your business. State your mission, service and goals in a clear and concise manner. Fit the pitch to the person. Less is always more.
4. Know what you know, what you don't know and who knows what you don't.
   No one knows everything, so don't come off as a know-it-all. Surround yourself with advisors and mentors who will nurture you to become a better leader and businessman. Find successful, knowledgeable individuals with whom you share common interests and mutual business goals that see value in working with you for the long-term.
5. Act like a startup.
   Forget about fancy offices, fast cars and fat expense accounts. Your wallet is your company's life-blood. Practice and perfect the art of being frugal. Watch every dollar and triple-check every expense. Maintain a low overhead and manage your cash flow effectively.
6. Learn under fire.
   No business book or business plan can predict the future or fully prepare you to become a successful entrepreneur. There is no such thing as the perfect plan. There is no perfect road or one less traveled. Never jump right into a new business without any thought or planning, but don't spend months or years waiting to execute. You will become a well-rounded entrepreneur when tested under fire. The most important thing you can do is learn from your mistakes--and never make the same mistake twice.
7. No one will give you money.
   There, I said it. No one will invest in you. If you need large sums of capital to launch your venture, go back to the drawing board. Find a starting point instead of an end point. Scale down pricey plans and grandiose expenditures. Simplify the idea until it's manageable as an early stage venture. Find ways to prove your business model on a shoestring budget. Demonstrate your worth before seeking investment. If your concept is successful, your chances of raising capital from investors will dramatically improve.
8. Be healthy.
   No, I'm not your mother. However, I promise that you will be much more productive when you take better care of yourself. Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle, not a 9-to-5 profession. Working to the point of exhaustion will burn you out and make you less productive. Don't make excuses. Eat right, exercise and find time for yourself.
9. Don't fall victim to your own B.S.
   Don't talk the talk unless you can walk the walk. Impress with action not conversation. Endorse your business enthusiastically, yet tastefully. Avoid exaggerating truths and touting far reaching goals as certainties. In short, put up or shut up.
10. Know when to call it quits.
    Contrary to popular belief, a smart captain does not go down with the ship. Don't go on a fool's errand for the sake of ego. Know when it's time to walk away. If your idea doesn't pan out, reflect on what went wrong and the mistakes that were made. Assess what you would have done differently. Determine how you will utilize these hard-learned lessons to better yourself and your future entrepreneurial endeavors. Failure is inevitable, but a true entrepreneur will prevail over adversity.

Read More

Porter: Can the coal industry be saved?

Donald Trump has promised to reopen coal mines and restore coal jobs. While anything is possible – this election certainly proves that – the odds aren’t on his side. If elected, Trump could certainly roll back some regulations. But the biggest problem the U.S. coal industry faces is an energy marketplace dominated by clean and inexpensive natural gas.

Thanks to the shale revolution, we have a vast supply of natural gas that only grows by the year. Natural gas is running circles around competition in the electricity marketplace. When used to generate electricity natural gas produces just half the carbon emissions of coal-based plants. Greater use of natural gas in place of coal is currently the centerpiece of U.S. carbon reduction efforts.

While we have heard little detail about Trump’s plan to help coal, we do know he is a outspoken proponent of “fracking,” the key technique used to produce oil and natural gas from shale rock. It’s rumored he’s eyeing Harold Hamm, the shale oil giant of North Dakota, as his energy secretary. A pro-fracking administration, that potentially makes it even easier and cheaper to produce shale gas, will likely do coal relatively few favors.

Furthermore, the damage done to coal’s U.S. market may be very hard to reverse. Consider that it was just 10 years ago that coal generated 50 percent of the nation’s electricity. Today, coal generates about 32 percent of our power and that percentage is likely to decline further. Natural gas for the first time has now surpassed coal as the nation’s largest producer of electricity.

Some 350 U.S. coal plants have been shuttered in just the past five years. These are plants that have either been closed for good or have been converted to burn natural gas.

New coal power plants, which would increase demand for U.S.-mined coal, aren’t coming to the rescue. Anti-coal environmental groups, led by the Sierra Club, have made it all but impossible to build a new coal plant in the U.S. Utilities have more or less given up – not a single new coal plant is planned.

On the other hand, there are some 1,500 coal plants planned or already under construction overseas.

Coal remains absolutely essential to energy needs from Europe to East Asia, but exports of coal, which seemed U.S. coal’s bright spot just a few years ago, have disappointed.

Our coal has to compete with exports from Indonesia, Australia and other coal-exporting countries often closer to buyers. The global coal market is also not what it once was, thanks largely to a slowing economy in China. As Chinese coal demand has tapered off so have prices for coal exports. China is the goliath in the global coal market, consuming as much coal as the rest of the world combined.

Trump, along with any candidate brave enough to promise a new day for American coal, faces an uphill battle. Certainly, Hillary Clinton has proven herself no friend of coal, or even other fossil fuels. But coal’s future seems less tied to the outcome of the election than it does to an energy marketplace awash in inexpensive natural gas.

One dynamic which bears watching is how much natural gas demand grows and, in turn, natural gas prices rise in the years ahead, which might help coal and renewables grow some.

For decades, the coal industry and coal miners provided the fuel to keep our lights on and our factories humming. They still play an important role in our economy today. The coal industry must not be maligned, nor forgotten. But our energy future, for reasons beyond the control of politicians, seems to be moving in a different direction.

Read More