Indonesia successfully conducted the Clean Coal Technology Workshop on 24-25 August 2016 in Cirebon, Indonesia. The workshop is a part of ASEAN Forum on Coal (AFOC)’s activities, and was organized by the Research & Development (R&D) Centre for Mineral and Coal Technology (tekMIRA).   Participation came from representatives of AFOC Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Lao PDR. The Workshop also invited speakers from Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL), Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), General Electric (GE), Green Science Korea, and the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE).

The Workshop aims to i) share knowledge with the AFOC’s Members, ii) improve the coal utilisation’s policy for mutual benefit among AFOC’s members, ii) increase the cooperation in the research, development and utilisation of clean coal technology (CCT) with the dialogue partners and international organisations, and iii) promote clean coal utilisation in the region.

During the Workshop, ACE gave an overview of the energy situation in ASEAN from the standpoint of ASEAN’s guiding policy document, the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016-2025.  Based on ACE’s 4^th ASEAN Energy Outlook, coal is forecasted to be the major fuel source for power generation until the 2035.  For that reason, ACE encouraged all the +3 Countries (China, Japan, South Korea) and the private sector to support the CCT development in the region. The CCT development is expected to contribute to the achievement of the new APAEC’s target: reducing the region’s energy intensity by 20% in 2020 based on 2005 level. (SBS, photo credit:  tekMIRA)