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COAL BURNS BURMA: A COMPENDIUM ON DIRTY ENERGY POWER PLANTS AND MININGProject Maje
Introduction
In recent years, as Burma (Myanmar) has moved toward democracy a particular four letter word has repeatedly made an appearance in news stories on the country's commerce and environment: coal. Lignite coal (soft, highly polluting) is one of a vast array of minerals, from platinum to tin, mined in Burma. Two coal-fired power plants have been established in Burma, and many more are in the works, even as much of the rest of the world (including neighboring China) seeks to close down coal powered facilities and switch to better energy sources. Severe effects on the health and environment of communities near the Tigyit mine and power plant in Shan State and the Ban Chaung mine in southern Burma have been documented. There is very strong local opposition to the coal projects proposed in several regions. During the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, Burma was portrayed as innocent of contributing to Global Warming through emission of greenhouse gasses. There are relatively few petrol-using vehicles and little need to heat buildings. But Burma's rampant deforestation (the 3rd highest rate in the world, according to the 2015 Global Forest Resources Assessment) constantly decreases the country's role as beneficial forested "carbon sink." And a turn to coal fired power plants will drastically change the country's climate impact for the worse. This is particularly unfortunate when Burma has been identified as one of the nations most affected by Climate Change. According to Greenpeace, "Coal fired power plants are the biggest source of man made CO2 emissions. This makes coal energy the single greatest threat facing our climate." In 2015 the think tank Germanwatch ranked Burma second on its Global Climate Risk list due to extreme weather events from 1994 to 2013. Burma's vulnerabilities include disastrous floods and cyclones as well as fragile habitats, agriculture and watersheds. Respected weather expert Dr. Tun Lwin has warned against coal-fired power plants as a potential contributor to severe climate effects in Burma. This compendium includes links to news articles and reports in English from 2010 to March 2016 regarding coal mining and coal fired power plants in Burma. Links are also provided to some of the organizations opposing coal in Burma. Brief introductions about coal mining and coal fired power plants in Burma are provided, with lists of operating and pending coal projects. This material is intended as a convenient public resource for NGOs, INGOs, journalists and other researchers interested in Burma's environmental issues, energy sector and mining sector. Project Maje is not responsible for the content of any of the news articles and opinions cited in this report and does not vouch for the accuracy of any of them. Journalists and other researchers needing further information and advice regarding Burma's environmental issues can contact Project Maje. Project Maje is an independent information project on Burma's human rights and environmental issues, founded in 1986. Sketch map of approximate locations of coal mines and coal fired power plants and illustration sketches by Edith Mirante. Thanks for inspiration and information: Jared Naimark, Burma mining expert E.S., Margie Kircher and Regna Merritt. Thanks to Bruce for this website.
Burma's coal reserves were estimated at 489 million metric tons in 2011, with 692,000 metric tons produced that year, according to The Irrawaddy magazine (September 25, 2012.) Most coal mined in Burma is lignite, described by Sam Imphet of Asia Power Monitor in The Irrawaddy magazine (September 4, 2014) as "quite polluting low energy-value brown coal." Burma mining expert E.S. described Burma's coal reserves as "scattered all over the country, but nothing big enough to warrant large scale development." Coal deposits have been found in Shan, Karenni (Kayah), Kachin and Chin States and Sagaing, Magwe (Magway), Mandalay, Pegu (Bago) and Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) Regions. A map of Burma's past and present coal mines is included in the report "Poison Clouds: Lessons from Burma's Largest Coal Project at Tigyit" and a map of coal deposits can be found at: http://tractus-asia.com/myanmar-mining-risk-map/ In addition to open pit coal mines in Shan State, Sagaing Region and Tenasserim Region, dangerous small scale single-shaft coal mines, known as "rat holes" are in use in Magwe and Sagaing Regions. The Myanmar Times (August 19, 2015) reported, "Ko Kyaw Thet Win, chair of the Kalay-based [Sagaing] Upper Chindwin Association, said about 30 companies were mining coal unofficially, through a mixture of large- and small-scale operations. They produce tens of thousands of tons a month, he said. Only three of these companies are officially permitted to mine, he said. The rest have exploration permits that they use as a pretext to mine."
During their decades of misrule, Burma's military overlords never prioritized providing sufficient or reliable electricity. Power outages remain common, even in cities. Rural areas mostly do without electricity. According to Mizzima News (May 14, 2015): "Myanmar's current overall generating capacity is no more than 5,000 megawatts, and the electricity reaches only 25% of the country's population." The Irrawaddy magazine, (May 21, 2015) has reported: "Burma's current energy mix sees 69 percent of electricity generated from hydro-power sources, 29 percent from natural gas and just 2 percent from coal." Portable generators are very common for running lights and electrical appliances/machinery and cooking is often done on charcoal or wood fires. With new interest in attracting manufacturing for export and domestic products, electricity has become more of a priority in recent years. Foreign companies have been eager to invest in infrastructure, especially that which facilitates resource extraction. This has led to a heightened interest in coal as a power generating source, and coal fired power was emphasized in the outgoing government's 2016 Energy Master Plan. According to the Myanmar Times (February 2016), "By 2030, [the Energy Master Plan] targets the following energy mix: 33 percent biomass, 22pc oil, 20pc coal, 13pc gas, 11pc hydro and 1pc renewable energy." This extraordinarily misguided focus on coal would require a massive investment in power plant construction. It would also require importing coal on a huge scale to fuel those power plants. Burma cannot produce enough coal -- and does not have the right type of coal -- to generate the ramped up power sourcing proposed. So Burma would need to obtain coal from Indonesia, Australia, South Africa or other countries. Plans call for Burma to import coal for a power plant in Arakan at Kyauk Phyu even though a major natural gas export terminal using Burma's offshore gas reserves is nearby. Quoted by Narinjara News (May 7, 2015), local activist Nay Oo Htin Lin said: "The gas extracted from Kyauk Phyu can supply the whole country, [but] they do not use gas [for the power plant], they use coal instead." U Tun Kyi, the secretary of the Association for Rural Development in Kyauk Phyu said: "There is surplus gas in Arakan State. Do we need a coal fired power station? In other countries, they are planning to reduce coal fired power plants, but they are trying to use it [coal] in Kyauk Phyu. We do not need to use it in my opinion." Burma would need to greatly increase capacity of ports and roads to enable importing enormous amounts of coal. Just two of the proposed power plants, in Mon State and Tenasserim region, would require importing 10 million tons of coal per year, according to energy industry sources, The Irrawaddy magazine reported (September 4, 2014.) For most of the proposed coal fired power plant projects, connection to Burma's limited national power grid, or that of neighboring Thailand would be difficult. Increased coal fired power generation would also require vast amounts of water and limestone. Nonetheless, such large scale construction projects, no matter how impractical, useless or damaging in the end results, are always popular with multinational business interests and corrupt politicians. In early 2016 the World Bank stated that it would not fund any coal fired power plants in Burma, instead emphasizing renewable energy sources and improving the power grid. In contrast a pro-coal influence has been the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which promotes the use of "clean coal" technology and helped to draft a National Electricity Master Plan allocating 33% coal generated power. Despite attempts to sell the public on "clean coal" the communities potentially affected by proposed coal fired power plants have voiced mistrust that Japanese technology could be properly implemented in Burma. Win Myo Thu, director of EcoDev environmental group was quoted by The Irrawaddy magazine, (May 21, 2015): "People will be worried; although the ministry makes clean [coal] claims, that same electric ministry is struggling to solve [basic] problems like electric shocks from wires. Will the public believe the ministry will take responsibility if the clean-coal turns out to be dirty?" Communities and organizations in Burma are increasingly well-informed and vocal about the effects of coal fired power plants. In a Mizzima News interview (January 7, 2016), Devi Thant Cin of the Myanmar Green Network explained: "Climate change may cause heavy rains or less rain (in part) due to gas emitted from coal-fired power plants. This will have negative impacts on the agriculture sector. Industrial emissions include dangerous chemicals such as lead and chromite. It can create diseases in lungs and heart, cause cancer and asthma. Excessive amounts of poisonous particles in the air will cause early death."
Coal fired power plants in operation:
Proposed/pending coal fired power plants include:
Cancelled coal fired power plant projects:
Background information on coal, with international scope, is provided at the EndCoal.org website, including interactive maps of power plants and debunking the myth of "clean coal": http://endcoal.org/ The Sierra Club "Dirty Coal" website contains background information on the effects of coal, including climate change, mercury pollution, waste heaps, health effects, and more. The content relates to conditions in the United States; Burma, without a similar regulatory structure would be far worse affected: http://content.sierraclub.org/coal/dirty-coal Greenpeace on coal and Climate Change: www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/coal/ A detailed report by Physicians for Social Responsibility, "Coal's Assault on Human Health" is available at: www.psr.org/resources/coals-assault-on-human-health.html Burma's coal mines should be abandoned and reclaimed rather than expanded. Well-researched reports have described waste heaps, landslide danger, water and air pollution, effects on human health, agriculture, wildlife and rivers from the coal mines of Tigyit in Shan State ("Poison Clouds: Lessons from Burma's Largest Coal Project at Tigyit" Pa-Oh Youth Organization and Kyoju Action Network) and the Ban Chaung mine in Tenasserim Region ("We Used to Fear Bullets -- Now We Fear Bulldozers" Tarkapaw Youth Group, Dawei Development Association and Tenasserim River & Indigenous People Networks.) Regarding the Ban Chaung mine, the report by TYG and DDA states, "East Star Company has dumped mining waste directly into the streams, causing fish to die off and local people to fall sick with troubling skin diseases. Uncontrolled coal fires, spontaneously combusting in waste and storage piles, have caused breathing problems in the community." The "Poison Clouds" report has also served as a warning against coal fired power plants, with its documentation of the pollution from the facility at Tigyit. Local groups and individuals throughout Burma have been steadily raising awareness of the potentially disastrous effects of coal fired power plants, in response to the efforts of the government and companies to promote coal energy. Experts have repeatedly pointed out that the reliance of coal fired power plants on imported coal from Australia, Indonesia, South Africa or elsewhere makes them an extremely poor choice for Burma. Aung Myint, secretary of the Renewable Energy Association Myanmar was quoted by Eleven Media (January 6, 2015): "The construction of coal-fired power plants by the Ministry of Electric Power violates the National Energy Policy (NEP.) The National Energy Management Committee has set a nine-point policy. The first point says the country must rely on local resources. The country does not have sufficient coal for power generation. This goes against the first point, as Myanmar will have to import it. The policy also says the country shall better manage local resources that are available. Energy must be 'sustainable energy.' The country must encourage the use of renewable energy sources. There should be energy efficiency."
At the state/region level, many politicians have shown courage in opposition to coal, notably in the Mon State Hluttaw (Parliament) which has vowed to prevent the Ye power plant project. In Irrawaddy Region several Members of Parliament from different parties have worked together against two coal fired power plants. One of those projects belongs to a company owned by Aye Kyi, a former Member of Parliament who lost his position in the 2015 national election. Some of Burma's armed groups with a long history of fighting for ethnic rights have opposed coal projects. The New Mon State Party has pledged to help prevent the Ye Township coal fired power plant. "It has already been 56 years [that] our party [the NMSP] [has been] fighting for equality and self-determination, and it has also sacrificed for the people very much. And now, it will oppose the project that the public does not want, and it will stand along with the public," NMSP Tavoy District Chairman Nai Aung Ma-ngae told a public meeting in 2015 (Independent Mon News Agency, January 5, 2015.) In contrast, the Karen National Union, engaged in armed struggle from 1949 to a 2012 ceasefire, has enabled the notorious Ban Chaung coal mine in Tenasserim Region. The KNU's Mergui-Tavoy District 4th Brigade in 2011 granted coal mining rights to Eastern Star, a Thai company, joined by Thai Assets Mining Company and Mayflower Mining Company from Burma. The companies confiscated farmland for a 60 acre open pit coal mine. They have sought to expand the mining operation to as much as 2,100 acres. After local villagers protested, the KNU's Mergui-Tavoy District ordered a suspension of the Ban Chaung coal mine in January 2014, but that was ignored by the companies. Villagers blockaded roads used by Eastern Star's coal mining operations in November 2014. Eleven Media quoted a Karen civil society activist: "Locals do not approve of the project at all. They voiced their objections at the company's meeting last month. Nonetheless, the company keeps going. Therefore, the locals blocked two roads that link the project to surrounding towns. However, KNU soldiers cleared the path that leads to Thailand for coal transport. The KNU continues to provide security for the project." (November 20, 2014.) "Despite mining operations falling in the armed group's control area, the KNU has regularly deflected accountability for the project," The Irrawaddy magazine reported (October 30, 2015), adding that "Thant Zin of the Dawei Development Association told The Irrawaddy that villagers had attempted to petition the ethnic armed group at least five times to stop the project since 2013 without receiving a response. On some occasions, the KNU told villagers to seek redress from the Burmese government and the Ministry of Mines, who in turn referred the villagers back to the KNU." This has been an inexcusable violation of trust by the KNU leadership at its top levels as well as in Mergui-Tavoy District. As the KNU officials are Christian, they might self-examine with Mark 8:36: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" The true heroes these days are the grassroots organizers, environmental activists, farmers, fishing people, shopkeepers, laborers and other extraordinary ordinary citizens who are banding together to investigate, publicize and protest coal in Burma. Most of them do not have electricity in their own homes (unless from portable generators) but they still consider electricity from coal completely unacceptable. From the upper reaches of the Chindwin River to the southernmost tip of the Tenasserim Region, existing and proposed coal projects are being resisted with enormous creativity and bravery. Previous generations have grown up under military rule, so civil society and the right to protest are new in Burma, and often at high risk. Yet communities large and small are rejecting the coal companies' pollution and land-grabbing.
The Irrawaddy magazine described a crowd of over 5,000 protesting a proposed coal fired power plant in Andin village, Ye Township, Mon State: "Garbed in traditional longyi and white shirts, demonstrators against the Thai-backed coal plant gathered at a field in the middle of the village, brandishing placards which declared the proposal to be against the wishes of the local population." (May 5, 2015.) A representative of the Sierra Club visited the area later that year: "After a 10 hour overnight drive from Yangon, we finally arrive in Andin Village. It is starting to rain, turning the red dirt roads into mud, but we can't miss the large 'No Coal' sign in Burmese, English, and Mon... Nearly every house in the village has a "No Coal" sticker in the three languages -- distributed as part of a survey of local opinions about the project. Out of 1,300 households, we are told only one refused to place a sticker on their home. The rest display their opposition on their homes, cars and motorbikes." (Sierra Club Compass, July 17, 2015.) As well as street demonstrations and road blockades, Burma's grassroots participation in the fight against coal includes public meetings, education campaigns, petitions and networking. These efforts have resulted in coal fired power plants being canceled (Tavoy Special Economic Zone) or de facto suspended. Burma's people are raising their voices. The country's power elites and the rest of the world need to listen to them. Multinational companies involved in Burma's coal fired power plant schemes are from Thailand, Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore and Indonesia. They include such household names as Mitsubishi, Marubeni, Tata and Daewoo as well as the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. Thailand has a long history of committing environmental crimes in Burma which would not be tolerated by Thailand's own people. The multinationals are exhibiting predatory behavior, their typical modus operandi, by selling Burma on an expensive, filthy, imported energy source disguised as a cheap and "clean" one. The people of Burma, whether Shan, Mon, Karen, Tavoyan, Burman or any other ethnic groups, are very capable of seeing through the lies that are being used by Burma-based and multinational companies to promote coal. "In Japan, clean-coal technology doesn't mean pollutants are not produced. In the long term, it is best not to use coal," observed Thant Zin of the Dawei Development Association (The Irrawaddy magazine, May 21, 2015.) Nai Min Htaik, a resident of proposed coal fired power plant site Andin village, commented: "If possible, please let our region grow naturally -- until the world's end... just don't come destroy our region." (The Irrawaddy magazine, October 12, 2015.) Throughout Burma, local opposition to mining/energy is so consistent that coal can serve as a litmus test of the government's responsiveness to public concerns. If the waste heaps of Burma's coal mines burn on and power plants keep firing up with imported coal, spewing toxicity and greenhouse gases, how will Burma be considered a modern democracy that respects the welfare of its citizens and the world?
There are many Burma based NGOs working to stop coal mining or coal fired power plants. Those mentioned in the linked articles and reports (including one Thailand based group) are listed here, with contact information if available: Association for Rural Development in Kyauk Phyu Ayeyarwady West Development Organization Ban Chaung coal campaign Beautiful Beach Development Network BeautifulLand Burma Rivers Network Dawei Development Association Eco Dev 88 Generation Peace and Open Society The Foundation for Ecological Recovery Hark Mong Kok The Human Rights Foundation of Mon Land Inn Din Youth Network Kyoju Action Network (KAN) Magwe Multi-Stakeholder Group Mon Youth Forum Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA) www.facebook.com/DrTunLwinMCCW/ Myanmar Green Network Pa-Oh Youth Organization (PYO) The Rakhine Social Association Renewable Energy Association Myanmar (REAM) Shan Social Organisation Takapaw Youth Group Upper Chindwin Association Upper Chindwin Youth Network Ye Social Service Ye Township Social Society Group
Links to Articles and Reports about Combined Coal Mines + Coal Fired Power Plants:
"Poison Clouds: Lessons from Burma's Largest Coal Project at Tigyit" report, Pa-Oh Youth Organization and Kyoju Action Network, January 2011 "Shan Coal Mine Affecting Local Health, Report Says" Ko Htwe, The Irrawaddy, January 20, 2011 "Shan State Coal Mine Brings Misery for Villagers, Environmental Degradation" Suthep Kritsanavarin and Paul Vrieze, Unearth, November 2015
"Coal miner Bukit Asam Invests $80m in Myanmar" Jakarta Globe, March 25 Links to Articles and Reports on Coal Mines (listed by location, with general articles at the end):
"Sagaing Coal Deals Inked" Juliet Shwe Gaung, Myanmar Times, January 31. 2011
"Protest Against Cross-border Road Project" Hseng Khio Fah, Shan Herald Agency for News, July 17, 2009 "Mammoth Coal Mine Planned for Mong Kok" Courier Information Service, July 20, 2010 "Save Mong Kok from Coal" report, Hark Mong Kok, July 2011 "Burma Coal Mine Spells Disaster for Environment" Ko Htwe, The Irrawaddy, July 25, 2011 "Local People Protest Coal Mining in Eastern Shan State" Phanida, Mizzima News, July 25, 2011
"Petitioners ask Shan Armed Group for Help in Halting Coal Mine" "Impasse Over Coal Mining Protest in Shan State" Phyu Phyu Zin, Mizzima News, January 15, 2015
"Villagers Concerned About Long-term Effects of Coalmining" Nan Thoo Lei, Karen Information Center, February 25, 2013 "KNU Withdraws Coalmine Permit After Protests" "Dawei Residents Decry Arrival of Companies Following Ceasefire" Lawi Weng, The Irrawaddy, November 13, 2013 "In Tenasserim Hills, Rise in Mining Threatens Communities" Paul Vrieze and Htet Naing Zaw, The Irrawaddy, February 5, 2014 "KNU Defends Coal Mining Project Despite Local Opposition" Eleven Media, "Tenasserim Coal Mining Stokes Ire of Local Villagers" "We Used to Fear Bullets -- Now We Fear Bulldozers" report, Tarkapaw Youth Group, Dawei Development Association (DDA), and the Tenasserim River & Indigenous People Networks (Trip Net), October 2015 "No Response, No Accountability for Tenasserim Coal Mine Damage" Sean Gleeson, The Irrawaddy, October 30, 2015 General: "Mines Ministry Finds 495 Coalmine Deposits; Much More Potentials" "Workers Put Lives at Risk Inside 'Rat-Hole' Coal Mines" Khin Su Wai, Myanmar Times, August 19, 2015
"Coal Fired Power Plant Planned for Arakan State" December 10, 2015
"Government Accused of Blocking Debate Over MP's Coal-fired Plant" Aung Kyaw Myo, Eleven Media, "Irrawaddy Division Residents Concerned After Officials Discuss Coal Plant" Salai Thant Zin, The Irrawaddy "Irrawaddy Division Minister Says No Coal Power Without Public's OK" Salai Thant Zin, The Irrawaddy, November 25, 2014 "After Locals Block Coal Plant Survey, Mitsubishi Promises Japan Study Trip" "Irrawaddy Division Coal Power Plant Grounded on Local Pushback" Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy, July 6, 2015 "In Idyllic Delta Locale, Locals Hope Proposed Power Plant Stays Grounded" Lawi Weng, The Irrawaddy, December 14, 2015 "Coal Threatens to Rock the Boat Among Delta Islanders" Nang Seng Nom, The Irrawaddy, January 7, 2016
"Plans for Coal-Fired Power Plant Face Opposition in Mon State" Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy, April 28, 2014 "Locals Oppose Building of Ye Township Coal-fired Power Plant" Independent Mon News Agency, May 31, 2014 "Opposition to Pioneering Coal Power Plant in Mon State Persists" Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy, June 10, 2014 "Mon Government Pressures Thai Energy Giant" Democratic Voice of Burma, September 9, 2014 "Mon State Government Won't Allow Survey for Coal-fired Power Plant" Independent Mon News Agency, September 10, 2014 "Hundreds Protest Against Planned Power Plant in Mon State" Democratic Voice of Burma, December 14, 2014 "NMSP Stands with Locals in Opposition against the Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plant" Katies, Mon News Agency, January 5, 2015 "Mon Rebels Prohibit Controversial Coal Plant" "Mass Protest Held Against Mon State Coal Plant Proposal" Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy, May 5, 2015 "Police Question Protestors Opposed to Inn Din Power Plant" Independent Mon News Agency, June 24, 2015 "Locals Show Support for Arrested Power Station Protesters" Independent Mon News Agency, June 30, 2015 "Myanmar Villagers Stand United Against Coal Plant" Nicole Ghio, "Locals Call on MIC to Halt Anndin Coal-fired Project" Independent Mon News Agency, August 31, 2015 "Coal Power Study Trip Gets Poor Marks From Mon Villagers" Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy, October 12, 2015 "Government Ignores Local's Views on Anndin Power Plant" Independent Mon News Agency, October 13, 2015 "Official Vows to Suspend Plans for Controversial Power Plant in Mon State" "Mon Groups Demand Toyo-Thai Coal Plant Suspension" Moe Myint, The Irrawaddy, March 10, 2016
"Over 4,000 Signatures Collected to Oppose MCL's Coal-fired Plant" Kalayar, Independent Mon News Agency, February 3, 2016 "Thai Cement Giant Tackles Mon Coal Fears" Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times "MNP Opposes Coal-fired Power Production" Wonsa Mon, Independent Mon News Agency, March 1, 2016 "Local Fishermen Entreat Mon State Hluttaw to Solve destruction of Attaran River by Coal Tankers" Global New Light of Myanmar, Myitmakha News Agency, March 11, 2016
"Improved Electricity for Yangon Industry" Myo Myo, Myanmar Times, March 22, 2010
"Govt Ploughs Ahead With Chindwin Power Station Despite Setbacks" The Irrawaddy, August 13, 2013 "Kalay Residents Rally to Demand Power from National Grid, not Coal Plant"
"Environmentalists Voice Concerns about Tavoy" Lawi Weng, The Irrawaddy, December 6, 2011 "4,000-MW Power Plant Project Cancelled in Dawei" Min Thet, Mizzima, "Italian-Thai to 'Renegotiate' After Myanmar Cuts Coal Plant" Daniel Ten Kate, Bloomberg News, January 11, 2012 "Coal-fired Power Plant Plan May Be Reborn" Mizzima News, March 1, 2012 "Egat Chief Looks to Start of Coal-fired Power Plant in Dawei by Year-end"
"Locals Protest Against New Power Plant" Naw Noreen, Democratic Voice of Burma, October 16, 2012 "Kawthaung Residents Claim Coal Plant Causes Health Problems"
"Protestors Condemn Plan for Coal-fired Power Plant" Mizzima News, January 14, 2014 "Thai Power Plant Awaits Approval in Myeik" Bangkok Post, July 28, 2015 General: "Is this the wrong century for coal to be king in Burma?" "Myanmar Domestic Energy Demand: Coal Over Oil and Gas to Fuel Electricity Production" Sophie Song, International "New Electricity Bill Stresses Environmental Protection" Peter Aung, Democratic Voice of Burma, January 12, 2014 "Thai-backed Power Plants in Burma Face 'Difficulties' Getting Coal" William Boot, The Irrawaddy, September 4, 2014 "Government Advised to Avoid Coal, Mega Dams in Energy Strategy" Nilar, Eleven Media, September 19, 2014 "Ministry Mulling 11 Coal-fired Power Plants, None Approved Yet, Official Says" Eleven Media, October 24, 2014 "Efforts to Develop Coal-fired Power Plants Violate NEP" Eleven Media, January 6, 2015 "Expert Warns of Coal Power's Health Costs" Eleven Media, February 2, 2015 "Myanmar May Need to Compete for Supplies as Region Turns to Coal" Gordon Brown, Mizzima News, May 14, 2015 "Government Defends Plan to Ramp-up Reliance on Coal" Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy, May 21, 2015 "Coal Power Projects to be Delayed" Aung Shin, Myanmar Times, September 1, 2015 "Coal Set to Dominate as Myanmar Mulls Energy Strategy" Ed King and Thet Htoo Aung, Climate Change News, October 28/2015 "'We Do Not Accept the Government's Clean Coal Technology'" Kay Zon Nway, Myanmar Now and Mizzima News, January 7, 2016 "Myanmar Targets Big Jump in Coal-fired Power Plants" Mizzima, January 20, 2016 "Coal Power Central to Government Energy Plans" Aung Shin, Myanmar Times, February 8, 2016 "Keeping it Clean: Renewable Energy a Better Way for Myanmar" David Fullbrook, The Irrawaddy, February 18, 2016 "Messages from Myanmar: Our Villages Aren't Built on Coal (Seminar Report)" Mekong Watch, February 25, 2016 "World Bank Refuses to Fund Coal Power" Eleven Media, February 28, 2016 "Myanmar Govt Suspends 68 Projects, Waiting for New Administration"
Project Maje
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Contents:
With the impressive array of superior energy options for Burma, including solar, wind, small scale (not large or mega) hydro, and even the lesser evils natural gas and biomass (agricultural waste), coal should be completely taken out of the picture for the country's future.
National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had stated in a 2012 speech, "[Burma] is rich in energy resources, but also needs investment. We look for responsible investment that is not only sensitive to the environment, but also secures the future of our country. We need to learn more about handling our energy resources. [Burma] also needs an effective energy policy." (India Today, November 15, 2012.) As the NLD, having won the 2015 national election, takes office, it remains to be seen how the National Energy Policy will be implemented and whether or not Burma's Electricity Master Plan goal of 33% coal generated power will be reallocated to less destructive sources.
Democratic Voice of Burma reported on a march in Kawthaung town, Tenasserim Division: "The protesters led by members of the Democratic Party (Myanmar) and All-Mon Region Democracy Party held placards that read: 'No to the Coal Power Plant' and 'Bring Us Sustainable Energy.' 'The coal plant is located in a residential area and all the smoke and dust coming out from it could be very harmful to the local population,' said the DPM's Divisional Campaign Coordinator Than Htun. Local residents previously had sent a letter to President Thein Sein and also carried out public awareness campaigns, but the government wouldn't respond to them anyhow so they are now staging a protest." (October 16, 2012.)
