New hydrogen devt to promote green energy
KUCHING: The Sarawak government will embark upon a new hydrogen-related development in a bid to promote green energy so as to earn carbon credits, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said he would make an announcement on the matter within this month, disclosing only that it was about investments on hydrogen-related projects.
“People want to invest in hydrogen (projects) in Sarawak. With this, you can promote green energy and earn carbon credits,” he said when closing the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) Special Convention 2020 at the party's headquarters here yesterday.
It is learnt that if a project can quantifiably and repeatedly produce less greenhouse gases than the current alternative, it will be eligible to earn carbon credits.
A carbon credit is a tradable certificate, or permit, that gives the holder the right to emit, over a certain period, carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. Carbon credits were created as an answer to the need for controlling emissions, and as an attempt to reduce the emission of greenhouse and harmful gases coming from industrial activity.
Last year, Sarawak launched its first Integrated Hydrogen Production Plant and Refueling Station for the state's Green Energy Agenda. The facility is also the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.
The facility, built by Sarawak Energy Berhad, includes a plant that produces hydrogen through an electro-chemical process called electrolysis, as well as a refueling station for the state's first hydrogen fuel cell electric buses owned and managed by Sarawak Economic Development Corporation.
Abang Johari, who is Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman, pointed out that the upcoming hydrogen development would be part of the state's economic restructuring process amidst the challenges posed by the current Covid-19 pandemic.
He said it would also be in tandem with Sarawak's agenda of emerging as the most developed state in Malaysia by 2030.
In connection with this, he called upon GPS component parties SUPP, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) to work as a team to bring about further progress and prosperity to Sarawak.
“No country can be successful if the people are not united or headed in the right direction together,” he said.
The chief minister observed that the Covid-19 pandemic had changed the way business is done as well as the people's lifestyle.
He said he took pride that Sarawak was the first state in Malaysia to have opted for digitalisation of its economy in 2017, before the Covid-19 crisis struck the world.
“We started Sarawak Pay earlier. Even the digital tracing of Covid-19, we started earlier and Putrajaya followed us. We are ahead in terms of digitalisation and this is part of our economic restructuring process.”
He also pointed out that until Covid-19 vaccine becomes available, the people will have to continue embracing the new norms.
Given this, he called on politicians to come up with solutions to address various challenges faced by the community amid the ongoing battle against the pandemic.
He assured that the GPS government would continue to focus on developing the state's economy but admitted that solutions would not come in an easy manner.
“That's why we have set up Sarawak Economic Action Council to find the best way to address post-Covid-19 pandemic issues,” he said.