How Sabah can become leader in Asian hydrogen economy

KOTA KINABALU: With the recent conclusion of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom, the need to transition into a clean source of renewable energy has become an urgent necessity for the global community.

The Institute for Development Studies (Sabah) (IDS) in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will be organising a webinar entitled Hydrogen Energy: How Sabah Can Leverage the Energy Transition to Become a Leader in the Asian Hydrogen Economy on Nov 30 at 3pm via Zoom.

Hydrogen energy is fast becoming an increasingly demanded energy source worldwide. Hydrogen based solutions provide huge potential in helping reduce fossil fuels demand in all major areas of energy use mainly in the transportation, electricity and heavy industries.

“Supplying hydrogen to industrial users is now a global major business with demands for hydrogen rapidly increasing and will continuously rise within the next decade as the number of countries that directly support investment in hydrogen technologies is increasing, along with sectors that are transitioning to hydrogen energy,” said Anthony Kiob, CEO of IDS.

According to Anthony, current global issues involve the environment and carbon emissions, hence, the state’s socio-economic development strategies should revolve around environmental sustainability.

“Sabah, being rich with natural resources is poised to lead in the Asian Hydrogen economy if the state starts preparing now. We should start planning and diverging our resources to capitalise on the mass opportunities for this new-era energy alternative as a solution to the limited oil reserve in our Bornean waters. Future growth depends on policy support, societal preferences and technological advances,” he stressed, adding that the upcoming webinar serves as a platform of discussion to further understand the trend and global perspective of the hydrogen economy, to be informed on the successful hydrogen adoption in East Asia, and assess how Sabah can leverage to become a future leader in the Asian hydrogen economy.

Two speakers will be presenting their papers during the webinar. They are Prof Dr Juergen Peterseim, Senior Manager – Sustainability Services from PwC Germany with a paper entitled ‘Global Perspective on the Hydrogen Economy’ and Yuien Siang Lee, Director, Kuching Office/Director of Capital Projects & Infrastructure, PwC Malaysia with his paper entitled ‘Hydrogen Adoption in East Asia’.

To register or for more information, please email IDS Secretariat, Madam Muntazilah Rhadiah Ramlee at muntazilahrhadiah@gmail. com or visit www.ids.org.my