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  • Renewables
3 October 2019

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  • Philippines

Indonesia eclipsed the Philippines as the world’s second largest geothermal producer behind the United States, according to the Energy Department.The Energy Department said the country should develop geothermal sources beyond the conventional to bring back the Philippines as the second largest geothermal producer.“For the Philippines to attain additional geothermal capacities, we must look into sources that are beyond conventional like medium to low-enthalpy and acidic geothermal energy source,”  Energy Assistant Secretary Robert Uy said in a speech before the Philippine International Geothermal Conference organized by the National Geothermal Association of the Philippines.The Philippines, the perennial world’s second largest geothermal power producer, now slipped to the third place after Indonesia and the US.“Even with the very large potential of the country in terms of geothermal resources, there are still glaring reasons for the decline in geothermal investments: lack of potential investors who are willing to take the risk, unattractive incentives package compared to other countries, a privatized energy sector and tedious permitting processes,” Uy said.Uy said the department would study how the government sector could provide assistance to the development of such sources through fiscal and non-fiscal incentives. Geothermal leader Energy Development Corp. called for “innovation”  to revitalize the geothermal industry and bring the Philippines back to the second spot.“I think the call to the industry is really to innovate, to learn how to… tackle old problems in the very new way because I think it’s very possible. When you innovate, we can actually bring down the cost overtime,” EDC president Richard Tantoco said.

NGAP president Jeff Caranto said there was no significant development in the geothermal industry over the past 15 years.“If you look at our energy mix, you cannot find other renewable that is baseload other than hydro and geo. We want to revitalize the industry.  We want to put together a new history for geothermal development at least for the third wave of development in geothermal by looking into non-conventional,” he said.He said conventional energy resources, specifically high-temperature systems remained expensive and far-flung.  Permits were also very difficult to obtain, he said.“If you look at non-conventional, low-temp, they’re closer to communities, lower elevation areas. Economically, they are easier to develop but capacities are relatively lower,” Caranto said.He said there was a need to impose tariffs on medium to low-enthalpy geothermal resources. “What we’re doing is we are advocating with the DOE to come up with some sort of regulations or incentives that will also help the industry. The other is implementation of other RE initiatives, especially green pricing and RPS [renewable energy portfolio standards]” Caranto said.

  • Bioenergy
3 October 2019

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  • Thailand

The government plans to issue operating licences for community waste power projects for a combined 400 megawatts of new power capacity during 2019-20.

Wattanapong Kurovat, director-general of the Energy Policy and Planning Office (Eppo), said the office is the project’s coordinator, working closely with the Interior Ministry and the private sector.

“We are conducting a feasibility study before seeking applications from private power companies,” he said.

“Licences for power from community waste will be granted for solid waste in metropolitan or high-density population areas, so industrial waste is not included.”

Mr Wattanapong said the projects fall under the latest version of the national power development plan (PDP) 2018-37, meant for power generated from renewable resources, including waste-to-energy, to account for 20% of the total capacity on the state grid.

The 400MW plan will be the second round of applications.

Eppo plans to grant operating licences during 2019-20 and each project must begin operation before 2022.

The first round started in 2015 and ended in 2018 with a combined capacity of 500MW.

Thailand generates 413MW from waste-to-energy power plants for solid and community waste.

Another 87MW is under construction with a feed-in tariff to sell electricity on the state grid at 3.21-5.6 baht per kilowatt-hour (unit) over 25 years of operation.

He said industrial waste for power generation has been granted operating licences for a combined capacity of 30.78MW at seven power plants, which are being constructed.

Mr Wattanapong said the government plans to revise the PDP to match changes in the economy and the rise of renewable energy.

The revised PDP has to emphasise renewable power generation from local resources such as agricultural waste and solid waste.

But the current version focuses on power generation from household solar panels, allocating 10,000MW.

“The solar power plan will be changed,” he said.

In related news, PTT Plc has enrolled as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) trader with the Energy Regulatory Commission to become a regional trader in line with the company’s business plan.

The current regulation on LNG trading is limited to importing and delivery by gas pipeline, but each operator cannot re-export the LNG.

PTT has tested LNG delivery by land transport for local distribution since 2018 when the gas supply from the Gulf of Thailand was interrupted.

Wuttikorn Stithit, PTT’s senior executive vice-president for gas business, said PTT is ready to provide LNG services with a trading plan for small-scale distribution through marine vessels and heavy-duty trucks.

PTT will develop a gas pipeline to feed LNG for the country’s power generation.

The company has already prepared manpower for the LNG trading plan, said Mr Wuttikorn.

  • Energy-Climate & Environment
3 October 2019

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  • Malaysia

NEW YORK — Malaysia has notched major socio-economic achievements while at the same time managing and sustaining its resources, said Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday (Sept 26).

“Since gaining Independence in 1957, Malaysia has successfully diversified its economy, from one that was initially commodity-based to that which is now more driven by robust manufacturing and services.

“The Malaysian economy expanded by 6.2 per cent on average every year between 1971 and 2018 while our per capita income rose by more than 20 times, to reach about US$9,300 (S$12,857) in 2018.

“Equally important, our inflation rate has been stable and kept below 4 per cent on average during the same period while enjoying full employment since 1992.

“Our absolute poverty rate fell from about 50 per cent of households in 1970 to a mere 0.4 per cent in 2016, under the old poverty line.

“We obtained these socio-economic achievements while managing and sustaining its resources,” he said at a side event of the United Nations General Assembly here entitled “Environmental Stewardship in Addressing Poverty to Achieve Sustainable Development for All”.

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia’s forest cover was currently at 55.3 per cent or 18.3 million hectares of Malaysia’s total land area, exceeding Malaysia’s initial commitment of 50 per cent at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

“This represents the nation’s will and commitment to conserve and sustainably manage our forest, its flora and fauna.

“Our forest cover today is even far higher than that of most large European countries including France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said despite Malaysia’s economic growth and rapid urbanisation, maintaining its forests and making existing agricultural land more productive to meet increasing demand could not have been achieved without sustainable development policies.

“Various laws have been enacted, such as the Land Conservation Act, 1960, Wildlife Protection Act 1972, and the National Forestry Act 1984 — all instrumental legislations that have provided the legal framework covering every aspect including land use, wildlife protection, administration and conservation of forest,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said renewable energy has also been given a renewed focus in Malaysia.

“We have set a target of 20 per cent electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2025. Current incentives, such as the Green Technology Financing Scheme and the Green Investment Tax Allowance, will be continued to incentivise the growth of renewable energy,” he added.

The prime minister admitted, however, that Malaysia still faced challenges from its growing socio-economic development needs although it has put in place various efforts to prevent environmental loss.

‘“The increasing population of Malaysia brings with it an increased demand for food, water and other infrastructures which places pressure on our natural resources and environment.

“The impact of climate change further adds to this pressure. Extreme changes in rainfall patterns as well as extended dry spells affect our forests ability to store and produce fresh water, sea level rises that lead to peculiar flood incidents and pollution.

“In the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020), substantial resources have been allocated to implement a wide range of actions to address climate change as well as to further enhance our conservation and restoration efforts.

“We need to ensure the earth will be able to exist in its best form to provide the services and environment that humans need.

“Thus, we need to responsibly use and protect our natural resources and environment by conserving and do things sustainably.

“This effort needs to be adopted by all people at all levels for us to succeed, especially in addressing the impact of climate change.

“We believe that the unsustainable use of natural resources and neglecting the environment, have much to do with these changes,” he added.

Dr Mahathir said that on the global front, Malaysia took its commitment to conservation seriously and was proud to be a signatory to an extensive list of global treaties on conservation, wildlife, forestry and the environment.

“Malaysia sees these Multilateral Environmental Agreements as a key part of its formula for balance in the sense of its responsibility to the planet, its responsibility to its people to ensure their right to food, clothing and shelter, and balance in the right at its people to rise out of poverty, and to seek long-term, sustainable and shared prosperity for the country,” he added. MALAY MAIL
Read more at https://www.todayonline.com/world/un-mahathir-says-malaysia-climbed-world-ladder-without-ravaging-environment

  • Energy Efficiency
3 October 2019

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  • Singapore

RECOGNISING the importance of using energy efficiently at its operations, ExxonMobil’s Singapore Chemical Plant (SCP) implemented a new technology to enhance energy performance at its aromatics facility. The success of this initiative won ExxonMobil a Best Practices honour at the EENP awards.

ExxonMobil has operated in Singapore for over 125 years and holds more than S$25 billion in fixed assets in the Republic. Its manufacturing facilities – SCP and the Singapore Refinery – make up the group’s largest integrated manufacturing complex in the world.

The SCP was first commissioned in 2001, and further expanded to more than double its capacity in 2013. Its ethylene capacity is now 1.9 million tonnes per year. Using ExxonMobil’s proprietary technologies, a broad range of feedstock can be processed at the plant before they are converted into higher-value products.

The SCP has three aromatics plants, which produce paraxylene, benzene and orthoxylene – building blocks for the manufacture of everyday consumer products such as clothing, transparent film packaging, screen protectors and synthetic leather.

In August 2017, ExxonMobil completed the acquisition of one of the world’s largest aromatics facilities on Jurong Island in Singapore; increasing its aromatics production in Singapore to over 3.5 million tonnes per year, including 1.8 million tonnes of paraxylene.

As part of its continual efforts to improve energy efficiency, ExxonMobil built a new “liquid phase xylenes isomerization” (LPI) unit that operates at low temperature, effectively reducing the energy consumed at its aromatics recovery unit, compared to the more traditional vapour phase xylenes isomerization (VPI) process.

Xylenes isomerization refers to a process that enables more paraxylene products to be produced. What’s more, LPI technology can be deployed in parallel with the existing isomerization processes at SCP, yielding debottlenecking opportunities.

“The project has led to a reduction in carbon emissions from the aromatics recovery unit as a result of less fuel gas consumed. The reduction in carbon emissions as a result is equivalent of about 4,500 cars being removed from Singapore’s roads each year,” said Raymen Chee, technical manager, ExxonMobil Singapore Chemical Plant.

“At ExxonMobil, we believe in the continuous innovation and employment of the latest technologies to improve our energy performance and reduce our carbon footprint,” he added.

Deploying LPI technology at an existing facility posed more challenges compared to implementing it in a new unit.

Among other obstacles, it meant working around existing space constraints, layouts and compatibility with existing equipment.

The team also had to undertake a thorough assessment to ensure that the new technology did not limit the unit’s overall throughput production.

GLOBAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The LPI project is one example of how ExxonMobil continues to leverage its Global Energy Management System (GEMS) to improve energy efficiency. The system, which won the 2017 Excellence in Energy Management award, is a result-oriented and systematic framework to identify energy performance opportunities in the groups operations, execute plans and continuously improve energy efficiency.

According to ExxonMobil, management leadership, organisational commitment and personal accountability work hand-in-hand to deliver these improvements.

ExxonMobil has been using GEMS to drive its efforts to manage energy use at its refineries and chemical plants worldwide since its launch in 2000 to identify and act on energy- saving opportunities.

A series of initiatives implemented in Singapore from 2002 to 2018 have led to gains in energy efficiency of over 25 per cent. These have resulted in the avoidance of carbondioxide emissions equivalent to taking more than 550,000 cars off off Singapore’s roads over this period.

  • Energy Efficiency
3 October 2019

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  • Singapore

SINGAPORE – A tech centre to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to become more energy efficient will be launched here by the end of this year, said Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources Albert Chua on Thursday (Oct 3).

The Energy Efficiency Technology Centre (EETC), which will cost $5 million to establish, will help SMEs to assess how energy efficient they are and how they can improve their energy performance.

Besides providing SMEs with energy performance assessments, the centre will also serve as a training ground for developing energy assessment skills.

The centre, hosted by the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), will let SIT’s engineering undergraduates, as well as industry professionals, get hands-on experience working on real-life energy efficiency projects for companies.

A new Energy Management Information Systems grant, under the National Environment Agency’s Energy Efficiency Fund, will also be launched to support companies in tracking real-time energy consumption down to the equipment level. This will enable faster and more accurate detection of energy wastage.

The launch of the new centre, coupled with the new grant to help industrial companies digitalise the way they monitor their energy performance, are the Singapore Government’s latest initiatives to meet its carbon emission targets.

Under the Paris Agreement in 2015, the Republic had pledged to reduce its emission intensity by 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.

“By international standards, Singapore is a very small emitter, but we are committed to do our full share to fight climate change,” said Mr Chua, speaking at the opening ceremony of the National Energy Efficiency Conference 2019 at the Max Atria @ Singapore Expo.

The two-day event starting on Thursday will see more than 400 local and international energy efficiency professionals discussing energy management strategies.

Mr Chua added that Singapore’s pledge to reduce emissions intensity depends on its ability to transform to a low-carbon and energy-efficient economy.

The new tech centre, which is supported by the NEA, will be part of continued efforts to build up the energy efficiency ecosystem in Singapore, he noted.

The opening day of the conference also saw nine companies, two public sector agencies and one individual being recognised for their energy-saving efforts at the Energy Efficiency National Partnership.

The awardees included HP Singapore, ExxonMobil Singapore Chemical Plant and the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Home Team Academy.

Mr Lee Kum Chin, the regional utilities manager at healthcare company Abbott, received the award in the Outstanding Energy Manager of the Year category. He helped the company save about 30 GWh of energy last year, the equivalent amount required to power more than 5,500 households in Singapore for a year.

  • Energy-Climate & Environment
3 October 2019

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  • Singapore

The climate change movement around the world is being spearheaded by youths, such as 16-year-old Swede Greta Thunberg. Singapore has its very own young climate champions too, including those who spoke at the inaugural Singapore Climate Rally earlier this month. TODAY speaks to three of them on how they are spreading the message on climate change. Read the other profiles here and here.

SINGAPORE — If environmentalist Ho Xiang Tian had his way, the lights on Jurong Island would be permanently turned off, as he told close to 2,000 attendees at the inaugural Singapore Climate Rally at Hong Lim Park on Sept 21.

The 23-year-old student acknowledged in an interview with TODAY on Wednesday (Sept 25) that shutting down the man-made industrial island would have enormous economic implications — but he stressed that failing to act decisively on climate change would have similar results.

Mr Ho, the co-founder of the environmental interest group Lepak In SG, is getting used to the reality of being a front-line activist. The rally was Mr Ho’s first time speaking in front of such a large audience.

He acknowledges that he is a little worried that he may come across as too critical of the authorities, but he added: “We can’t be afraid to stick our necks out, or nothing will change.”

While the rally drew many supporters with its panel of impassioned speakers, it attracted just as many detractors who accused the attendees and speakers of being hypocrites who would go home to their air-conditioned rooms, among other things.

Though Mr Ho generally avoided reading comments online, knowing that they would be unpleasant, he came across one which effectively told the speakers to kill themselves since “human beings are the ones that emit carbon dioxide”.

Still, he is choosing not to let the vitriol affect him.

Contrary to some of these accusations, he said neither he nor his family use air-conditioning at their executive HDB flat in Singapore’s east, and they use public transportation as much as they can.

“I didn’t go to any elite schools, and neither did my sister. My mum is an accountant, and my father is a software engineer. We’re an average middle-class family,” said the former Singapore Polytechnic graduate, who is now a second-year sustainable infrastructure engineering student at the Singapore Institute of Technology.

He did admit, however, that he is not wanting. “But because I have this privilege, I feel like this should be used for a good cause, and not just to secure (my future),” he said.

CLOSING DOWN JURONG ISLAND A ‘CHALLENGE’

Mr Ho commands plenty of facts and figures to support his somewhat provocative statement about Jurong Island such as the fact that households in Singapore contribute only 6 per cent of the Republic’s carbon emissions, while industries contribute 60 per cent of them.

“It makes no sense to me that we are told to switch off our lights when (they are) not in use, but the lights on Jurong Island never seem to be switched off,” he said in his spirited oration at the rally, to loud cheers and applause from the crowd, including mothers and fathers, as well as youths.

Still, away from the rhetoric of public speaking, Mr Ho took a more practical approach.

He told TODAY that it would be a challenge to shut down the island that houses many of Singapore’s petrochemical companies — and regional countries could take over those operations, perhaps with less regulation.

“But it does not change the fact that we need to get rid of fossil fuels, and transit towards other kinds of (green alternatives),” stressed Mr Ho, wearing his trademark attire of slippers and shorts that he wore at the rally.

THESE ARE NOT FAR-FETCHED IDEAS

Given the physical limitations, Singapore would have its work cut out to try to rely entirely on renewable energy – the lack of space would make it hard to establish big enough solar or wind farms, for example. However, Mr Ho has some ideas.

He said that if countries around the region, with more land or suitable geographical features, could produce renewable energy, Singapore would be able to “tap on it”.

It is not a far-fetched idea. In July this year, Singapore firm Sun Cable unveiled plans to build the world’s largest solar farm in Tennant Creek in Australia’s Northern Territory, which could export 3 gigawatts of power via a 3,800km undersea cable to Singapore.

This would provide one-fifth of Singapore’s electricity needs, according to a recent Reuters report that stated the A$20 billion (S$18.7 billion) project would be backed by Australian billionaire and co-founder of the Atlassian software company, Mr Mike Cannon-Brookes.

‘WORK WITH US’

Ultimately, Mr Ho conceded that the issue of finding sustainable energy sources for Singapore is complex, and will not be easy to solve, so there is the need for closer collaboration between the Government and environment groups.

“I don’t think I, or the environment community, have all the answers. After all, we are a small community. But if we work together with the Government, we can come up with something better than what is being done now,” he said.

While he could not go into details, citing the nature of his meetings, he said he has met officials from the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. It is a start, but there is scope for more contact, he added.

“They want to get a ground sensing of how people feel, and we share with them the issues that we are concerned about, and some things that we think they can do,” said Mr Ho.

While the two parties did not always see eye to eye, he said the ministry has at least been open enough to explain why to him. “I can understand why because sometimes the direction they want to go is quite different from the direction that we think they should be going.”

‘RAISE YOUR VOICES’

Some critics of the climate action movement have argued that proposed solutions to tackle climate change may impact Singapore’s economy and affect the livelihoods of some. Doing away with the fossil fuel industry could result in massive job losses, for instance.

But Mr Ho countered that climate change will impact the economy regardless. “These people don’t want to impact the economy now. They just want to let the economy in the future suffer. Maybe they won’t be around then, but people who will be around would have something to say about that.”

Addressing comments from those who said they are too concerned about bread-and-butter issues to care about the environment, he noted that only a small minority of Singaporeans are really in dire need.

“Those thinking of how to feed themselves in the next 10 years should also (be aware) that climate change will get a lot worse by then,” he warned.

Given that droughts arising from climate change could drive up food prices, Mr Ho stressed this group ought to be thinking of what they could do to prevent that from happening.

He suggests that people who are still not convinced that climate change is happening should read up on the science behind it.

“If they are not sure what actions they can take, they can read up where most of the carbon emissions are coming from, and see what they could do to reduce those,” he said.

Mr Ho also cautioned against anyone thumbing their noses at individual action, thinking that it will have no impact.

Using figures that were used in a survey conducted by Energy Efficient Singapore, he calculated that if every household in Singapore stops using air-conditioning and water heaters, carbon emissions from Singapore could be cut by 3 per cent.

But the numbers could be so much more if both corporations and the Government stepped in, he said.

While he is not suggesting street protests, he is urging concerned Singaporeans to write to their Members of Parliament to show them how worried they are about the issue.

“Raise your voice to the people in power, and let them see that this is not the future you want to see.”
Read more at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/young-sg-climate-activist-wants-phase-out-fossil-fuels-and-move-towards-cleaner-energy

  • Coal
2 October 2019

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  • Indonesia

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar acknowledged she had coordinated with Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Minister Ignasius Jonan on Indonesia’s efforts to curtail the use of coal for electricity.

“I have spoken with Minister Ignasius Jonan on the efforts to reduce the amount of coal used in Indonesia,” Minister Bakar remarked here on Wednesday.

However, taking into account Indonesia’s growing economy, she admitted that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources had yet to commit to realizing complete elimination of coal energy use.

Related news: Minister highlights extreme weather events triggered by climate change

Coal energy use is one of the challenges facing the global community in addressing the impact of climate change.

“The international community is currently working hard and paying more attention to reducing the use of certain forms of energy, such as coal,” she remarked.

Almost all countries worldwide have agreed to lower 80 percent of the coal energy use, while some nations have also committed to totally eliminating the use of coal in a bid to fight climate change until 2050.

Related news: Indonesia grants US$1 million to AIS to combat climate change

The issue of climate change has been one of international concern since the 1950s. However, efforts made to deal with climate change during that time were more focused on deforestation and not yet on lowering the use of fossil energy sources.

Minister Bakar admitted that in Indonesia, the problems of deforestation and air pollution arising from vehicles and factories had hindered efforts to tackle climate change.

Nonetheless, the government claimed to have endeavored to lower the impacts of climate change, including by handling forest and land fires as well as by maintaining peatlands.

Furthermore, the government has prioritized mangrove planting to fight climate change in accordance with the commitment in the Paris Agreement. EDITED BY INE

  • Energy Cooperation
2 October 2019

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  • Indonesia

The respective ambassadors from Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark in Indonesia have taken it upon them to show the South-East Asian nation that renewable energy is within reach without costing a fortune according to Jakarta Post.

The mission follows Indonesia earlier expressed desire to follow in the foot-steps of the Nordics in investing in green power.

Yet, the ambassadors face quite the challenge, as there, according to them, is a common belief in Indonesia, that sustainability requires a mountain of gold.

“Most of them are cheaper than fossil fuels. But that realization has not really dawned in Indonesia, where politicians are still saying that it’s a trade-off between affordability and sustainability,” Rasmus A. Kristensen, Danish Ambassador said in an interview with local media.

But even though the youth will gladly replace coal and other heavily polluting energy sources with cleaner energy such as wind the issue requires a little more than a desire for the environment among young people.

Hence, while young people in Indonesia have started caring about where the energy comes from when they turn on the lights, there is a lack of political will according to the ambassadors.

The state-owned electricity off-taker PLN has announced plans to construct two additional units at a coal-fired power station. This has met criticism as the president has expressed a concern and interest in renewable energy.

Worth it in the long run

Finnish Ambassador Jari Sinkari, Norwegian Ambassador Vegard Kaale and Swedish Ambassador Marina Berg have along with Rasmus A. Kristensen called for climate awareness in Indonesia.

The goal is to convince the Indonesian politicians that while it may be costly to adapt to greener energy, it is a worthwile investment which will get cheaper over time.

Furthermore, the Finnish Ambassador said that if Indonesia were to show greater interest in developing green energy, it would likely attract investments from sustainability-minded companies.

According to the Nordic Energy Research, Nordic inhabitants get the pleasure of renewable energy one third of the time. That one third of energy supply typically comes from wate and biomass.

In comparison, Indonesians only get 12 percent of their electricity from clean energy power plants. The remaining power is mainly from coal-based plants according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

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