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  • Bioenergy
22 July 2019

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  • Indonesia
  • The Indonesian government has targeted four cities in Java island to build incineration facilities this year to tackle the country’s plastic waste crisis.
  • Environmentalists say burning waste to generate electricity is not a sustainable solution to the issue, and will only add more problems, including the emission of toxic gases.
  • They instead suggest tackling the problem at the source, by reducing the amount of waste produced in the first place.
  • Indonesia is the world’s second-biggest source of the plastic trash that ends up in the oceans, after China.

JAKARTA — The Indonesian government plans to burn waste to fuel power plants in four cities on the island of Java this year as part of efforts to tackle the country’s plastic waste crisis.

Indonesia is the second-biggest contributor, after China, to the plastic waste that end up in the oceans, and is among a growing number of Asian countries refusing to import waste from developed countries.

President Joko Widodo called for a solution to the waste problem during a July 16 cabinet meeting, and criticized the lack of updates on plans to build waste incinerators.

“To this day, I haven’t heard any progress on which ones are already online and which ones are already built,” he said in a statement issued by the government.

“This isn’t about the electricity. We want to resolve the trash issue; the electricity comes afterward,” he added.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said that 12 cities had proposed building waste-fueled power plants, but only Jakarta, Surabaya, Bekasi and Solo were ready to do so before the end of this year.

A man collecting trash from a river in western Java. Image by Donny Iqbal/Mongabay Indonesia.

The energy ministry expects to have 12 such waste-to-energy plants online by 2022, generating a combined 234 megawatts of electricity by burning 16,000 tons of waste a day.

But a long-standing problem is that the Java-Bali grid that they’ll feed into is already heavily oversupplied, to the extent that the glut in idle energy threatens to damage the country’s finances.

Environmentalists also say that burning trash to generate electricity isn’t a sustainable solution to the plastic waste crisis. If anything, they say, it will result in the emission of toxic chemicals such as dioxins, mercury and micro particles.

“The push for acceleration of setting up waste-based power plants with incineration once again shows that the administration prioritizes investors, big capital and centralistic projects,” Nur Hidayati, the executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said in a statement published July 18.

A 2001 report by Greenpeace found that people living in the vicinity of incinerators in England, Spain and Japan were exposed to an increase in dioxins in their body. This range of compounds has been linked to cancer and immune system damage, while mercury is known to disrupt the nervous system and affect brain development in children.

“The use of incinerators is not in line with the purpose of waste management to protect health and the environment,” Fajri Fadhillah, a researcher for pollution management at the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), told Mongabay.

In April 2018, Widodo had issued a regulation pushing local governments to set up “eco-friendly” plants to turn waste into electricity. The regulation came out after a ruling by the Supreme Court ordering the government to revoke a 2016 presidential regulation that also pushed for the development of waste-to-energy facilities in seven cities.

“The government must uphold the decision from Indonesia’s Supreme Court, which orders that managing waste by using thermal technology does not go in line with the country’s law on waste management,” Fajri said.

Activists have also criticized the push for incinerator plants as a shortcut to reducing the amount of waste from Indonesia that ends up in the sea, much of it plastic, by 70 percent by 2025. The government is set to spend $1 billion over the next years to address the problem.

“The biggest myth about incinerators is that they make the trash gone,” said Ahmad Ashov Birry, the program director at Trend Asia, a clean-energy initiative in Indonesia, who previously served as a detox campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia.

“The reality is that the trash changes form into gas which is dispersed by air to the ocean and land,” he added.

A garbage incinerator in Quebec, Canada in 1990. It was decommissioned in 1993, but the structure remains. Image courtesy of Ed Hawco via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Environmentalists have also raised concerns about the likelihood of improper environmental impact assessments in the construction of the waste-to-energy plants.

The developer of what would be Indonesia’s first such incinerator, in Jakarta, has promised to complywith European Union-level emission control standards that are more stringent than prevailing local standards. Indonesia only requires dioxin tests to be carried out every five years, as the country lacks the specialized lab facilities to carry out such checks. But a 2010 study shows that even incinerators using the newest technology still release high levels of dioxins.

“Considering that there will be a new source of toxic pollution in the cities with the waste-based power plants, feasibility studies and environmental permits won’t be adequate to protect the quality of life, health, and improve the environment in Indonesia,” said Daru Setyorini, the director of the NGO Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation (Ecoton).

Air pollution is already a major issue in the capital, Jakarta, where a group of citizens is suing the government, including the president, over air quality that consistently ranks as among the worst in the world.

“The poor environmental quality in Jakarta and weak monitoring enforcement are good enough reasons to say that the plan to build incinerators is a reckless action,” Fajri said.

The new plants will also do little to help Indonesia cut its carbon dioxide emissions as part of its commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Globally, plastics accounted for 1.8 billion metric tons equivalent of CO2 emissions in 2015, according to a 2019 study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara. These emissions are present throughout the whole life cycle of plastics: from production and transportation, to disposal and incineration. The Philippines is the first and only country to date to ban incineration of plastic waste, since the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1999.

Indonesia has sent out mixed signals over its commitment to cut emissions from the energy sector. While it plans to increase the absolute figure for renewable power generation over the long term, it will shrink renewables’ share of the overall energy mix in favor of more coal-fired electricity. Widodo recently also signaled a major shift in energy policy, reportedly saying he wants to “start reducing the use of coal.”

Instead of incineration, green activists say, the government should boost efforts to reduce the amount of waste produced in the first place.

“Zero waste approach has been proven to be implementable in many big cities,” Ecoton’s Daru said, “and that should be getting top support from the federal government.”

Mounds of trash at a landfill in Indonesia. Image by Luh De Suriyani/Mongabay Indonesia.
  • Energy-Climate & Environment
  • Renewables
21 July 2019

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  • Thailand

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed the armed forces to provide help in areas affected by drought, a situation which may be made worse by the test run of Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River in Laos.

Gen Prayut, also the defence minister, expressed “grave concern” over the situation in the North and the Northeast, assistant defence spokesman Phatchasak Patirupanon said yesterday, though the premier did not specifically point to the impact from the dam test.

Eight provinces located along the river in the two regions — Chiang Rai, Loei, Nong Khai, Beung Kan, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen — are likely to bear the brunt if the hydroelectric trial, which started last Monday, continues until July 29 as planned.

Much of the North and Northeast have become arid due to a lack of moist air from the North Pole and Pacific Ocean, known as the El Nino effect.

On Friday, the Office of National Water Resources wrote to the Lao government, asking it to suspend the test.

The 1,260-megawatt Xayaburi dam, located just south of Luang Prabang in Xayaburi province, is scheduled to begin churning out electricity this October, with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) being its major power buyer.

“The armed forces have been told to look for drought-affected areas so it can provide immediate help,” Col Phatchasak said, referring to Gen Prayut’s order.

Relief measures include sending army water trucks to drought-stricken areas, Col Phatchasak said. The air force will also work with agriculture officials to make artificial rain near reservoirs, which continue to suffer from low water levels.

“Rain is now a past memory,” Athit Phanasun, chief of a Nong Khai environmental group, said after many areas in his province have seen no rain for over a month even though it should have been a soaking wet period.

Nong Khai’s Muang district on the side of the Mekong now sees its riverbank extend almost to the middle of a section of the river, following the recent rapid decrease in its water level, he said.

The Xayaburi dam test will only make things worse, Mr Athit added.

In Chiang Rai, residents are complaining over a drop of water level in the Mekong. They are also worried about the dam operations upstream in Laos.

“Water levels are even lower than they usually get during dry season,” tourist boat operator On Unsaeng said.

Farmers in Nakhon Ratchasima are also suffering. Their rice crops in paddy fields covering almost 200,000 rai in Phimai district are wilting and dying as the severe drought takes a toll.

Governor Wichian Chantharanothai yesterday reported that water sources in the district are running dry.

“Unless it rains this month, the crops will be decimated,” said the governor, adding water trucks had been sent to drought-hit areas to provide temporary relief.

  • Renewables
20 July 2019

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  • Singapore

In the Australian outback, the world’s largest solar farm is in the works – and it is set to power Singapore from 4,000km away.

By Maegan Liew

Ambitious plans to increase Singapore’s renewable energy imports are unfolding 4,000km away from the island state, near Tennant Creek, a small outback town in Australia.

A 15,000-hectare solar park in Australia’s Northern Territory will, upon completion in 2027, meet 20% of Singapore’s energy needs. The Sun Cable solar farm will be the largest in the world, equipped with 10-gigawatt (GW) capacity solar panels and battery storage that enables a year-round, uninterrupted power supply.

Construction of the solar park is expected to begin in 2023 with development costs estimated at A$20 billion (USD$14 billion).

Sun Cable will provide greater resilience in Singapore’s electricity supply

While the park will also supply electricity to Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory, the majority of its output would be exported to Singapore. With a well-regulated electricity market that currently relies on liquefied natural gas (LNG), the Singapore energy market is ripe for competition from renewables.

A decade from now, up to a fifth of Singapore’s electrical supply would be transmitted via a 3,800km underwater link – a feat made possible by a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable passing through the Indonesian archipelago to Singapore.

A solar farm in Arizona.
Photo: Kevin Dooley

Reliant on imported LNG for 95% of its electricity, Singapore’s energy market is vulnerable to fluctuations in global oil and gas prices. By tapping into solar power to meet the country’s electricity needs, Singapore can enhance the resilience of its energy supply.

The move to substitute the costly LNG with solar power will also benefit the Republic economically. By 2025, solar energy is expected to become the cheapest source of electricity, softening Singapore’s energy bill.

Despite being in its early stages, the project has already garnered support and attention in Australia 

While the project is still in the embryonic stages, with environmental approval applications still underway, Australia’s Northern Territory government has already expressed support for the Sun Cable development.

Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of collaboration software firm Atlassian and a proponent of Australia’s move away from fossil fuels, has also indicated an interest to invest in the project.

The solar park’s development promises to provide thousands of jobs in the Australian manufacturing and construction sectors.

Tennant Creek airport near the proposed site of the 15,000-hectare solar park.
Photo: Tony Bowden

The rise of renewable energy exports can be a game-changer in Singapore’s green efforts

The Singapore government is committed to achieving its pledge to reduce its emissions intensity by 36%  (from 2005 levels) by 2030, as stipulated under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Between 2000 and 2014, Singapore’s emissions intensity dropped by 37%. The country’s move from the early 2000s to switch from fuel oil to natural gas for electricity generation has been a crucial factor behind the decline in emissions intensity.

However, Singapore faces limitations to achieving further emissions reductions through fuel switch. Natural gas already makes up 95% of the country’s fuel mix today. To continue to shrink its emissions intensity, the city-state must embrace renewable energy sources.

But for the resource-constrained island nation, renewable energy options are limited.

In sunny Singapore, land constraints pose an obstacle to the adoption of solar energy. It provides a mere 2% of the island’s electricity today. Through efforts to increase solar deployment via solar panel installations on rooftops and on water surfaces, renewable energy sources could soon provide up to 8% of the city state’s peak electricity demand.

By tapping on Australian sunlight and renewable energy exports and increasing green energy imports, Singapore make big strides towards its emissions reduction target, and a green, sustainable future.

  • Renewables
20 July 2019

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  • Thailand

Thailand has asked the Lao government to suspend the test run of the Xayaburi dam, in order to curb the worsening drought that has hit provinces along the Mekong River.

The Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) yesterday revealed that it submitted an official letter yesterday, calling for the test run to be temporarily paused.

That move came after the ONWR found that the trial would severely impact the drought-hit provinces in the northeastern region, whose tributaries rely on water from the Mekong River.

“People living along the Mekong River have been negatively impacted because the water level in the Mekong has already dropped by over a metre. So we have contacted the Lao government and sent a letter to the Mekong River Commission (MRC), demanding that it suspend the trial for a few days,” said Somkiat Prajamwong, the ONWR secretary-general.

Test runs on the Xayaburi dam started on Monday and were planned to continue until July 29, to prepare for the official start of operations in October. The Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand (Egat) and its Lao counterparts co-invested in the dam and plan to use it to produce energy for Thailand.

The relevant authorities starting storing water in the dam on July 9, and Thai water level gauges below the dam found that water levels had dropped by almost 1.8 metres. This level is the lowest in 28 years, according to the ONWR.

Meanwhile, a gauge in Chiang Rai province found that levels had dropped from 2.7 metres to just above 2 metres. Last week, the water level in the Mekong River also reached one of its lowest points while officials were conducting maintenance on the Jinghong dam in China, said Mr Somkiat.

The Chinese government had informed the Thai government prior to the maintenance work, Mr Somkiat said. The water situation at the dam in China will return to normal by tomorrow, he added.

Somkiat Khuenchiangsa, the coordinator of the Mekong Conservation Network in the North, said the group will submit a letter to Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and the Chinese embassy, demanding an urgent meeting between the Mekong countries to deal with the problem.

“The northeastern region has been the hardest hit since the Xayaburi dam started discharging water downstream. The people are feeling the effects of this dam and others that have been built on the Mekong River. It’s about time to review other planned projects [relating to the dams],” he said.

He added that the work will also affect the supply of fish in the Mekong.

“Less water in the Mekong during the rainy season means fish that usually come to lay eggs cannot swim and lay their eggs in the tributaries of the Mekong like they did in the past,” said Somkiat Khuenchiangsa, adding that fish is the main source of protein for people living along the river.

The latest MRC report showed that dam projects on the Mekong River will reduce aquatic life by 40% by 2020, and predicted that 80% of the fish supply will be depleted by 2040.

Thailand will be severely impacted, as its fish stocks in the Mekong River will decline by 55%, while Laos will be reduced by 50%, Cambodia by 35% and Vietnam by 30%.

Pianporn Deetes of the International Rivers campaign group, said the impacts of the Xayaburi dam came early. “Although the dam is 98% complete and is not yet operating, the ecological impacts are already serious,” she said.

She urged the government and society to ask the operators of the Xayaburi dam to share the steps that they would take to solve the water flow problem.

“I wonder whether the Xayaburi dam project has any mitigation plans, because the Lao government and Thai investors never said the dam would have an ecological impact,” said Ms Pianporn.

Previously, the Thai Mekong People’s Network in Eight Provinces sent a letter to Egat demanding mitigation measures be taken to help people impacted by the Xayaburi dam.

Egat responded by saying it is confident that the potential environmental impact would be minimal and therefore would not have any impact.

In a related development, the Chinese government yesterday agreed to continue sharing hydrological data with the MRC, which will improve the monitoring ability to predict floods in Mekong countries. They will share the data from June 1 until Oct 31 every year, according to the MRC press release.

  • Electricity/Power Grid
19 July 2019

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  • Philippines

DESPITE the warmer summer season brought about by El Niño phenomenon causing high demand for electricity, power transmission utility National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said systems remain reliable.

It did not encounter major transmission-related issues throughout the summer period where power demand was peak, the company said in a press statement.

Data from the NGCP showed that the highest peak load for the year was recorded on June 21, at 11,344 megawatts (MW) with additional 246 MW Interruptible Load Program (ILP) implementation.

This was 468 MW higher than last year’s peak of 10,876 MW. However, it is slightly lower than 11,403 MW projected demand of the Department of Energy (DOE) for 2019.

The utility said with the DOE’s forecast breaching 11,000 MW, it worked round-the-clock to ensure the reliability of its systems and to avoid any issues during this critical period.

“We constantly coordinated with other industry players including power generating plants, market operator, and the DOE to fully mitigate the impact of the record-breaking demand for power and the limited generating capacity of plants,” the NGCP said.

To further mitigate the supply-demand balance, it campaigned for energy use efficiency in national, local, and social media channels, it added.

The system condition is expected to improve as the rainy season started. But until the situation normalizes, more grid alerts may be issued.

The NGCP appealed to the public to maintain efficient use of energy.

“Now that the summer season is officially over, this does not mean that we should stop implementing energy saving measures,” it said, adding: “Let us make it a part of our lifestyle to be wise electricity consumers so that we can do our part in ensuring improved power flow within the grid.”

Moreover, the transmission utility said Visayas and Mindanao still have to reach their peak demand for the year.

For 2019, the DOE projects an 11.98 percent increase in the Visayas load growth with forecasted peak at 2,299 MW.

In Mindanao, meanwhile, the demand is estimated at 2,130 MW.

The peak in both areas is expected during the last quarter of the year.

The NGCP has assured its stakeholders that it is continuously improving, expanding and reinforcing the power grid to accommodate additional loads from power generators and enable better transmission of power across the country. (EPN)

  • Renewables
19 July 2019

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  • Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Various groups from the countryside are rallying for the approval of House Bill 8179, which grants Solar Para Sa Bayan (SPSB) a non-exclusive right to operate microgrids in unserved or underserved areas in selected provinces.

Consumers and local governments alike believe it is time to introduce new choices for electricity to many areas that continue to suffer from inefficient, intermittent and expensive power supply.

Various local government units have directly appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte, attesting to the positive impact of SPSB’s projects in their towns and the further benefits that will come should the proposed bill become a law.

Mayor Carl Pangilinan of Paluan, Occidental Mindoro, said the measure gives consumers new choices.

“Mr. President, if this House Bill will be a law, this will give new choices for improved electricity. By granting a franchise for Solar Para Sa Bayan, the unserved and underserved areas in the whole country will be just like our municipality, having a reliable, efficient, sufficient and cheap electricity without compromising the environment,” Pangilinan said.

Mayor Katrina Orencia of Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental, likewise wrote: “We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for constantly supporting and giving options for better and cheaper electricity for Filipinos as stated in House Bill 8179. Moreover, the said bill has helped many towns and rural areas in the country. Our municipality is a testament of this endeavor.”

She said electricity is one of the major utilities necessary for the development of society. She said their municipality has long suffered from inefficient electricity supply.

Similarly, Misamis Occidental Governor and former Tangub City Mayor Phillip Tan said in a separate letter that with the advent of the Solar Para Sa Bayan Project and the timely approval of this law, “the bane of extended power outages and exorbitant energy prices will now become a thing of the past.”

“For several years, the Tangubanons experienced extended power outages and exorbitant energy prices which have not only affected their day to day activities but also the local economy as well,” Tan said.

“May I in advance say thank you very much, Mr. President in behalf of our constituents and the rest of the Filipinos who will greatly benefit once this Republic Act becomes a law upon your signing,” Mayor Froilan Andueza of Claveria, Masbate, also said.

Paluan Electric Consumers Association representative Jeffrey Huertas, for his part appealed to local authorities not to be swayed by electric cooperatives which do not like competition.

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“We appeal to our leaders to look past the self-serving positions of electric cooperatives, who wish to prevent the entry of competition, and power companies, who do not even know what it’s like to live in areas with inadequate electricity. Towns like ours are already benefiting from the service of Solar Para Sa Bayan, and it’s time other underserved towns across our country enjoy a new choice for electricity,” Huertas said.

Facebook posts supporting HB 8179 have already reached over 20 million Filipinos, generating over two million likes, comments, and shares, SPSB said.

This is consistent with the results of a Pulse Asia survey, indicating that 82 percent of Filipinos favor having new options for electric service.

According to Pulse Asia Director Ana Maria Tabunda, support for new electric service is consistent across all ages, classes, and geographies, with ratings in favor at 88 percent in NCR, 78 percent in Luzon, 84 percent in Visayas, and 83 percent in Mindanao. /asu

 

  • Others
19 July 2019

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  • Malaysia

KOTA KINABALU: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) responded to Daily Express’ report on the 13 oil and gas companies acting on climate change, which according to Prof Dr Justin Sentian, the speaker from UMS, did not see Petronas’ name on the list. The fact is not disputed.Petronas Sabah media liaison office said Malaysia’s national petroleum company has taken positive steps to mitigate climate emergency and sent Daily Express its 2017 corporate commitment details on environment care pertaining to climate change.At the recent Sabah Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition 2019, Dr Justin said the Oil & Gas Climate Change Initiative (OGCI) undertaken by 13 oil and gas companies – BP, Chevron, CNPC, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, Pemex, Petrobras, Repsol, Saudi Aramco, Shell, and Total – was to enable the oil and gas industry to collaborate on climate concerns.The initiative serves as a platform to advance technological solutions and to catalyse meaningful action and coordination on climate change.

The formation of OGCI Climate Investments to invest one billion dollars over the next decade to help accelerate the development of innovative game-changing technologies that have the potential to reduce emissions on significant scale.The selected low emissions technologies will also be adopted and deployed by the OGCI companies within their businesses and operations.Petronas stressed this at the last World Economic Forum’s roundtable discussion on Malaysia’s energy landscape, Petronas Group CEO Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said against the backdrop of demand for more sustainable energy sources, Petronas is considering viable investments in renewable energy namely solar, wind and biomass on a commercial scale.Wan Zulkiflee said to cater to the growing energy demand, Petronas has embarked on numerous energy investments anchored to its three-pronged strategy to develop an energy mix that effectively balances the Energy Trilemma of security, affordability and sustainability of energy supply.These new ventures would support the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change’s (MESTECC) initiatives to reduce carbon emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent by 2030 and achieve a low-carbon economy status by 2050.Wan Zulkiflee said the ambitious carbon neutrality goal can only materialise with extensive changes in Malaysia’s energy sector guided by strong and forward-looking energy policies that explore new growth areas beyond the conventional oil and gas.

Hence, government support and intervention in developing and implementing regulations for the ecosystem that take into consideration all key influencing factors are pivotal for businesses not only to survive but thrive as the energy landscape continues its monumental shift.The Petronas Group CEO stressed that oil and gas will remain as the group’s core businesses, especially in the primary energy mix.The company has allocated RM30 billion for its upstream activities in 2019 with half slated for domestic investments to ensure there will be no disruptions to energy supply.Excerpts from the Petronas Sustainability Report 2017 read: “Petronas Climate Change Position: We duly recognise our corporate responsibility as a player in the global energy sector to balance the issue of climate change with the challenge to sustainably produce affordable and reliable energy.“Petronas takes a holistic approach in managing climate change across our business value chain as we move towards a low carbon economy.“In 2017, Petronas’ Carbon Commitments were enhanced to include new elements such as Carbon Pricing and Offsets, Renewables as well as Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) and a carbon dioxide emission allowance to manage high carbon dioxide fields. Overall this drives our ongoing efforts in upholding our position on climate change.”“Petronas works closely with our various shareholders globally through discussions and participation in initiatives on climate change.“This includes our membership on the IPIECA Climate Change Working Group and International Gas Union.“Closer to home, we engage various Malaysian regulatory bodies to shape the country’s move towards realising its pledge under the Paris Agreement.“Notable achievements in 2017 included our leading role in collaboratively defining the desired long-term end-state of Malaysia’s Oil and Gas, Energy and Environment (OGEE) sector.”

  • Others
19 July 2019

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  • Malaysia

As the world awakens to the enormity of the plastic waste crisis, Malaysia’s Yeo Bee Yin has emerged as one of Southeast Asia’s most vocal champions for biodegradable plastics and a new circular economy. SHARE SHARE TWEET SHARE AsianScientist (Jul. 19, 2018) – Earlier this year, Malaysia’s Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change, together with her inspection team, discovered 450 metric tons of contaminated, low-quality plastic waste that was brought into the country illegally in shipping containers. Standing defiant in front of international press on May 29, Ms. Yeo Bee Yin said: “Enough is enough.” The containers, Yeo said, had originated from Australia, the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China and Bangladesh, and were en route to illegal recycling facilities in Malaysia to be processed in an environmentally unsafe manner. Yeo estimated that they would find 3,000 metric tons of plastic waste once all the containers were inspected. “Although people have started to segregate their waste, 90 percent of the plastic waste in the world is actually not recycled,” Yeo shared with Asian Scientist Magazine from her office in Putrajaya, the government district south of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. “Instead, this waste goes from developed countries to developing countries like Malaysia, and ends up being dumped in some way or recycled in illegal factories.” Revelations such as these have led to a collective awakening to the very real issue of plastic waste, which cannot degrade in the environment. Single-use plastics that aren’t recycled or buried in landfills make their way into the ocean via littering and illegal dumping, where they eventually degrade into microparticles that damage aquatic life and enter the human food chain. In fact, a recent report by WWF International estimated that people consume about five grams of plastic a week, roughly equivalent to the size of a credit card. From plantations to politics Growing up on a sprawling oil palm plantation where her father worked, Yeo had an idyllic childhood and an excellent education record. The plantation she grew up on, called Gomali Estate, was owned by palm oil and properties conglomerate IOI Group. This would prove to be a prescient start to her life and career in two ways: her ministerial energy portfolio, and her life partner—but more on that later. After completing her degree in chemical engineering at the University Technology Petronas in 2006, Yeo joined US oil and gas company Schlumberger, where she worked for two years on oil exploration and production. Seeking a change, Yeo applied to Cambridge University, UK, where she pursued a Master’s degree in advanced chemical engineering on a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. But by the time she returned to Malaysia as a highly trained engineer, Yeo found herself drawn into a new and unexpected calling—politics. Wanting to contribute to her country and stem Malaysia’s brain drain, in 2013 Yeo contested for a state assembly seat on a Democratic Action Party ticket and won a landslide victory. Five years later, an even more drastic change awaited. The 14th General Election in 2018 was a political turning point for Malaysia, which since independence in 1963 had been ruled by the Malay nationalist party United Malays National Organization. In that historic election, voters across all ethnicities responded in large numbers, helping to elect Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan coalition into power. Yeo, whose party was a key member of the coalition, was picked as Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change and sworn into office on July 2, 2018, making her the youngest female cabinet minister at age 35. Replace, the fourth ‘R’ While plastics account for only 10 percent of the total waste humans generate, they constitute approximately 90 percent of all trash floating on the ocean’s surface, equivalent to 46,000 pieces of plastic floating on every square mile, says the United Nations Environment Program. At the current rate, a 2016 report from the World Economic Forum estimated that plastics will outweigh all the fish in the ocean by 2050. And since it is impossible to rid the oceans of plastic waste and microplastics, the problem needs to be tackled at the source. Since taking office, Yeo has made plastic pollution a key policy focus. Besides plastic straws—500 million of which are used every single day in the US alone—the problem also includes disposable plastic bottles, packaging, construction materials and other industrial uses of plastic. Malaysia is ranked 8th in mismanaged plastic waste, behind China in first place, Indonesia in second place and the Philippines in third place, according to a study published in the journal Science in 2015. This statistic has not gone unnoticed by Yeo, who, on October 31, 2018, announced a 12-year roadmap and legal framework towards eliminating single-use plastics in Malaysia by 2030. “If you go to the beach and collect rubbish, more than half of the rubbish is single-use plastics. So, reducing the usage of single-use plastics and changing behavior are very important. Our first three years of the roadmap are really just on shopping bags and education,” Yeo said. In phase one of the plan, single-use plastic bags will cost consumers a nominal 20 sen (US$0.048) per bag. In states such as Penang, supermarkets, department stores and pharmacies have gone a step further and stopped dispensing single-use plastic bags altogether. The 20 sen cost is not simply punitive, Yeo said, pointing out that recycling plastic waste isn’t exactly free either. “Hydrocarbon-based plastics have proven to be very difficult to recycle—many of them have to be recycled illegally to make it work [for the contractors financially]. People need to pay not just for the cost of production, but also for the cost to recycle the plastics [in an environmentally safe manner].” Just one percent of plastics produced globally (or four million tons per year) is biodegradable, according to a 2017 study in Science Advances. To make matters more complex, even polymers that are touted as bioplastics may not degrade as claimed—most require elevated temperatures for degradation and hardly break down under natural conditions. Even worse, they degrade into microplastics, worsening the marine plastic pollution problem. Yeo’s 12-year roadmap thus calls for research into new materials for bioplastics. “We are seeing that with reduce, reuse, recycle, the recycle part is really not working for plastics. So perhaps we need a fourth ‘r,’ which is to replace it, and to replace it, we need a lot of science,” Yeo said. “What sort of materials can we use to continue packaging because you still need packaging? How do we find a material that is environmentally friendly? Biodegradable bags have a lot of science [behind them]. For some of them, the strength of the biodegradable bag is not good, and some of them don’t decompose.” Tackling illegal trade For the longest time, waste plastic trading was dominated by China, which had been processing at least half of the world’s exports of waste and dealing with the fallout— dumping in waterways, open burning, respiratory illness and contamination of water supplies with by-products from environmentally unsafe recycling. That dynamic changed forever on New Year’s Day in 2018, when China closed its doors to solid waste exported from other countries. Following China’s ban, previous large exporters of plastic waste such as the US, the UK, Canada and Australia were unable to handle their domestic plastic waste liabilities. This resulted in a deluge of waste being re-routed to new export markets in Asia, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and India. “What you can see is that even the developed countries cannot recycle their own waste. So the plastic problem is more than what people think. What China has done is that they’ve banned the import of plastics and that has opened up everyone’s eyes that this is a huge problem,” Yeo said. In October 2018, Reuters reported that Malaysia had imported nearly half a million tons of plastic waste in the first half of the year from just the top ten source countries. A 60 Minutes report revealed that Australia alone had dumped more than 71,000 tons of plastic waste in Malaysia in just 12 months (that’s 57 percent of Australia’s annual plastic waste). When Yeo came into office, she swiftly set up a nationwide freeze on the import of plastic waste. But newly tightened regulations on plastic waste imports resulted in more of the plastic waste going off-grid, smuggled into Malaysia in shipping containers falsely declared as imports that do not require a permit. In recent months, Malaysia’s Department of Environment has cracked down on illegal shipments of plastic waste, and shut down illegal or non-compliant plastic recycling factories. During the Basel Conference of the Parties which took place from April 29 to May 10, 2019, governments voted to amend the Basel Convention to better regulate the global trade in plastic waste and require the recipient country’s informed consent, something Yeo’s ministry strongly advocated for. Electrifying Malaysia Besides keeping tabs on single-use plastics, Yeo wears another hat as energy minister. In this role, Yeo has announced new renewable energy targets, reforms to the electricity market and the ramping up of energy efficiency. “We have announced [that we will raise] our renewable energy target from 2 to 20 percent, excluding large hydro by 2025. At the moment we do not want to look into large hydro because it is debatable whether large hydro is a green project since it takes up a lot of forest space, and actually removes a carbon sink,” she said. Petronas, the national oil and gas company, can help lead Malaysia’s greening efforts by increasing its investments into renewable energy, Yeo added. “Any energy ministry will know that you need to solve the trilemma as we call it—sustainability, reliability and affordability. So you’re not only talking about wanting to be sustainable, you’re also talking about needing to be affordable. A slow transition towards that is important. Petronas should not only focus on renewable energy, but also focus on a more efficient usage of natural gas as a transition towards more renewable energy for the world.” A key goal of Yeo’s ministry—decarbonizing Malaysia—could be achieved with better energy storage technology and electric vehicles, she said. “If you look into Malaysia’s energy balance, our energy is eaten up by industry, mobility and electricity. Besides decarbonization of the electricity industry, another big guzzler of our energy is transportation … The ministry this year will be looking into electric vehicle policies in Malaysia and how to incentivize electric vehicle uptake in Malaysia.” Given that Yeo manages energy, climate change and environment portfolios, it may raise some eyebrows that her partner is Mr. Lee Yeow Seng, scion of the IOI Group, whose oil plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia cover more than 150,000 hectares of land. When asked, Yeo debunked any link between palm oil and deforestation in Malaysia. “If you look at Malaysia, most of our oil palm plantations are already a brownfield. That means they are already not a virgin forest. [Oil palm plantations are] ten times more productive per hectare of land in terms of oil production than soybean and grapeseed,” Yeo said. “We definitely need to control some of the things the palm oil industry is doing, for example emissions and encroachment into the forest. What you need to do is enforcement, not a total ban.” Stepping up industry research Citing a 2015 World Bank report that showed Malaysia spent only 1.3 percent of its GDP on research and development (R&D), Yeo wrote on her personal blog that “this [statistic] is even lower than the average R&D spent in low- and middle-income countries.” “When I first came in as a minister, I found that most of our grants are given to academics. Most of our R&D [funding] was spent on academics and higher education … but it’s not solving the problem; it’s not helping our economy,” Yeo told Asian Scientist Magazine. “Historically, only 8.6 percent of R&D funding in Malaysia was spent on industry research. We now want 50 percent of [grant funding] to go to research collaborations with industry, or at least market-driven research,” said Yeo, adding that the four strategic areas her ministry is focusing on are halal food science, Islamic finance, health and wellness, and Industry 4.0. Yeo also wants to create a pipeline of researchers to industry and raise the proportion of researchers in the private sector from the current 12 percent today. “There used to be a huge disconnect in Malaysia between scientists and the economy. We want to completely change how this works. And we’ll start very small; we’ll start by shifting our government researchers to industry for free for this year.” Not business as usual for Yeo After being elected into office, Yeo was christened as one of the “Top 10 People Who Mattered in Science in 2018” by UK-based science journal Nature. In 2019, she was appointed a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. Could Yeo use her twin platforms of rising public popularity and policymaking to shape the destiny of plastic use in the region? Indeed, Yeo has ambitious plans for Malaysia to lead a new plastics circular economy in Southeast Asia. “For the next three years we are developing a circular economy—how do we have a circular economy, not only for plastics, but also for electronic waste, like batteries? If we start changing our lifestyle to become more electrified, batteries need to be in a circular market.” In parting, Malaysia’s plastics reformer spoke philosophically of the challenges in front of her, which include raising Malaysia’s renewable energy target tenfold by 2025 and implementing the 12-year roadmap to banning single-use plastics. “The only thing we cannot do is say, ‘there are problems to the solution, let’s go back to business as usual,’ because you already know business as usual will not be sustainable in the future for Malaysia, and for the world,” Yeo said. Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: https://www.asianscientist.com/2019/07/print/malaysia-yeo-bee-yin-environment-minister/

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