KUCHING: Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg has called for continuous efforts to sustain the planet.
In making the call, he said this is to ensure the survival of mankind.
“First, we are faced with the challenge of climate change… From the conference in Kyoto, followed by in Paris, Dubai in 2023, and this year, in Baku, Azerbaijan, all the participating countries have one thing in common — climate change is serious.
“And we have to find solutions to mitigate carbon emissions, at the same time to place emphasis on sustainability for the future,” he said.
He was giving his keynote speech at the the 4th Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Conference 2024 at Imperial Hotel today.
Abang Johari, who is also the Finance and New Economy Minister, said Sarawak was giving priority to source for alternative energy.
“We have to find alternative solutions to fossil fuels, energy that will be able to be used to face carbon emissions.
“With that in mind, we are putting emphasis on science and discipline, while at the same time we want to produce a workforce that is versed in technology.
“As a result, initially Sarawak introduced what I call digital economy, placing emphasis on technology as an enabler for us to adjust our economic diversification towards green economy,” he said.
Vigorously giving policies on the question of producing green economy, Abang Johari said that efforts have been made in Sarawak to explore the possibility of hydrogen as the best alternative clean energy to fossil fuels.
“And we have at the same time explored Sarawak’s strength where we could produce hydrogen and we are very fortunate we got water, lot of rivers, meaning we can discrete the hydrogen molecule from water.
“And this hydrogen, can be produced through the process of electrolysis, and that is where the cost is quite high.
“But we believe the next 10 years, the cost of producing hydrogen will be less,” he said.
He added that based on the International Energy Agency (IEA), there is a possibility that by the year 2030, there will be a reduction of 50 per cent in the cost of producing hydrogen.
“And if you were to compare with solar energy, solar, there is a reduction of 80 per cent for the last 10 years.
“So much so that for the solar panel, the cost is now getting cheaper and cheaper,” he said.
Hence, he said that solar can be a material for construction, as well as in other buildings that want to be built, based on the Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology.
“That will definitely sustain the way we build our building, as well as our basic infrastructure,” he said.
He also said the state is committed to transforming its public transport system using the autonomous rapid system (ART) and powered by hydrogen.
“Against this background, we need a lot of technologists who are well trained in science, in physics, in mathematics, as well as in language.
“That is why in Sarawak we have a dual language policy, that is English as well as our national language, Bahasa Malaysia. We want to reach out to the world in order to acquire the relevant knowledge to transform our economic base,” said Abang Johari.
