KUCHING: Sarawak is ambitiously working to further reduce the power consumption required to generate hydrogen to 10 kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the state government will continue to seek expertise from experienced nations such as the US, Japan, and Korea to identify the right technology to reduce the cost of hydrogen conversion.
“Electrolysis involves using a membrane to split hydrogen and oxygen. By improving this membrane, perhaps with a new plate, we could reduce the power consumption needed to produce 1kg of hydrogen.
“I’m proud to share that our research with Petronas has already made significant progress. We brought the entire research setup from Petronas to Kuching and conducted our studies here.
“We have successfully reduced the energy consumption from 60kWh to 38kWh for producing hydrogen. Our goal is to further reduce this to 20kWh, 15kWh, and eventually 10kWh,” he said.
He said this in his keynote address at the US – Malaysia Clean Tech Forum 2024, themed ‘Shared Pathways to a Clean Economy,’ held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) today (June 12).
Abang Johari stressed that achieving these reductions is crucial to replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen, thereby moving towards a cleaner energy future.
“The only advantage we have is water. We have an abundance of water and sufficient rainfall.
“Once our economy is based on cheap energy, we can fight poverty. Technology, to me, is a means to fight poverty and is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). That is why I try to correlate energy and food security,” he added.
He said that discussions with Japanese experts are underway to study a technology called plating to produce another membrane that will expedite the split at a lower cost.
He said if the study proves successful, it could reduce the energy consumption to 10 kWh, which could lower the cost of hydrogen significantly.
He elaborated that this could drive the shipping industry forward as hydrogen is the base gas for producing ammonia and methanol.
“The shipping industry is shifting towards methanol as it causes less pollution, indicating a move from fossil fuels to methanol.
“Sarawak is now producing methanol and aims to produce green methanol, followed by ammonia. This requires strategic planning and is not just empty talk,” he said.
Also present at the forum earlier were Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Datuk Dr Hazland Abang Hipni, Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) chairman Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr Abdul Aziz Husain, and the United States Ambassador to Malaysia, Edgard D. Kagan.
