KUCHING: The mass production of electrolysers will be able to reduce the cost to produce hydrogen in the next five to 10 years.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said with the reduced cost, it would also result in the reduction of carbon emissions.
He said the hydrogen production process is quite expensive but there is a possibility that the cost will decrease with the mass production of electrolysers.
“In the next five to 10 years, the cost of electrolysers will decrease. I may be right or wrong but if it happens, that’s the key to producing cheaper hydrogen,” he said when officiating at the Toyota Mirai Vehicle launch at Menara Pelita, here, yesterday.
He explained that scientists were currently researching on the mass production of electrolysers.
He cited an example of the early days of information technology (IT) where computers were expensive and as large as a cupboard but in today’s setting, data can be stored in compact and cheaper computers.
“This means there are economies of scale. If we have economies of scale, the price of electrolysers will be cheaper,” he explained.
He said the production of hydrogen would be able to deal with climate issues by controlling carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.
“Maybe Sarawak can make a breakthrough; who knows? The Sarawak government is going actively in this direction because we have the resources. If Sarawak is successful, Malaysia will be successful too.
“That is why Sarawak must be recognised as a region,” he stressed.
On the Toyota Mirai vehicle, he described it as one of the evolutions in the car industry and stressed that it reflected the efforts at the regional level to promote green technology which is hydrogen.
“This high-tech car can travel 1,000km on a single ‘tank’ of hydrogen, which is the distance between Kuching and Limbang and only takes three to four minutes to be refuelled,” he added.
Also present at the event were UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd chairman Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman and deputy chairman Takashi Obata, Federal Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii and Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) chairman Tan Sri Datuk Amar Abdul Aziz Husain.
