By Natasha Jee & Nia Natasha Hasenan
KUCHING: With Sarawak now focusing to produce green technology, the state may need to draft a law to claim for carbon credits, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He pointed out that currently, there was no provision in the state’s laws on carbon credit as a trading commodity.
“We have to upgrade our laws so that we are able to claim carbon credits and be known as a green state,” he said at the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing ceremony between Craun Research Sdn Bhd and Knowledge Integration Services (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Nitsei Sago Industries Sdn Bhd at UCSI Hotel on Monday (Oct 19).
The chief minister added that Sarawak was on the right track in its efforts to produce green technology.
A carbon credit is a generic term for any tradable certificate or permit representing the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of a different greenhouse gas.
On the concept of earning carbon credits, if a project can produce less greenhouse gases than the current alternative, it will be eligible to claim for carbon credits.
“At the moment, we are doing research on hydrogen and this research will show us the best way to produce hydrogen through the process of electrolysis which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. Water is a renewable energy,” said Abang Johari.
Elaborating on the state’s initiative towards green technology, he explained that the sago waste treatment plant project in Mukah which he officiated at was a solution to addressing environmental pollution caused by sago waste.
From the sago waste, the state was able to produce biogas, another example of green technology, he said.
“For instance, Kampung Teh and Kampung Tabo can be the locations to produce this biogas from sago waste. I hope Craun will be able to conduct a study on how this biogas can be distributed to the villagers for domestic use.
“This can be used for cooking and it will be cheaper. In addition to that, it is also renewable,” said Abang Johari.
