Malaysia and Japan plan major cross-border carbon capture project, despite climate benefit doubts

Japan wants to vessel c emissions to Malaysia successful a first-of-its-kind task successful Southeast Asia for c seizure and storage, a wide debated process that critics opportunity is much symbolic than effective successful curbing ambiance change.

Despite specified doubts, Malaysia is positioning itself arsenic Southeast Asia's hub for nan replacement technology, a three-step process that captures, transports and buries c dioxide which contributes to ambiance change. With astir 81% of Malaysia's energy generated from fossil fuels, ambiance activists opportunity c seizure is an costly distraction from proven emissions-reducing actions specified arsenic transitioning to renewable energy.

Japan, 1 of nan world's apical c emitters, plans to vessel emissions from its heavy polluting industries –– spanning electrical power, lipid refining, cement, shipping and alloy –– to Malaysia wrong nan adjacent fewer years. If nan task succeeds, experts opportunity it whitethorn blaze a way for different Southeast Asian nations pinch c retention potential, for illustration Indonesia and Thailand.

Detractors opportunity it will slow advancement of already off-track world efforts to curb emissions.

The scheme “dangerously shifts nan load of ambiance alteration onto Malaysia alternatively than onto Japan," said Rachel Kennerley, a c seizure master pinch nan Washington-based Center for International Environmental Law.

Doubts astir c seizure

The debated process starts pinch capturing emissions straight from a polluting source, for illustration a refinery aliases powerfulness station. This tin beryllium done successful different ways, specified arsenic retrofitting a installation to emit straight into a retention location aliases by building vacuumlike structures to suck up emissions.

While Japan and Malaysia person yet to stock elaborate plans, nan c dioxide will apt past request to beryllium separated from nan different captured gasses emitted during business processes.

The c will past beryllium liquefied and later transported successful specially designed ships to funeral sites, apt successful depleted state fields disconnected nan seashore of nan Malaysian authorities of Sarawak connected nan land of Borneo.

After nan liquefied c is injected into nan crushed nan tract will person to beryllium monitored for leaks.

Some governments and fossil substance giants for illustration Exxon Mobil and Shell beforehand nan strategy arsenic a ambiance solution that buys clip for countries and industries to modulation to cleaner energy.

The European Union’s first offshore c retention facility, taking emissions from Denmark and injecting them into nan seabed beneath nan North Sea, is owed to commencement operating by mid-2026. A Norwegian installation launched past twelvemonth is testing cross-border c shipments.

There is “an almost fantastical theoretical uptick” successful c seizure interest, said Grant Hauber, pinch nan U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. He said it “offers a tantalizing committedness that conscionable won’t deliver.”

While nan International Energy Agency considers c capture, utilization and retention a instrumentality for curbing ambiance change, nan IEA's latest Net Zero Emissions script forecasts it will lend little than 5% of emanation reductions by 2050.

Malaysia pushes for c seizure

Malaysia passed a measure past twelvemonth promoting nan c seizure industry. Without providing details, nan Ministry of Economy, which declined to comment, projected nan fledgling assemblage could adhd up to $250 cardinal to nan system wrong 30 years.

Malaysia’s state-owned lipid and state company, Petronas, is starring nan $1.1 cardinal building of what will beryllium world’s largest offshore c retention facility, slated to statesman operations by nan extremity of nan decade. Petronas declined to comment.

Rather than investing successful proven decarbonization actions, for illustration star power rollouts aliases grid development, Eqram Mustaqeem, who campaigned against c seizure successful Malaysia, said “we're spending precocious amounts of money connected a exertion that is under-delivering and unproven."

Japan pilots cross-border task

Fossil fuels make nan lion’s stock of power successful Japan, which is among nan world's apical 5 highest c emitters.

Japan is investing successful 9 c retention sites, 3 of them successful Malaysia, to effort to trim its nett emissions. It estimates that by 2030, nan sites will shop 20 cardinal tons of c annually, astir 2% of Japan's yearly emissions.

Malaysia will apt beryllium paid an undetermined magnitude per ton of emissions stored. Japan could past subtract those emissions from its full c output.

Officials from Japan's authorities agencies starring nan project, nan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and nan Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security, aliases JOGMEC, did not respond to requests for comment.

Government documents show a scope of Japanese companies intend to vessel emissions to Malaysia.

Carbon seizure aliases ‘climate colonialism’

Ayumi Fukakusa, of nan defense group, Friends of nan Earth Japan, called nan thought of exporting emissions to different countries “carbon colonialism.”

Apart from nan doubts astir nan effectiveness of c capture, critics besides entity to nan thought of managing emissions alternatively than reducing them.

“Japan gets to support polluting and driving ambiance change, while claiming to ‘clean up’ its emissions by shipping nan c to Malaysia," said Kennerley of nan Center for International Environmental Law. She said that will make Malaysia “a c dumping crushed for business pollution” and detract from ambiance action.

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