KUCHING: A forest carbon study permit was awarded to SaraCarbon Sdn Bhd (SaraCarbon) by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg during the Asia Carbon Conference 2023 (ACC 2023) today (March 15).
SaraCarbon is the first organisation in Sarawak to receive a forest carbon study permit which will allow the company to study the potential of undertaking a carbon nature-based project in Marudi within Samling’s industrial tree plantation area.
Chief executive officer of SaraCarbon, Lawrence Chia, said the forest carbon study permit will allow the development of a project which is potentially a game-changer in driving Sarawak’s pivot towards green energy.
He said the project in Marudi was aligned with the state government’s objective to reduce greenhouse gases and to provide a new source of revenue for Sarawak.
“We appreciate the state government’s confidence in SaraCarbon, our expertise and capabilities within this space. We are fully supportive of the state government’s forest carbon policy which will see Sarawak pursue a new direction in forest management, planting even more trees and restoring degraded forests,” he said.
Chia who is also the chief executive officer of Samling Strategic Corporation Sdn Bhd pointed out that climate change pressures require the organisation to deploy every feasible option at its disposal.
“We believe forest carbon initiatives hold the potential for the state government to develop a new sustainable source of revenue,” he added.
At the same time, Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (PETROS) was issued the first licence for carbon storage to begin its strategic role as a manager of the state’s natural Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) resources.
The licence was issued by the Sarawak Land and Survey Department, it covers an area located in the North Luconia province offshore Bintulu.
PETROS Group chief executive officer, Janin Girie, said the state-owned oil and gas company welcomes organisations who are committed to achieving their decarbonisation targets to explore utilising the CCUS potentials in Sarawak.
With an abundance of the storage potential in offshore areas, he said Sarawak is blessed with the biggest potential of carbon storage capacity in Malaysia.
“Development of CCUS infrastructure will unlock and commercialise the development of stranded sour gas reserves offshore Sarawak. The additional gas unlocked by CCUS can ensure long-term energy and gas supply security for Sarawak thus complementing the energy transition for the state and Malaysia.
“Down the line, the base CCUS infrastructure established to enable the sour gas field development can be further expanded to allow carbon dioxide emitters both local and foreign to capture and store the gas to reduce greenhouse warming effect. This will enable the realization of a Net carbon-zero economy,” he said.
He added that these infrastructure expansions in turn will create business opportunities to operate CCUS infrastructures thus generating revenue for the state economy whilst further developing local capabilities.
