By Jacintha Jolene & Fasiha Khushiri
KUCHING: The Sarawak government is in the process of setting up a hydrogen car assembly plant in Kuching, said Deputy Minister for Energy and Environment Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni.
He said this is in line with the government’s shift towards alternative energy sources, reducing the dependence of fossil fuel as well as the automotive industry’s switch to renewable energy.
According to Dr Hazland, the two main carbon emitters are the aviation industry and the oil and gas industry, besides the cement, fertilizer and cement industries.
He added that Sarawak has its own green economy policy and is currently in the process of drafting a climate change policy under the ministry.
“We will embark into the electric vehicle (EV) industry and most people know that there are two types of EV- battery electric vehicle (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV).
“There are many BEVs on the market but the origin and the source of the energy to produce the battery is questionable.
“That’s why for Sarawak, we are focusing on FCEV powered by hydrogen locally,” he told a press conference after officiating the 18th International Conference of Clean Energy (ICCE) 2022 held at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) today.
Asked on the location of the proposed plant, Dr Hazland said it would be located close to BCCK, adding that he would leave it to Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari to make the official announcement.
Previously during his work visit to Norway, he noted that about 75 per cent of its community are using EVs and learned that the Norway government imposed two rules which are abolishing import taxes for the car and introducing a discount of income tax for those driving EVs.
Dr Hazland in his proposal to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob upon their meeting two weeks ago further urged the Federal government to take action to encourage the use of electric vehicles as it is under the Ministry of Transport’s purview.
He added that Malaysia could impose similar laws to Norway’s and for local cars to be transformed into EVs in two to three years’ time.
