The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its report in April 2022 issued a dire warning for economies around the world – the continued rise of global CO2 emissions will have a severe impact on humanity and if the current business-as-usual scenarios continue then not only will global warming exacerbate heat waves, but also heat extremes that would more often reach critical tolerance thresholds for agriculture and health.

It is not an understatement that humanity is indeed at a crossroads. As the IPCC report stressed, limiting global warming is an imperative that cannot be ignored, and at the heart of this climate action is transitioning to cleaner and greener sources of energy.

Countries around the world have taken up this call to action.

In 2021, Malaysia set a target to reach 31% of renewable energy share in the national installed capacity mix by 2025 and 40% by 2035.

Corporate Malaysia is also echoing the national energy transition sentiment, with companies declaring their commitment to reduce emissions and setting targets towards zero-carbon emissions. The national oil corporation, PETRONAS, for example declared its aspiration to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

Although these commitments are in the positive direction, one of the concerns raised is the preparedness of industry in making that transition and to that end the achievability of energy transition goals. Are there gaps that need to be addressed in the energy transition journey? Where are the opportunities and shortcomings in relation to collaborations on technology transfer, financing and even capacity building?

These were the questions that prompted Energy Institute (Malaysian Chapter) Chair Prof Ir Dr Mohd Shahir Liew to establish the Energy Transition Malaysia Alliance (ET-MAce) in April 2022. A global professional body for the energy sector, one of the goals of the UK-based Energy Institute is to inform energy decision-making through convening expertise and advice.

Mohd Shahir who is Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, says that despite the government’s statement of its energy transition goals, there are sectors of industry and the public who are oblivious to that fact.

“People are still blurry about energy transition. Through UTP’s closeness with industry we also receive feedback that they are not consulted on some of the goals and commitments,” he says, pointing out that as industry is a key stakeholder in the economy, it is vital that they are included in the energy transition conversation.

The goal of ET-MAce, he adds, is to offer high level insights on technology choices, investment needs, policy framework as well as the socio-economic impact of achieving a sustainable, resilient and inclusive energy future in Malaysia.

“As a neutral party with our ears to the ground, we want to expedite energy transitioning initiatives, create a platform for industry to share their pain points and challenges, key strategies and initiatives, and tell us what energy transition looks like to them,” he adds.

With its secretariat based at UTP, which has been undertaking research on future energy and energy transition, ET-MAce also benefits from the expertise of its Council Members, which are currently made up of institutional and industry players.

These include Sarawak Energy Berhad Group Chief Executive Officer Datu Sharbini Suhaili, Sabah Energy Corporation Chief Executive Officer Adzmir Abdul Rahman, PETRONAS Clean Energy Solutions Transition Head M Shahrizal Yang Razali, UTP Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib, Energy Commission Chief Executive Officer Ts Abdul Razib Dawood, and Sustainable Energy Development Authority Chief Strategy Officer Mohammad Nazri Mizayauddin.

Among the alliance’s activities are roundtable discussions, workshops, webinars with subject matter experts on the energy sector and symposiums. Apart from knowledge dissemination and advocacy, ET-MAce will also serve as an enabler for research and development, and alliances and collaborations.

Mohd Shahir hopes that by mid-2023 the alliance will be able to provide quantitative data as to the progress of Malaysia’s transition towards zero carbon. “It’s important to know if we are on track or off track in terms of achieving zero-carbon emissions by 2050.”

To that end, the publication of policy papers, he says, will be integral to the alliance’s mandate. 

“These policy papers will address issues such as the future manpower needs within the new energy landscape for example, the need for re-skilling and upskilling, the socio-economic impact of the move to green energy as well as to provide a reality check on decarbonisation plans. Through the expertise that we have at UTP in areas like circular economy, decarbonisation, and carbon calculation, we hope to come up with a roadmap that can be shared.

“It’s important to remember that not all the stakeholders are starting from the same point, so we need to have policies in place and set benchmarks that the various stakeholders can aim towards,” he adds.