Clean Coal Plant for Sabah a Myth: Green SURF

PRESS RELEASE

KOTA KINABALU (9th Feb 2011): A group of NGOs here today voiced their opposition to branding any proposed coal plant in Sabah as “clean,” as no such facility exists anywhere in the world at present.

It also warned that any further attempt to force a coal plant in Sabah will close doors to the development of renewable energy in a state that not only has biomass from oil palm waste, but one that is also branding itself worldwide as a biodiversity and ecotourism hub, potentially attracting funds for clean energy options.

Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future) said the term “clean coal” should refer only to the idea of building coal plants that capture carbon emissions and then store the carbon underground, stressing that the Government and Tenaga Nasional Berhad must stop misleading the public.

“This is a dream for the future, not a present reality. No plant of this kind exists anywhere in the world yet. The Sabah plant, like every other coal plant in the world, will not be able to capture and store carbon. At best, reports show such a facility will only come on stream in 2030.

“Having basic controls on emissions of certain gases and on wastewater does not make a coal plant `clean.’

“What those proposing the plant seem to be talking about when they talk about ‘clean coal’ is the fact that the plant will have certain pollution control devices that minimise the release of pollutants other than carbon dioxide,” Green SURF said in a statement issued today.

The group decided to highlight the issue of clean coal technology as repeated statements had been made on the matter by the Energy, Water and Green Technology Ministry, apart from Tenaga Nasional Berhad and Lahad Datu Energy Sdn Bhd.

Green SURF said the fact that the government has not scrapped a proposed 300 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu gives rise to speculation that there are plans to proceed with it. Past reports state that the proposed project will use clean coal technology.

The group said removing sulfur dioxide, a compound that causes acid rain, and use of low nitrous oxide burners, among other measures, do not merit calling the plant a “clean coal” one.

“These measures only partially control the release of pollutants they are designed to control, and do not do anything about carbon dioxide emissions.

“In no way does the inclusion of standard and usually legally-required features merit calling the power facility in Sabah a “clean coal” type. In Malaysia, we do not have the necessary stringent laws that restrict such pollution,” it said.

Green SURF said the Credit Suisse Group has estimated US$15 billion (about RM45 billion) needs to be invested in carbon capture and storage technology, while the Pew Center on Global Climate Change has stated the cost could be as high as US$30 billion (about RM90 billion).

According to a TIME Magazine article on Jan 10, 2009 titled “Exposing the Myth of Clean Coal Power,” there is currently no economical way to capture and sequester carbon emissions from coal, and that experts doubt there would ever be.

Numerous reports have also pointed out that the cost of generating power from coal using carbon capture technology will be significantly higher.

“The cost and energy just to produce “clean coal” would make using coal just or more expensive than using wind, solar and other renewables.

“We must also remember that coal can never be clean for as long as it involves removing mountains, displacing local communities in the mining process, and polluting their environment.

“Coal ash, a solid by product of burned coal contains arsenic and could bring to a rise in cancer cases by several hundred times, the US Environmental Protection Agency has reported,” Green SURF said.

The group further warned that escalating global food prices which are also impacting Malaysia, were to a certain extent caused by climate change, and that one report has estimated changes in weather could cause prices to go up by 20 per cent within this decade.

“Scientists say 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity, and that is why Green SURF is here. We want to play our part in bringing the level of carbon dioxide down from its present 389 parts per million.

Green SURF was set up over a year ago following the announcement by the Federal Government that a 300 megawatt coal plant would be built in Kampung Sinakut, Lahad Datu.

The coalition’s founding members are WWF Malaysia, Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP), Sabah Environment Protection Association (SEPA), Partners of Community Organisations (PACOS) and the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Sabah branch.

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Anti coal stand has support!

FORUM
We refer to the letter by Mr David Lee titled “Anti-coal group not majority” published in the Daily Express Forum page on Jan 9, 2011. While Mr Lee has every right to express his views over the issue of building a coal-fired power plant in Sabah, we believe there are many points which must be clarified.

It was stated that the anti-coal plant group, which was not named except in one sentence as “Green Turf” but is presumably in reference to Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future), does not represent the silent majority who has not spoken one way or another about the project proposal and would rather have electricity supplied to their homes and industries.

Contrary to this, the public has shown support towards Green SURF, as evidenced through social network sites and through personal communication with our members. Some of our coalition members have since 2008 collected over 50,000 signatures protesting the construction of a coal plant in Sabah.

At a public forum held last year, a majority of the 400 people who attended voiced their opposition towards the plant. When the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) study was put up for scrutiny, it is the public that came forward and wrote in to the Federal Department of Environment (DOE) with their views, with hundreds sending a copy of their letters to Green SURF. The DOE later rejected the study but its reasons were not made public.

It must also be pointed out that the Sabah State Government had made a decision in April 2008 when it rejected the proposed 300 megawatt plant when it was to be built in Silam, Lahad Datu, citing “health and environmental reasons.”

When a second proposal was made to have it sited in Sandakan, locals in the east coast town stood up to say no, and the project was quickly scrapped. A third site was proposed in September 2009, this time at the Dent Peninsula, and within a month, five influential non-governmental organisations got together to form Green SURF to lend a voice based on facts on why Sabah can do without a coal-fired power plant.

Green SURF subsequently commissioned University of California in Berkeley Professor of Energy, Daniel M. Kammen, to carry out an independent study on Sabah’s energy options. Prof Kammen, who is now Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at The World Bank, and his team concluded that 42 of 117 palm oil mills (when the study was carried out in the first quarter of 2010) in Sabah are large enough to produce 380MW of power. Based on costs and available incentives for renewable energy, the study found that biomass waste projects at large mills are cost-competitive with coal.

However, in order to generate power from palm oil waste, the Government must consider removing the 10MW cap imposed on independent power producers taking part in the Small Renewable Energy Production (SREP) programme. There is also a need for utility companies to buy electricity from SREP producers at more than the maximum 21 sen per kilowatt hour (kWh) paid now for energy from waste like biomass. The ball is in the Government’s court.

The study also advocates the phasing out of costly fossil-fuel subsidies that distort energy markets making them unfairly competitive with other options, and to continue studies on the feasibility of renewable investments at known geothermal, wind and environmentally-friendly micro hydro sites.

In short, there is no need for a debate at all. The team’s study has found the available mix of biomass waste from plantations, run-of-the river hydropower, and geothermal would be more than sufficient to meet the capacity totals of the proposed coal-fired power plant. Not only can this mix of renewables meet demand, but do so while preserving the exceptional economic value and potential of ecotourism on the east coast, as well as locking in energy at a fixed cost at a time when global coal prices are rising, as acknowledged even by Tenaga Nasional Berhad and the Malaysian Government. A suite of solutions makes the most sense, and as a benefit, the diversity of supply helps protect the region from resource or geopolitical shortages.

Mr Lee also makes a number of comparisons to other countries, including “tourists drawing” nations like Australia which use coal to produce power. Local damages due to usage of coal to generate electricity are always there, and can be kept to a minimum only if very high quality monitoring is done, and in a consistent manner. We are not convinced of this following our communication with a group in Perak that has shared with us how the Manjung plant, which TNB repeatedly refers to as the model for Sabah, has led to environmental problems mainly among fishermen.

And while Mr Lee argues that others are using coal and therefore we should too, since it won’t make a difference when emissions fill the air, we would like to state that global impacts of generating electricity from coal cannot be resolved, but that we in Sabah can become an example to the rest of the world on doing things right. The notion that there is nothing to stop the export of carbon dioxide from coal plants in Indonesia, is also flawed and misleading. Our neighbour has just committed to going green, and is now investing in the protection of Kalimantan, and a shift to the use of geothermal energy. So, yes, if Indonesia can do it, why not Sabah?

We do, however, thank Mr Lee on highlighting the problem of run-off from plantations, which could have an impact on corals and fish off Dent Peninsula. Building a coal plant will not resolve this problem. What we need is strong commitment on the part of the Malaysian Government to find use for biomass waste so that it does not go into rivers and the bay. This is no longer an option. It would be best to convert this waste into fuel for a biomass power plant, and one that has no net carbon dioxide emissions because the same amount of biomass that is used will be re-grown on plantations, leaving it in a “steady state.” The biomass scheme will actually protect rivers and waters around the Dent Peninsula. Coal will not.

Some nations mentioned by the writer are not signatories of the Kyoto protocol, while Malaysia is, showing that we have already taken some positive steps, the latest being the pledge to cut carbon intensity by 40 per cent in 2020 compared to 2005 levels. We are not going to be able to meet our promises to the world if a coal plant is built in Sabah.

Some of the countries mentioned have abundant coal reserves, while Sabah only has some deposits at Maliau Basin. Sabah has not had any coal plants, so why start using dirty fuel now? Even the United States has cancelled over 400 proposed coal plants, and the Washington Post recently reported that not a single new coal fired power plant was constructed in the US, two years running. The Washington Post quoted Deutsche Bank global head of assets management, Kevin Parker, as saying "Coal is dead man walking" and that "banks won’t finance them, insurance companies won’t insure them, and the economics to make it clean don't work."
Another assertion made was that green energy facilities pollute the environment as millions of tonnes of iron, copper and coal is needed to manufacture oil and gas, hydro and biomass infrastructure. This is wrong. Studies have shown that the life cycle impact of energy needed to develop renewable energy technologies is trivial compared to their benefits.

Mr Lee’s statement that the DEIA should not have been rejected by authorities over spelling mistakes shows that he has not read the report. It was full of technical inaccuracies and inadequacies, and we believe this is the reason the Federal Department of Environment rejected the study.

There are a number of other allegations made by Mr Lee, some of which do not deserve being addressed, as he may not be aware of key environmental issues and the numerous warning signs and studies done on climate change. It is an indisputable fact that burning fossil fuels such as coal is the greatest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change.

We only care for what happens to our children, and their children. And that is why we have taken this responsibility to speak out against the coal plant, even at risk of becoming unpopular.

Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future)

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Arang Dilarang Bumper Sticker

UPDATE: The coal fired power plant is being revived AGAIN. Please support the effort to let the Federal Government know that SABAH need NO COAL as power to energy.

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Spread the NO COAL message across Sabah by sticking the ARANG DILARANG window sticker on to your car. Even thou the plan to build the first coal fire power plant in sabah was cancelled, this doesn't mean we're free from it. We need to be constant reminded that there are people who still building coal fired power plant outside sabah and around the world.



At RM5 a piece you can get the stickers. You can get it at Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA) office at

8AF13, 8th Floor, Kompleks Karamusing,
88300 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

or map


View Sabah Environmental Protection Association in a larger map

For those who is outside Sabah, please email info@sepa.my for instruction to get this window sticker or by facebook at the link below

Facebook Link
SEPA Official Website

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Stop Playing Games on Green Energy, Ministry Told

PRESS RELEASE

KOTA KINABALU (22nd Dec 2010): Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future) has slammed the Federal Government for taking action that goes against its own policies and commitments in powering a green economy.

The group said the Government, in particular the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry, is confusing the people by stating that a coal-fired power plant will be built in Sabah, despite its own policies and pledges on using renewable energy and cleaner sources to provide electricity.

The latest statement from Green SURF comes in wake of Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Peter Chin’s reply to Senator Datuk Maijol Mahap at the Dewan Negara sitting on Monday that the coal plant proposed for Sabah will go ahead as it is the best option to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

Chin said a Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) study will be resubmitted, and that the Federal Government will form closer cooperation with the State Government, relevant agencies, the developer and residents.

Green SURF representative Wong Tack said the Government was not listening to the people of Sabah who have repeatedly rejected the coal plant from the time it was first proposed for Silam in Lahad Datu, and later in Sandakan.

“One minute the Government is promoting green technology, especially when it makes statements at international platforms. The next minute, it is pushing for a coal plant in Sabah, known for its biodiversity.

“How can the Government even say it’s listening to the people? This latest statement by Peter Chin is a total disappointment. The Minister must either be totally deaf or protecting some interests, instead of protecting interests of the people.

“Actions taken by the Government in pushing for this coal plant are totally against their own words and policies, and the arrogant attitude of the Minister (Peter Chin) is not acceptable, and in fact, is hard to swallow,” Wong said in a statement issued today.

On Tuesday, Chin was quoted as saying that the Government needs to play an active role to ensure green technology in Malaysia is able to grow, and that his Ministry was doing everything possible to encourage commercial and industrial enterprises and competition in green technology.

Last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak chaired the Green Technology and Climate Change Council meeting in Parliament, and stated on his Facebook page that he had attended the meeting, describing it as “the way forward and we can’t afford to be left behind.”

Meanwhile, Wong said Najib must keep his promise of increasing interactions with the people both online and in person as stated in his latest posting on his 1Malaysia blog.

“Green SURF has tried to meet the Prime Minister on numerous occasions. We even went to Parliament, but failed to see him. When he came to Kota Kinabalu, we were blocked from meeting the Prime Minister.

“If the Prime Minister truly wants to listen to the people, he should allow Green SURF to meet him,” Wong said.

Green SURF was founded over a year ago by five NGOs – Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA) of which Wong is president, Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP), WWF-Malaysia, Partners of Community Organisations (PACOS) and Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Sabah.

Following fierce objections by Green SURF and other organisations and individuals, the federal Department of Environment rejected the DEIA study for the plant in August.

However, last month, Tenaga Nasional Berhad which is the parent company of Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd, stated in its annual report that the DEIA would be resubmitted.

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