The unexpected oil crisis emerging from the oil embargo against Russia, the world’s second largest crude oil exporter, has piled pressure on energy prices, supply shortages, and economic recession worldwide. The renewable energy benefits are currently absorbed beyond their actual purposes to build growth of clean energy for a sustainable world.
Among the 19,778,766 registered vehicles reported in 2022, Thailand has HEVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) at 84,236 units, while only 63 units are battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
“While the National Economic and Social Development Plan has set a goal to achieve EV growth of 35% by 2040, transformation to new energy development must be taken into account prior to the disruption,” stated Auttapol Rerkpiboon, President and CEO, PTT Public Company Limited.
“As the national energy enterprise providing natural gas and petrochemical products, PTT’s long-established business mainly generates revenue from deployment of fossil fuel. Transition to the new business structure driven by renewable energy is marked as a pivotal move for the group to sustain business growth and support energy consumption as well as achieving Net Zero alongside the rest of world by 2050.”
“Thailand, as the rising production hub for automobiles, is currently stepping into the expansion of EVs and energy storage production. PTT aims to allocate 30% of capital expenditures (CAPEX) to acquire investments in clean energy from 2021-2030.”
PTT has undertaken investment in renewable energy and technologies, including Energy Storage System (ESS), Smart Energy Platform, and EV Charging Station. A recent joint venture with Foxconn, manufacturer of electronic products including iPhones, Nintendo gaming consoles, and Xiaomi devices, is marked as a beginning for PTT to take on the challenges facing the EV market in Thailand.
Electronic vehicles (EVs) are powered by electricity stored in batteries while HEV and PHEV are driven by engines when the battery is depleted. While popularity of EV usage among personal vehicles is growing slightly, the electricity-driven principle has extended to other traditional automotive modes including public transportation and Tuk-Tuks on demand.
“Thailand’s readiness for the EV market is developing but one of the consumption growth challenges is limited availability of charging stations. EV Station Plus, EV charging outlets located in PTT stations, will be increased to 450 stations throughout Thailand. Hopefully, this can be the next catalyst for Thailand to achieve its decarbonisation goals.”
Based on the vision set in 2021, PTT has established PTT Group Net Zero Task Force or G-NET, comprising experts from PTT and six other flagship companies under the directive of PTT, to assign goals and strategies and integrate implementation related to the group’s domestic and international operations.
PTT’s green transition is built on its solid climate change battle plan since 1994 in light of realising carbon emission reduction, as reflected through 1.1 million Rai of forest spanning across Thailand.
“Partnership with Nature and Society” stemming from such efforts continues to move towards the goal of growing 2 million Rai of terrestrial and mangrove forest by 2030.
The total 3.1 million Rai of reforestation by PTT Group is expected to create carbon sinks which will help reduce the company’s carbon footprint by 4.15 million tonnes per annum while promoting biodiversity and increasing food security of communities.
“In accelerating CO2 sequestration by 2030 alongside new business expansion, the existing action plans require establishment of intensive conduct to lower GHG emissions by 15%.”
Carbon Capture Utilization (CCU) is the advanced decarbonisation solution deploying CO2 and converting into added-value products. PTT’s industrial diversification for new businesses involves initiatives on CCU derived from Sodium Bicarbonate, Animal Protein, Methanol and Nano Calcium Carbonate. These are pivotal to reforming pharmaceutical, food & nutrition, and medical device businesses. With deployment of CCU combination, the solution is expected to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) by 0.35 million tonnes within 2030.
Another shortcut increasingly prevalent in the industry is Carbon Credit trading which PTT is pioneering in international trade under its “Green Bunker” project, a carbon offset transaction for vessels that incur excessive CO2 emission.
Investment in energy of the future by PTT group is a strategic plan to reimburse reduction of fossil fuel business and adapt to changing lifestyles among people as the key driver of the sustainable energy industry and moves to reduce climate impacts.
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