As the cleanest fossil fuel, natural gas plays an important role in balancing the energy trilemma, providing secure, reliable and flexible energy 

THE Malaysian Gas Association (MGA) is urging the government to maintain the country’s climate commitments, especially the aspiration to achieve net-zero emissions as early as 2050. 

Among the commitments is the Low Carbon Nation Aspiration (LCNA) 2040 embedded in the National Energy Policy (NEP) 2022-2040 which was launched in September 2022. 

“It demonstrates that Malaysia is on the right path with pragmatic policies in place to partly address the climate change agenda at the national level,” the association said in a recent statement. 

This was in response to a dialogue session which the Finance Ministry held for industry players to share their views on the Budget 2023. 

MGA added that as the cleanest fossil fuel, natural gas plays an important role in balancing the energy trilemma, providing clean, secure, reliable and flexible energy. 

It is also a key fuel in ensuring that the nation meets its improved greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 45% of GDP by 2030 without jeopardising energy security.

“With multiple sources and an extensive network of gas delivery infrastructures with reliability exceeding 99%, natural gas plays a significant role in fuelling the economy by providing an uninterruptible supply of energy, particularly in the power generation sector. 

“Natural gas, combined with other low carbon and renewable gases, is set to play an important role in realising the aspirations under NEP 2022-2040 and Malaysia’s pathway to achieving carbon neutrality,” it said. 

MGA also urged the government to maintain other policies related to energy including the Gas Master Plans for Sabah and Sarawak, full gas market liberalisation and the upcoming road-maps such as the Natural Gas Roadmap and Regional Gas Market hub. 

“Today, natural gas remains the single largest energy source in Malaysia, supplying around 42% of its total primary energy supply in 2019. 

“More importantly, the Malaysian gas industry creates over 80,000 jobs for the wider economy,” MGA added. 

The association said as fostering the development and expansion of the industry capability and capacity is crucial in policy planning and initiatives, it urges the government to maintain parts of the Budget 2023 that will encourage the industry to invest in technologies and innovations. 

“MGA believes that this synergy between the policymakers and the industry is important for our country as we address the energy trilemma and embark on a pragmatic and orderly energy transition towards achieving net-zero emissions,” it concluded. — TMR 

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• This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition