Building on energy security and its proximity to China, Hong Kong can achieve carbon neutrality through energy transition and do good business at the same time.
The city seldom suffers from major blackouts like what happened in Spain, Portugal and France yesterday (see page 8).
As 80 percent of global energy is still generated from fossil fuels, most regard energy transition as pivotal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
As a major greenhouse gas emitter, China has set the target by 2060 but it is at the same time a significant green energy producer.
Some nations need to import energy. Singapore plans to buy power from Australia through a network of subsea cables.
But Hong Kong can easily buy energy from across border, with the mainland already supplying nuclear power and natural gas.
This eases Hong Kong’s limitations on renewable energy generation and its use.
Although residents have been using solar energy, supply is still limited. Through the feed-in-tariff scheme, locals have been selling excessive solar energy generated to the two power companies since 2018.
The government uses floating solar panels on reservoirs to generate electricity for regional usage. Pilot trials are under way at Shek Pik, Plover Cove and Tai Lam Chung Reservoirs, each with a 100kW capacity. Yet, they are limited sources of energy.
The government’s medium-term target is to increase the share of renewable in the energy mix to up to 10 percent by 2035, when carbon emissions will be halved from 2005, before reaching net zero 2050. This is almost 10 times more than the current level.
While intermittency is a concern for renewable energy, the world is focused on power-to-X: converting one form of energy to another.
Some highly sought-after ones include green hydrogen, green methanol and sustainable aviation fuel. But they all remain costly and need space for production. The question is whether Hong Kong can use green energy from the mainland China and even trade it.
Green hydrogen, produced from renewable sources like solar and wind, offers zero-carbon fuel for transport and industry.
Green methanol is derived from green hydrogen, and is promoted for maritime use.
Sustainable aviation fuel is made from waste oils. Although SAF could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 percent as compared to traditional jet fuel, the limited supply is yet to fulfill the global demand and remains at high costs.
Late last year, HSBC, Cathay Pacific and Towngas subsidiary EcoCeres announced a partnership involving 3,400 tonnes of such fuel made by EcoCeres. An SAF supplier to various airlines, EcoCeres has been producing SAF in Suzhou, China and will commence operations in the second half in Johor, Malaysia.
Many nations want to be green energy hubs.
Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering port, completed its first commercial methanol operation in July 2023 and achieved another milestone last year with simultaneous methanol bunkering and cargo operations at Tuas Port. Towngas is also a supplier of methanol in Singapore.
While Singapore wants all departing flights to use SAF by 2026, Hong Kong will release a code on green methanol bunkering by mid-year and has set a target for flights to use SAF this year.
China has stepped up its green efforts with its first-ever Environmental Code draft. And Hong Kong should take advantage of its regional strength and private-sector innovation to transition to green energy while doing good business for the city and the nation.
