Latest news with #GenZeroClimateSummit2025
Straits Times
07-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Mitsubishi joins Singapore firms in climate plan to close Philippine coal plant early
The aim is to retire a 246 MW coal plant in Batangas province by 2030 and replace it with renewable energy and battery storage. PHOTO: ACEN SINGAPORE - Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporation on May 7 joined Singapore's Keppel and investment platform GenZero in a climate initiative that aims to retire a Philippine coal plant early using funds from a new type of carbon credit backed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The initiative, if successful, could be a model used to shut down dozens of other coal plants early around the globe, especially in Asia which is heavily reliant on the polluting fuel. The aim is to retire a 246 megawatt (MW) coal plant in Batangas province, South Luzon, by 2030 – ahead of its scheduled closure in 2040 – and replace it with renewable energy and battery storage. Shutting it down a decade early could save 19 million tonnes of planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions – and cut local air pollution. The catch is that closing the plant early is costly. Replacing it with green power generation and new power lines, as well as compensation for the lost 10 years of electricity income, would cost over US$1 billion (S$1.29 billion), said Mr Eric Francia, president and chief executive of the plant's owner Acen , which is the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group. 'We're still finalising the numbers, we're talking about US$1.5 billion-plus overall cost,' he told The Straits Times at the May 5 to 8 GenZero Climate Summit 2025 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre. Fully replacing the coal plant with the same level of on-demand power would require 1,000MW of solar, 250MW of wind and 1,000MW of battery energy storage, according to The Rockefeller Foundation, which is also involved in the project. To help share the cost, Acen in 2024 teamed up with the Temasek-owned GenZero and Keppel as equity partners. On May 7, Mitsubishi and its power generation subsidiary Diamond Generating Asia joined as the new collaborators – the hope is that with Mitsubishi joining, the credits might eventually be able to be used in Japan's emissions trading scheme. The partners want to pioneer the use of transition credits to help fund the shutdown of the Acen plant. Transition credits aim to monetise the emissions savings from the early closure of coal plants. Revenue would come from the sale of high-integrity carbon credits to companies or governments, with each credit representing a tonne of emissions avoided by shutting a power plant early. The credits act as a de-risking tool for green financing. Without the credit revenues, the economics for the early closure of the plant would be hard to justify, Mr Francia said. Coal plants have a lifespan of 40 to 50 years, and investors recoup their money via long-term power-purchase contracts with utilities. Carbon finance can help bridge the gap in revenue caused by a plant's early retirement by funding the revenue loss and the costs of swopping coal power for renewable energy. In South-east Asia, coal power plants are the main source of electricity and a major source of air pollution and carbon emissions driving climate change. Many of the plants are young, with an average age of 15 years, meaning keeping them running to the end of their useful life would be highly polluting. The Singapore government regards transition credits as a key way to help accelerate the green transition in the region. The credits are nascent but have strong support from MAS, other financial institutions and large corporates. In December 2023, MAS launched the Transition Credits Coalition (Traction), which is backed by nearly 30 members. The coalition is studying ways to use and scale up deployment of the credits. And since 2023, MAS, Acen and The Rockefeller Foundation have been developing a methodology for coal transition carbon credits under the foundation's Coal to Clean Credit Initiative (CCCI), which aims to shut down dozens of coal plants early across the globe. On May 6, Verra, a non-profit certification body that issues v erified c arbon u nits for carbon reduction projects, officially approved the CCCI's methodology, the first of its kind. Mr Francia said it was likely the Acen project will use the CCCI transition credits methodology but that final approval was still needed among all the partners. He said he hoped the Singapore government might be among the buyers of the credits and linked the future price of the credits to the Republic's estimated carbon tax price of $50 to $80 per tonne of emissions in the coming years. 'We're anchoring this to the Singapore carbon tax, hopefully we would be closer to the lower end of the $50 to $80 range,' he said. The Rockefeller Foundation says the goal of the CCCI and its newly approved methodology is to retire 60 coal plants globally, many of them in Asia, by 2030. Newly released figures from the foundation shows that shutting down that many could unlock US$110 billion in public and private investment in green energy, while preventing 9,900 early deaths and generating 29,000 new jobs. The Powering Past Coal Alliance, which works to hasten the transition to clean energy, said it welcomed the Philippines coal plant initiative. The alliance is a coalition of over 180 governments, businesses and organisations, including Singapore . 'This project showcases the potential of carbon credits to fund early plant closures and help achieve a timely, secure and just transition out of coal,' said Dr Julia Skorupska, head of the alliance's secretariat. 'Accelerating the transition from coal to clean is one of the most important steps we can take to address climate risks and secure the long-term prosperity in South-east Asia,' she told ST. Large US corporations are also showing keen interest in transition credits, said Dr Nat Keohane, president of Washington-based think-tank the Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES). He announced the launch of the Kinetic Coalition at the summit on May 6. He told ST that the coalition, which is hosted by C2ES acting as its secretariat, included 20 large potential buyers of the credits including PepsiCo, Amazon, Mastercard and McDonald's. The coalition aims to accelerate corporate investment in clean energy in emerging economies. 'Those 20 buyers are all saying, ' We want to be part of this journey.' The driver for them is always, how do we get clean energy and clean energy systems in our value chains,' he said. David Fogarty is deputy foreign editor at The Straits Times and senior climate writer. He also covers the environment, in areas ranging from biodiversity to plastic pollution. Find out more about climate change and how it could affect you on the ST microsite here.
CNA
05-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
EDB and Temasek Trust's philanthropy advisory arm to boost funding for high-quality carbon projects
A new partnership between the Economic Development Board and Temasek Trust's philanthropy advisory arm aims to plug early financing gaps faced by carbon projects. The partnership will bring more capital to EDB's Carbon Project Development Grant. It is among a slew of initiatives launched at the GenZero Climate Summit 2025 to help move carbon markets along. Rachel Teng reports.
Straits Times
05-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
WEF-GenZero aviation initiative aims to boost green fuel uptake in Asia
SINGAPORE - The World Economic Forum (WEF) and Singapore's GenZero launched an initiative on May 5 aimed at boosting regional demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and to bolster the aviation sector's climate credentials. A key mission of the Green Fuel Forward initiative is to scale up production of SAF, which the industry regards as a vital tool to cut the sector's growing greenhouse gas emissions. Governments globally, including Singapore's , have set mandates that map steady increases in the percentage of SAF in plane's fuel tanks in the coming years. 'The only way to get to net zero, or very close to net zero by the middle of the century, is very, very large amounts of SAF,' said Mr Robert Boyd, Boeing's sustainability lead for the Asia-Pacific. More efficient aircraft designs and engines can get perhaps 20 per cent of the way and operations, such as better route planning, another 10 per cent, he told ST at the launch of the initiative during the GenZero Climate Summit 2025 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre. The summit aims to showcase ways to hasten the decarbonisation of the global economy. Boeing has been actively promoting the use of SAF and the company aims to ensure its commercial aircraft are certified to operate on 100 per cent SAF by 2030, he said. Lack of awareness and higher costs for the greener fuel remain issues for SAF, which is two or three times as expensive as fossil-fuel derived aviation fuel. And in Asia, the world's largest aviation market, demand is not keeping pace with planned production capacity additions in the coming years. 'The Asia-Pacific region has a unique opportunity to lead in sustainable aviation fuels, but unlocking this potential requires stronger demand signals,' said Mr Frederick Teo, chief executive officer of GenZero, an investment platform owned by Temasek. SAF is designed to be a drop-in fuel for planes, needing no new additional infrastructure at airports. Current rules allow up to 50 per cent of SAF to be blended with fossil-fuel based jet fuel. SAF can reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 80 per cent compared with conventional jet fuel, according to the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which has set a long-term aspirational goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions for international aviation by 2050. The fuel is mostly made from waste materials such as used cooking oil and animal fats but can also be made from agricultural residues and even alcohol. The International Air Transport Association (Iata) estimates that SAF will achieve about 65 per cent of the emissions reductions needed for the industry to reach net zero by 2050. And cutting emissions has become increasingly critical, with aviation currently accounting for approximately 2.5 per cent of global CO2 emissions, and possibly doubling or even tripling from 2019 levels by 2050 unless concerted action is taken. Green Fuel Forward is a capacity-building initiative that aims to draw in airlines, refiners, logistics firms, banks and others. A total of 16 companies and organisations have agreed to participate, including Boeing, Climate Impact X, DBS Bank, DHL, the International Energy Agency, Neste, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Temasek and UOB. Singapore Airlines first started using SAF in 2017 on a trial basis and is hoping for greater market participation to drive up demand and push down prices, said chief sustainability officer Lee Wen Fen. The airline regards SAF as key to its decarbonisation goals. A key focus of the initiative is to boost the take-up of SAF certificates by companies to offset their own emissions or the travel emissions of their employees, for example. The certificates can be bought on exchanges, such as Singapore's Climate Impact X, and each is linked to the creation of one tonne of SAF. Certificate buyers can track and claim the environmental benefits, such as emissions reductions, of using SAF without having to purchase the physical fuel. The emissions reduction can be claimed once the tonne of SAF is burned, with the accounting process approved by ICAO. On average, each SAF credit represents a CO2 emissions reduction of 2.5 tonnes to 2.8 tonnes versus conventional fuel. The initiative will organise workshops and practical guidance tools to help organisations navigate topics such as environmental integrity and reporting practices for SAF and SAF certificates. Globally, SAF still comprises a fraction of total jet fuel use. And in the Asia-Pacific, uptake is far slower than in Europe. In 2024, Iata said SAF production reached 1 million tonnes (1.3 billion litres) – or about 0.3 per cent of global jet fuel production. This is double 2023's production of 0.5 million tonnes but far below the initial projections for 2024 of 1.5 million tonnes. Rules mandating SAF usage will drive up demand over time. Flights departing EU airports must now use 2 per cent SAF in their fuel mix, rising to 6 per cent in 2030 and 70 per cent by 2050. For Japan, SAF must account for at least 10 per cent of domestic airlines' jet fuel consumption by 2030. In Singapore, one per cent of all jet fuel used at Changi and Seletar airports must be sustainable, with a goal to reach 3 per cent to 5 per cent by 2030. Singapore Airlines and its budget arm Scoot are among those committed to reaching a goal of 5 per cent sustainable aviation fuel use by 2030. There are other challenges for the industry, including ensuring the environmental integrity of feedstocks, such as land-based feedstock, which can lead to unintended consequences for deforestation, said Temasek's managing director for sustainability, Ms Park Kyung-ah, during a panel discussion at the launch. In Europe and the United States, governments have also expressed concerns about reports of virgin palm oil being fraudulently added to boost used cooking oil supplies to SAF refineries. The EU forbids the use of virgin palm oil as an SAF feedstock. Find out more about climate change and how it could affect you on the ST microsite here.
Business Times
05-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
World Economic Forum and GenZero initiative to increase demand for sustainable aviation fuel in Asia-Pac
[SINGAPORE] Green Fuel Forward, a campaign to help scale up demand for sustainable aviation fuel in the Asia-Pacific region, was launched on Monday (May 5) at the GenZero Climate Summit 2025. A joint effort between the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Temasek-backed, decarbonisation-focused investment company GenZero, it will educate organisations to become more familiar and competent with sustainable aviation fuel and sustainable aviation fuel certificates (SAFC), promote the use of both, enable test purchases and encourage partnerships between regional corporations and airlines. Frederick Teo, chief executive officer of GenZero, said: 'The Asia-Pacific region has a unique opportunity to lead in sustainable aviation fuels, but unlocking this potential requires stronger demand signals.' He added that the initiative can provide the technical clarity and corporate commitment needed to scale sustainable aviation fuel adoption, and 'by mobilising corporates and airlines, we can create the certainty needed to spur innovation, scale production and make lower-emission flights a reality'. Sustainable aviation fuel is jet fuel made from renewable sources that include biofuel, waste or synthetics. As it can be used in existing jet engines and reduce emissions by up to 80 per cent, it is the most viable way of reducing the emissions of air travel. However, it is hampered by its high cost (three to five times more than regular jet fuel), low production and uncertain demand. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 12.30 pm ESG Insights An exclusive weekly report on the latest environmental, social and governance issues. Sign Up Sign Up According to the International Air Transport Association, sustainable aviation fuel accounted for 0.3 per cent of global jet fuel production in 2024. SAFC will help organisations administer emissions reductions for using sustainable aviation fuel, using a framework developed by WEF's Clean Skies For Tomorrow initiative. It will allow both airlines and corporate travel to track and claim emissions reductions from flights using sustainable aviation fuel. Sixteen organisations are participating, including the banks DBS, Mizuho and UOB; aircraft maker Boeing; airlines Air New Zealand, Qantas Group and Singapore Airlines; sustainable aviation fuel producer Neste; and logistics company DHL. Green Fuel Forward's efforts will include education and training on key topics, plus hands-on exercises such as legally compliant test purchases of sustainable aviation fuel and SAFC. According to a 2024 report, South-east Asia has the potential to supply 12 per cent of the world's sustainable aviation fuel by 2050. Asia-Pacific is the largest passenger aviation market in the world, and is also expected to lead sector growth in the next few years. The GenZero Climate Summit, organised by GenZero, aims to accelerate global decarbonisation. It runs from May 5 to 8 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
