National oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc and Siam Cement Group (SCG), Thailand's largest cement maker and industrial conglomerate, are stepping up efforts to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions as they aim to help Thailand establish more environmentally friendly businesses.
PTT set an ambitious target to achieve a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption sooner than 2065, while SCG vowed to increase its proportion of eco-friendly products to 67%, up from 50% last year, by 2030.
The companies gave updates on their green business plans during a two-day seminar entitled "Better Thailand Open Dialogue", which ended yesterday.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha vowed during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow late last year that Thailand would be more aggressive in addressing climate change, striving to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and net-zero emissions by 2065.
PTT plans to allocate 20% of its 900-billion-baht capital expenditure to develop clean energy projects and increase energy usage efficiency.
Auttapol Rerkpiboon, president and chief executive of PTT, said the company is speeding up efforts to achieve the goal.
Carbon dioxide is mainly emitted by its power generation arm Global Power Synergy Plc (GPSC), but the PTT subsidiary is reshaping its business by increasing clean power generation capacity to 12 gigawatts by 2030, which will make up more than 50% of its total electricity generation capacity, Mr Auttapol said.
GPSC is also developing an energy storage system based on semi-solid battery technology, which will support the country's fledgling electric vehicle industry, he said.
PTT Exploration and Production Plc is also participating by using carbon capture and storage technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions for petroleum production in the Gulf of Thailand.
Mr Auttapol said PTT is planning to increase its reforestation area to 2 million rai, up from 1 million rai in the first phase.
Initiated in the 1990s, the first-phase programme can absorb 2.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and release 1.7 million tonnes of oxygen annually.
Overseas, PTT plans to exit the coal mining business in Indonesia by the end of this year, he said.
SCG is also keen to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
"The net-zero campaign is our main target, in line with global efforts to deal with climate change," said Roongrote Rangsiyopash, SCG chief executive.
The company aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2030 through various projects, including use of biomass and refuse-derived fuels to replace coal in cement production.
