KUCHING, May 24: Premier of Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the state government will introduce a strategic business model, capitalising on its niche.
“The business model I’m introducing will allow us to run the airline to cover the overhead costs to fly within the region.
“It is not profit-motivated, rather the establishment of the boutique airline is to stabilise the airfares for flights to and from Sarawak,” he said this in his winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly Sitting here today.
As such, Sarawak has the capacity to provide a green fuel solution from microalgae in producing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) which is crucial to the aviation industry to achieve net zero emission by 2050.
“I have just came back from Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition using aircraft powered by SAF, from a joint venture between PETRONAS and SEDC Energy.
“It is the world’s first SAF produced using algae. This clearly proves Sarawak is able to produce safe and reliable SAF for commercial use”
The premier disclosed that the state have plans to adopt the innovative technology, by scaling up the cultivation of microalgae to 1000 acres which can produce about 500,000 tonnes per annum of crude algae oil.
“That can be equated to about 10,000 barrels of oil per day with about 37% extraction rate of crude algae oil from the algae biomass.
“The unit cost per barrel is below USD50 and today if sold to a biorefinery, it might fetch around USD110 per barrel because it’s green oil,” he noted.
He pointed out this technology not only be a valuable addition to drive the economy but also a significant contribution towards achieving the Green Economy 2030. – TVS
