Tesco has accelerated its plans for halving food waste in operations, bringing the commitment’s deadline forward from 2030 to 2025.
The supermarket first set the target five years ago, in alignment with target 12.3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs). It set a baseline year of the 2016/17 financial year.
By the end of the 2021/22 financial year, the business had delivered a 45% reduction in operational food waste against this baseline. Given that it was, therefore, on track to exceed the 2030 target, it has pulled the deadline forward to 2025.
Actions which Tesco has already taken to reduce food waste in its operations have included forging partnerships with FareShare and OLIO to divert surplus food to communities; diverting surplus food not fit for human consumption to suppliers that can use it for animal feed; stocking ‘wonky’ produce to help reduce waste on farms and allowing store staff to take home foods approaching their use-by dates for free.
Tesco has been reporting food waste data since 2013 and was the first UK supermarket to do so
Tesco has also moved this week to link executive pay to the delivery of the accelerated target. It had already linked a quarter of the Performance Share Plan awards Executive Directors receive to progress on other key environmental and social targets, including those on emissions and on gender and ethnicity representation. Now, food waste will be added.
Tesco Group’s chief executive Ken Murphy said he hopes that the changes will “drive further transformative change”.
He also called on other businesses to follow suit, and for policymaking to raise the bar across the UK’s grocery sector. Murphy said: “The work we and our suppliers do won’t tackle the issue alone. We have long called for Government to introduce mandatory food waste reporting to help measure and judge if real action is happening. Action must be taken across the whole industry.”
Tesco is notably working with Defra on its ‘Step Up To The Plate’ pledge, which helps businesses and individuals align with SDG 12.3 and provides a platform for Ministers to receive recommendations for targeted policy support.
The pledge requires corporate signatories to adopt WRAP’s food waste reduction roadmap. The framework, built in partnership with charity IGD, sets out how organisations can measure and act on wastage levels across a “farm-to-fork” approach.
But, as Murphy said, the business wants the UK Government to go further and mandate that supermarkets publicly publish their food waste data in a uniform fashion.
Singapore will be renewing the 10 voluntary commitments previously submitted at the first United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC), and undertaking nine new ones for marine protection.
Three of the island state’s new commitments involve environmental research projects. These are related to sustainable management of marine fish populations, the use of solar energy to facilitate coral growth, and a Marine Climate Change Science programme.
Other new commitments seek to spearhead the shipping industry’s green transition, for example by incentivising ship owners to become more sustainable. The country wants to lead the charge on the maritime industry’s transition to energy efficient technologies and low or zero carbon fuels, said its foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan, delivering an official statement at the UNOC in Lisbon, Portugal, this week.
“The challenges facing the ocean have increased with each passing year. We need to urgently scale up actions to collectively protect the ocean, and mitigate the impacts of climate change,” Dr Balakrishnan told member states.
What are voluntary commitments?
At the first UN Ocean Conference which took place in New York in 2017, member states agreed to create a list of commitments to further the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14, “Life Below Water”.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan delivering Singapore’s National Statement at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon on 28 June 2022. Image: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore.
Ocean governance experts that Eco-Business spoke to, however, have expressed doubts about the efficacy of the voluntary commitments. The non-binding nature of these commitments raises questions about their ability to drive ambitious action for marine protection, in Singapore and beyond.
Dr Michelle Voyer, a researcher on ocean governance at Australia’s University of Wollongong, said that there can be problems evaluating whether the commitments have been implemented as planned, or if countries are succeeding in meeting their objectives.
“There is no mechanism that I am aware of at present which tracks the performance over time,” she said.
While submitters can update their commitments with a progress report on the Registry, this is not mandatory.
Globally, over 1900 voluntary commitments have been registered on the Ocean Conference Registry. These have primarily been made by governments and non-governmental organisations, but also include other stakeholders like United Nations entities, academic institutions, and the scientific community.
Based on the registry data, the Singapore government has submitted a total of 33 commitments since 2017, including the nine new ones. A check by Eco-Business found that progress updates have been submitted for at least 23 commitments, and seven commitments have been completed to date.
Ho Xiang Tian, co-founder of environmental advocacy group Lepak in SG, is confident that implementation would not be an issue for Singapore.
“The real question is whether the voluntary commitments can fulfill the needs of what the oceans require to thrive,” he said. “There is a global target to protect 30 per cent of Earth’s oceans by 2030, but I don’t think we are anywhere close to that.”
The 30 by 30 initiative seeks to designate 30 per cent of the world’s land and ocean as protected areas by 2030. More than 100 countries have publicly committed to this goal to date.
Land reclamation and dredging practices need better management: youth activists Kathy Xu, a marine conservationist from Singapore and founder of social enterprise The Dorsal Effect, said she was happy to see the focus on research on ocean species and sustainability in Singapore’s new commitments.
“The areas of the research sound promising, and I’m all for science based methods,” she said.
“However, the devil is in the details that we do not have,” Ms Xu noted. She added that she hopes the government will tap on the diversity of marine expertise in Singapore, including civil society stakeholders, “not just academic ocean conservationists”.
Alice Soewito, a member of environmental group Singapore Youth for Climate Action, said that while Singapore has made advances in the maritime shipping industry, the government could better manage land reclamation and dredging practices.
“These practices can result in chronic sedimentation that harm and kill corals, thereby impacting the rest of the marine ecosystem,” she said.
Since the 1960s, Singapore has adopted an aggressive approach of land reclamation to accommodate industrial activities and a growing population. The island’s land area has expanded by nearly 25 per cent over the last two centuries. The National University of Singapore’s Reef Ecology Lab has said that many coral reef ecosystems were “smothered” by past reclamation practices.
These environmental impacts extend beyond Singapore’s borders. A 2010 report by international NGO Global Witness claimed that sand mining practices in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province, from which Singapore imported sand up till 2016, severely depleted local fish and crab stocks.
Malaysia and Indonesia banned sand exports to Singapore in 1997 and 2007 respectively due to environmental concerns.
On a global scale, Dr Voyer pointed out that many current commitments have a strong emphasis on research and science, as well as capacity development.
“Of course we always need to be improving the knowledge base,” she said. “But I would like to see greater emphasis on recognising the existing capacity within many coastal communities and amongst ocean stakeholders.”
“This includes engaging with local knowledge, and being bold in trying ideas put forward by the communities,” said Dr Voyer.
Negotations underway for new global ocean treaty
This year’s Ocean Conference, which took place from 27 June to 1 July, sought to scale up ocean action with a specific focus on science and innovation. Member states adopted a political declaration reaffirming their commitment to ocean conservation.
While this declaration is not binding, it lays the political foundation for an upcoming legally binding instrument — the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, colloquially known as the BBNJ Treaty. Singapore serves as the current president of the Intergovernmental Conference and will help to facilitate the fifth round of negotiations taking place in August this year.
In his speech, Dr Balakrishnan called on all delegations to “work towards the conclusion of an ambitious and future-proof BBNJ treaty as soon as possible”.
When Indian transport minister Nitin Gadkari arrived in parliament in a car fuelled by green hydrogen in March this year, he signalled the country’s big ambition for fuel billed as crucial for the energy transition and the fight against climate change.
“India will soon become a green hydrogen exporting country,” he said.
The government’s vision has captured the imagination of industry players in India, where two of Asia’s richest tycoons, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, are now racing to produce the world’s cheapest green hydrogen.
If they achieve their goal, the sector could potentially transform the world’s third-largest energy consumer and carbon emitter. But it will likely take at least a decade for India to realise its green hydrogen hopes, analysts say.
On 15 June, Adani announced that it had sold a quarter of the equity in group company Adani New Industries to France’s TotalEnergies and planned to invest $50 billion over the next decade in green hydrogen.
“Our confidence in our ability to produce the world’s least expensive electron is what will drive our ability to produce the world’s least expensive green hydrogen,” Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, said in a statement.
India’s green hydrogen ecosystem could be a 1-2 trillion dollar industry over the next 20-25 years. – Rajat Seksaria, CEO, ACME Group
Reliance Industries’ chief executive, Mukesh Ambani, too, has pledged to produce green hydrogen at $1 per kg — which is about 60 per cent cheaper than today’s price — and plans to invest $75 billion in renewable energy production and equipment.
The plans of the two business groups alone can clean up thousands of tonnes of emissions, because Adani Group owns a chain of coal mines and coal-based power plants, while Reliance boasts of the world’s biggest petrochemical refinery as well as some of the country’s largest oil and natural gas assets.
Analysts expect both Ambani and Adani to not only replace their industrial use and production of fossil fuels at home, but to also target exports of green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen, which is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy, could replace fossil fuels for a variety of uses including the manufacture of commodities like steel and fertiliser as well as transport fuel.
A lot will depend on government policy support as well as improved technology to cut the high cost of fuel (around $6 per kg) that puts it beyond the reach of the majority of consumers, analysts say.
Pipe dream?
“I think we are quite far away from what the big majors are announcing and where we are at this point of time,” says Vinay Rustagi, managing director of Bridge to India, a renewable energ consultancy firm.
“Everybody is hoping that green hydrogen will be almost like a silver bullet. But it’s a technology in the nascent stages and there is lack of clarity on the manufacturing plans,” Rustagi said.
There are several key challenges that are looming for the sector.
India will need to build manufacturing capacity for electrolysers, the equipment that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, which is still a niche market worldwide, notes Thirumalai NC, sector head, strategic studies at Center for Study of Science, Technology & Policy (CSTEP), a Bengalaru-based thinktank.
The capacity to make electrolysers as well as better technology will be crucial to slash production costs by a third to below $2 per kg – a price level at which large-scale industrial demand is likely to kick in, say analysts.
India would also need to set up infrastructure for storage as well as pipelines that are mostly absent except for some ageing equipment, analysts added.
New Delhi would also need to source materials such as iridium, scandium, yttrium, and platinum, which are not easily available in the country and would be needed in abundance.
The federal government has started taking steps and in February announced a National Hydrogen Mission, outlining a program to incentivise the production of green hydrogen such as by offering cheaper land and fee waivers for electricity transmission across provinces.
The government is expected to flesh out the initial announcement with a more detailed program in about a month with specific mandates for sectors such as chemicals, fertiliser and steel to use the fuel.
India plans to produce five million tons of green hydrogen by 2030, which is nearly the same amount as it produces now using natural gas to mainly make fertilisers.
Global ambitions
The bold ambitions made by Indian policymakers have convinced several Indian companies besides Reliance and the Adani to make moves to develop green hydrogen.
Renewables energy company ACME Group has already set up an integrated green hydrogen and ammonia plant in Bikaner in the north-western state of Rajasthan, investing about $20 million to produce up to 1,800 tons of green fuel and five tonnes per day of green ammonia that is used to make fertiliser.
The group is also developing one of the world’s largest green ammonia projects in Oman with an annual production capacity of 0.9 million tonnes, which will likely be operational by 2024. The $3.3 billion-facility will cater to European and Asian demand.
A host of state-run oil companies such as Oil India Ltd, the nation’s second-largest oil and gas explorer, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation, have also announced plans to make green hydrogen as well as develop equipment like electrolysers, which could make the country a large producer over the long term.
The decarbonisation ambitions of other Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea are likely to play into India’s hands, as the country emerges as a low-cost green hydrogen producer, analysts say.
Although Indian companies’ production plans are at an early stage, the country can become a large supplier as it is one of the cheapest producers of renewable electricity, which accounts for up to 80 per cent of green hydrogen’s production cost, says CSTEP’s Thirumalai.
India plans to raise its renewable energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030, up from 110 gigawatts now, could drive down output costs further.
“India will have its own green hydrogen demand as well be a major exporter … This would make the green hydrogen ecosystem in India a 1-2 trillion dollar industry over the next 20-25 years,” according to ACME chief executive, Rajat Seksaria.
Globally, the green hydrogen industry could be worth $12-13 trillion by 2050, according to industry estimates.
Subhalakshmi Naskar, partner at law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, says that the government’s National Hydrogen Mission is a positive step to incentivise output and encourage investments, but a lot more will be needed.
“The implementation of policy…(including production linked incentives and tax holidays) will need to be put in place without any regulatory or other policy delays,” says Naskar.
Singapore on Thursday (Jun 9) published the governance framework for sovereign green bonds, ahead of the first such issuance expected in the next few months.
This comes as Singapore moves to develop the green finance market and make green finance a driving force for sustainability.
The Singapore Green Bond Framework sets out guidelines for public sector green bond issuances under the Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Act 2021 (SINGA), said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in a media release.
It covers the Government’s intended use of green bond proceeds, governance structure to evaluate and select eligible projects, operational approach to manage green bond proceeds, and commitment to post-issuance allocation and impact reporting.
In addition to providing the foundation for green bonds issued by the Government, the framework will also serve as a reference for statutory boards that issue their own green bonds.
The key principles considered in the development of the framework were alignment with internationally recognised market principles and standards; stringent governance and oversight of project selection and allocation of proceeds; and technical screening to evaluate and identify green projects, MOF and MAS said.
Eligible expenditures
At Budget 2022, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced that the Government would issue S$35 billion of green bonds by 2030 to fund public sector green infrastructure projects.
Proceeds from these bonds, which will be issued under the new framework, will be used to finance costs associated with the Singapore Green Plan 2030, MOF and MAS said.
In turn, the eligible green projects are expected to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy in Singapore and contribute to the climate-related and environmental goals set out by the Singapore Government.
The categories of “eligible green expenditures” are:
Renewable energy
Energy efficiency
Green building
Clean transportation
Sustainable water and wastewater management
Pollution prevention, control and circular economy
Climate change adaptation
Biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of natural resources and land use
One of Asia’s first specialist sustainability recruitment firms has opened for business in Singapore as demand for jobs in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) space grows in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Acre, which was founded in London by British zoology graduate Andy Cartland in 2003, will use Singapore as its Asia Pacific base as it looks to service clients around the region.
Cartland said the time was right to launch in Asia, as the region is experiencing rapid growth in demand for sustainability talent and skills.
Acre posts candidates working in sustainability, impact investing, health and safety, and energy and clean technology, and will be compete with other firms that offer ESG recruitment services, such as NextWave, Formative Search, and Odgers Berndtson.
“Asia is arguably behind Europe and the United States when it comes to sustainability. But the region is moving at light speed to catch up. We want to be part of this transition,” Cartland told Eco-Business.
He noted that the business took a 20 percent revenue hit in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, but 2021 saw the business rebound and revenue and headcount grow by 100 percent, which has enabled the company to expand to Asia.
“We are on track for similar growth this year as well,” he said.
Singapore will be Acre’s third overseas launch, with it having established a European operation in Amsterdam and a North American hub in New York in recent years.
Acre’s Singapore launch will enable the company to service existing multinational clients with operations in the region, and also local companies in the global supply chain.
The company’s past work in Asia includes recruiting a leadership team for the Bangladesh Accord, a coalition of global brands, retailers and trade unions set up in 2013 to improve health and safety in Bangladesh’s garment industry.
Among the candidates Acre has placed recently include the global environment, health and safety director at Amazon, and the executive director of the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), a Swiss non-profit working to tackle child labour in the cocoa sector.
Cartland, who will move from London to Singapore in August to oversee the launch, has appointed an executive director for the Singapore office, who has yet to resign from his current job and will relocate from Hong Kong.
Acre’s Asia launch comes a month after a report by business social network LinkedIn showed 30 percent growth in hiring for green jobs between 2016 and 2021, with a spike in sustainability recruitment between 2020 and 2021.
The report also highlighted a shortage of talent for ESG roles in the region.
Cartland said that while there is a large talent pool of sustainability professionals in London, candidates in Asia, where the sustainability sector is less developed, are harder to find.
“Asia faces a different candidate sourcing challenge, and we will need to help clients navigate the [ESG] skills gap,” he said. “Our role is to find people where they’re tough to find.”
This will may involve thinking creatively about transitioning people out of non-sustainability roles, he said.
Acre is aiming to double its Asia operation by its second year, following the growth trajectories of its European and American businesses, Cartland said.
Launched in 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a global agenda for “people and prosperity, now and in the future.”
There are 17 goals, addressing social and environmental priorities from “quality education” to “climate action.” Those goals are supported by 169 specific targets. The SDGs are intended for action by governments, organizations, and individuals, with full implementation by 2030.
NBS asked: What do the SDGs mean for business? How should companies best address them?
Our conversation brought together:
Dr. David Griggs, Professor at Warwick University (UK). Griggs helped develop the SDGs and has consulted with many organizations using them. He is the former head of the United Kingdom’s climate research centre and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s scientific assessment unit.
Martin Fryer, a sustainability professional based in New Zealand. At the time of this conversation, Fryer was Sustainability Manager at utility company Mercury Energy. He was previously sustainability manager at Auckland Airport and is now Head of Strategy and Impact at sustainability consultancy thinkstep-anz.
Below is a summary of their advice on how organizations can best use the SDGs.
The SDGs have a range of benefits
Dave Griggs: The motivation for using the SDGs is different for different organizations. Some see themselves as environmental or sustainable organizations and want to make that part of their DNA as a selling point, and the SDGs give them a framework to do that.
Others look at it quite differently. I was speaking to the CEO of a very large international conglomerate who had embraced the SDGs quite thoroughly. I asked him about his motivation and he said it was avoidance of risk, specifically around reputation.
I was talking to people at a very large bank who, again, had embraced the SDGs completely, both in terms of their internal practices and their lending practices. I asked them why they’d done that and they said, “In terms of our lending practices, we need to know that the organizations we’re lending to are going to be able to pay us back. We want them to be around for a while.” But in terms of their internal operations, the rationale was competitiveness, in terms of recruiting staff.
In implementation, start small – but be honest and thorough
Dave: I think people get quite anxious about choosing SDGs or choosing targets within them. And it’s absolutely fine to look at your business and see how it aligns with the SDGs and to say, “All right, there may be three or four which are the primary ones and a few that are slightly less relevant.” Just concentrate on the main ones first.
Certainly, if you’re starting out on your journey, you start with the ones that are the most important. But, equally, it’s not an exercise to just make you look good. So, you can’t just pick them on the basis of the things you’re doing well and ignore the things you’re not doing well. Usually it’s the things that are hard, that you haven’t done already, that bring you the real benefit.
Martin Fryer: In New Zealand, the SDGs started to gain traction three or four years ago. At first, a lot of it was driven by annual disclosures: How can we talk about our sustainability journey or performance in a way that’s more engaging? And the SDGs were jumped on by some organizations and you saw an absolute plethora of the logos in annual reports. It was very much a reporting exercise.
But now, there are a much smaller number of organizations using the SDGs, but the difference is they are actually using them. They’ve actually taken them and internalized them. They’ve gone into real depth into how the SDGs relate to their organization.
Connect the SDGs to company operations
Dave: How do you approach these 17 goals, 169 targets, which when you first look at them, blows your mind a bit? The answer is: You look where your business is aligned to them. And that goes for whether you’re a country, or a business, or a government.
I’ll give you an example. I was speaking to a health NGO who build hospitals in the developing world. They said, “We’ve completely aligned ourselves to the SDGs. We’re building this hospital in Africa and we’ve aligned it to SDG3, which is health. And we’ve made sure it’s properly aligned.” And I said, “Have you aligned to all the other goals?” They said, “Yeah, but we’re a health NGO. We just built hospitals, so we’re just SDG3.”
And I said, “Is this hospital going to use energy [SDG7]?” “Yeah.” “Where’s that energy going to come from?” “Okay.” “Now what about water [SDG6]? You use an awful lot of water in a hospital…” “Okay.” “What about the staff that you employ and providing a fair wage [SDG5]? Do you have equal pay for women in the hospital [SDG8]?” And so on. And we went through and virtually every goal, we found somewhere in building that hospital.
I must admit his reaction was, “You’ve just made my job 16 times more difficult!” But he also acknowledged that by doing that, they arrived at a far better outcome.
The SDGs’ special quality is integration
Martin: There has gradually been a realization of the interconnectedness of everything, that having a focus in one area has a knock-on effect in so many others.
From my experience in the corporate sector, [sustainability-related ideas] have come in waves. So, there was a focus on environmental protection and you had to have an EMS and it had to be compliant with ISO 14001 and international best practice and externally audited and verified. And then the focus now is more on the social side of things and how you’re treating your own people. Now, we’re all developing modern slavery statements.
At Mercury, we’ve just changed our corporate social responsibility policy into an integrated sustainability policy. It literally went to the Boards last month. So, the language of sustainable business practice is changing as well.
Now, we’ve done that without referring to the SDGs at all. But if you do embrace the SDGs, then it forces you to look at that interconnectedness. If you think about things in a far more integrated way, you can potentially get more value out of that process.
Collaboration (SDG 17) might be the most important goal
Martin: The New Zealand government has set a net zero 2050 target for the country. It is an amazing thing for organizations and society here to engage with. And we’re not going to achieve any of it in isolation. No one organization is going to find the solution. It has to be through collaboration and partnerships.
Dave: I think you have it perfectly, but the 17th SDG, “partnership for the goals,” is often seen as too hard. I’ve actually done some work with some colleagues about why collaboration is so difficult. It’s really because our entire structures are set up to be competitive.
Businesses compete against each other and government departments compete for their slice of the budget. So, when you now say, “This is a goal-based approach where we need to collaborate and bring the best minds together from social, economic, and environmental” — it’s actually very hard to do that. And also people speak very different languages, if the engineers have got to talk to the social scientists.
Actually, the COVID pandemic has given us very good examples of that collaboration. In the UK, we formed the SAGE committee, where all of the scientists and the politicians get together and discuss every day, and they’ve learned to speak the same language.
We had a collaboration example in Australia, where there were companies that wanted to do combined heat and power, using waste heat from operations to heat buildings. And it was impossible because the regulations were so complex. It took an NGO, ClimateWorks Australia, to say: “This just isn’t good enough.” They got together a number of companies, the government regulators, the generators, the network operators, and so on. And they basically sat them down for two years and sort of locked the door until they agreed on changes to the energy market rules. Then, because everybody had been in the room, the rules were relatively easy to implement.
Martin: Awesome. Yes, I think one of the most rewarding things that I participated in was when I was at Auckland Airport. The airport was about to do significant expansion, and we saw the opportunity to get better social outcomes from that huge capital spend that was coming to a part of Auckland which is lower socioeconomic class. We pulled together central government organizations, NGOs, local councils, philanthropic center, the airport company itself, and some of the big construction firms that were going to be involved in the project.
And it comes back to this idea of collaboration, and Dave talking about putting people into a room and just closing the door and not letting them leave until they sorted it out. The most important thing was starting the meeting by saying, “Has everybody left their baggage outside the door? Because when you come into this room, you’re representing a vision of the future.” In the end, we created an airport jobs and skills hub, which would enable the local community to get training, and employment.
The SDGs are imperfect but useful
Dave: The SDGs are a political compromise reached by 200 countries. And if you imagine trying to get 200 countries to agree what they’re going to have for breakfast, you’d be there forever. Trying to get them to agree a pathway towards a sustainable future for the world — It was miraculous we ended up with anything. So, they are not perfect.
There were things that I tried to get in that aren’t there, and there are things that are in there that I tried to get out and I couldn’t. For example, I think culture is hugely underplayed in the SDGs. And indigenous peoples are underplayed in the SDGs.
Some people say, “The SDGs, there are too many of them. They’re not perfect. They don’t cover this, they don’t cover that, and so we shouldn’t use them.” What they fail to realize is the enormity of the achievement in getting them at all. There is no question in my mind that if we all follow the 17 goals, we’d be in a better place than we are now.
Resources to Start With
Dave Griggs recommends: A Guide to SDG Interactions: from Science to Implementation (International Science Council). The report examines the interactions between the various goals and targets, determining to what extent they reinforce or conflict with each other. It includes a simple 7-point assessment scale.
Martin Fryer recommends: SDG Compass (GRI, UN Global Compact, and WBCSD). The guide supports companies in aligning their strategies with the SDGs and in measuring and managing their contribution.”
Special thanks to Fred Dahlmann (Warwick University) for suggesting this conversation.
Green hydrogen could revolutionise energy production, helping utilities run more flexible power grids while reducing fossil fuel emissions.
Beyond plans to sell electricity transmitted to energy-hungry Asian nations, Australia is looking to become a leading producer and exporter of green hydrogen by 2030. In addition to meeting the rising demand for clean fuel domestically and overseas, this vision will also bring benefits to the Australian community and nation’s economic prosperity.
While it has been touted as the fuel of the future for the past fifty years, the wider adoption of hydrogen has had several false starts. Nevertheless, a growing number of scientists and investors believe that the falling costs of renewables, electrolysers and fuel cell technology, could help see green hydrogen become commercially viable.
“While countries committed to substantially reducing their emissions by 2030, they realised that they did not have enough tools in the toolbox,” said Alan Finkel, who served as Australia’s chief scientist until last year.
“Many people do not appreciate just how difficult it will be to decarbonise the global energy supply. It is an enormous task, and we have to use all available means to do so,” Finkel said.
Australia’s big bet
Pressure crunching on countries to drive down their greenhouse gas emissions and meet their commitments to clean-up, is driving investment in hydrogen.
Developing hydrogen for export is part of Australia’s wider efforts to wean its economy off its dependency on fossil fuels which raked in A$103 billion (US$73 billion) in export earnings in 2019.
Investment in hydrogen-related projects in Australia started to take off around 2018 with the government committing A$146 million towards developing hydrogen resources along the supply chain to “enhance Australia’s energy security, create Australian jobs and build an export industry valued in the billions”.
HyResource, a knowledge sharing-platform on Australia’s hydrogen industry, estimates that around A$1.5 billion has been funnelled into clean hydrogen projects by Australian governments, industry, and research institutions over the past three years.
There are five operating projects, 14 under construction or in advanced development and 38 projects under development as of May, according to HyResource.
Green hydrogen for homes and industry
Hydrogen Park South Australia (HyP SA), located in the Tonsley Innovation District about 20 km south of Adelaide, is the first project operating in this state, with three others under development.
HyP SA is an Australian-first facility to produce a blend of 5 per cent green hydrogen in natural gas for supply using the existing gas network.
The A$11.4 million project was delivered by Australian Gas Networks (AGN), part of the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG), with funding of A$4.9 million from the South Australian Government.
The five-year demonstration plant commenced renewable blended gas supply to over 700 properties near the facility in May this year. It is also providing direct hydrogen supply to industry, and aims to supply hydrogen for transport in the future.
The introduction of green hydrogen reduces the amount of carbon in the gas supply network, without any changes to infrastructure or receiving household appliances, and lays the foundations for scaling-up green hydrogen projects elsewhere.
The success of this demonstration plant will be pivotal for South Australia, which has a reliable renewable energy supply and is working towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Enabling technology – electrolysers
At the heart of the HyP SA facility, is a 1.25 megawatt (MW) Siemens Energy Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyser that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity, capable of producing up to 20 kg of hydrogen an hour.
This is the largest single electrolyser unit in operation in Australia today, although new projects in the development stage include electrolyser units or facilities at 10 MW or more.
PEM electrolysers are a potential solution to tackle the variable conditions by renewable energy generation, according to Siemens Energy. Electrolysers can ramp up when renewable electricity is abundant and switch off when demand is high. Integrating electrolysers into the electricity networks could also support energy stability.
The Siemens Energy electrolysis solution for making green hydrogen is based on the PEM concept. Image: Siemens Energy
There are water resource considerations to take into account, particularly in areas where there is scarcity. The PEM electrolyser uses about 15 litres of water to produce one kg of hydrogen. For future developments, there may be potential use for the oxygen by-product – such as in wastewater treatment.
“It is imperative for hydrogen producers to carefully consider water availability, especially for larger plants in remote areas. We see the potential for wastewater recycling and desalination which would add a surprisingly small amount to overall project costs,” according to Michael Bielinski, managing director of Siemens Energy Australasia.
Nevertheless, cheap renewable energy needs to be rolled out fast enough for this technology to work. This might be difficult when demand from other sectors for wind, solar and other alternative power sources is expected to rise.
Scaling up for decarbonisation
The South Australia demonstration plant is paving the way for other states to decarbonise their gas consumption and has helped to build confidence in the industry that up to 10 per cent green hydrogen natural gas blend is suitable for current use in Australia without disruption to supply.
Two projects with a higher blend rate of 10 per cent green hydrogen are in progress at Hydrogen Park (HyP) Murray Valley in Wodonga, Victoria and Hydrogen Park (HyP) Gladstone in Queensland. HyP SA is also helping to establish a domestic market for renewable hydrogen.
However, the long-term goal is to transition domestic gas supply to 100 per cent renewable by gas by 2050, with a 2040 stretch target. Research by the Australian Hydrogen Centreis underway to understand the feasibility of100 per cent hydrogen replacement of natural gas in Victoria and South Australia would look like. This also provides a strong signal to electrolyser manufacturers for the potential deployment of large-scale electrolysis.
Expanding green hydrogen potential
Natural gas replacement in people’s homes is only one example of green hydrogen use. Part of its appeal is that it could reach parts of the economy other green fuels cannot.
“The electrons in electricity are incredibly versatile, almost magical, but nevertheless, there are limits. By using zero emissions electricity to crack water, we can produce a supply of molecules that can take over where the electrons fall short,” Finkel told Eco-Business.
Finkel believes that hydrogen is the obvious solution for replacing the metallurgical coal in steelmaking that is responsible for 7 per cent or more of global greenhouse gas emissions.
“A large fraction of that metallurgical coal works as a chemical, to reduce the iron oxide to elemental iron, with carbon dioxide as a by-product. Hydrogen can replace coal in that role, acting as a chemical, to reduce the iron oxide to elemental iron, with dihydrogen oxide (water) as the by-product.”
“Ammonia made from clean hydrogen can be used as the chemical feedstock to make zero emissions fertiliser. It is also the leading contender to replace the bunker fuel that powers the world’s maritime fleet,” Finkel said.
Many of the slated export-oriented projects include electrolyser capacities that are equal to or exceed 100 MW. In addition, other hydrogen-related developmental projects have sought environmental approvals for wind and solar generation capacities over 10 GW. Timelines are under development but experts expect few will be operational in the first half of this decade.
For applications that cannot be easily electrified, green hydrogen forms the bridge between renewable electricity and carbon neutral fuels. We have no doubt that clean hydrogen will be essential to power our world in the future.
Michael Bielinski, managing director, Siemens Energy Australasia
The path to economically sustainable hydrogen
Despite being the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen has faced its fair share of challenges.Risk management firm, DNV, identifies infrastructure and cost as two of biggest hurdles facing a transition to a global hydrogen economy.
The Australian government has set a stretch goal of ‘H2 under $2’, an ambition to reach price parity with fossil hydrogen. Including typical capital investments needed to prepare sites for electrolysis, green hydrogen can be produced for about A$6-9 per kg compared to “grey” hydrogen produced from traditional carbon intensive methods at A$1.40 per kg.
To achieve the price point of under A$2, electrolyser costs will need to fall from between A$2 and A$3 million per MW to A$500,000 per MW with the cost of electricity from solar and wind to half, according to Darren Miller, chief executive of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
There is hope. Analysis by the IEA in 2019 found that the cost of producing hydrogen from renewable electricity could fall 30 per cent by 2030 as a result of the declining costs of renewables and the scaling up of hydrogen production. The cost of electrolysis equipment has fallen by around 40 per cent in the past five years while the price of solar alone has fallen by 85 per cent in the past decade.
“As more industries adopt green hydrogen energy, the total costs will continue to come down. The key to this is in scaling up production, efficient deployment methodologies and of course the ongoing reduction in renewable energy costs,” Bielinski said.
It is likely that full-scale plants will be powered by dedicated solar and wind resources depending on renewable energy requirements of all Australian hydrogen projects combined, including export.
“The key to cost savings could be hydrogen production facilities built jointly with wind/solar farms, so producers could generate power without incurring grid fees, taxes and levies,” according to analysis by Carolina Dores, co-head of the investment bank, Morgan Stanley European Utility team. While recognising that green hydrogen today is “uneconomical”, Morgan Stanley believes price parity is possible.
Developers and investors also need to factor in policy, regulatory approvals and practical issues that span construction, production, transport and storage and use, export, and demand-side regimes, according to a note by Allens, a law firm. Proving the safety case in both the workplace and for transport and storage remains key to scaling and widespread industry and community acceptance.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), who provides forecasting and planning publications for the National Electricity Market (NEM) has developed the Hydrogen Superpower Scenario – placing the hydrogen economy within the realm of possibility.
“Clean hydrogen will be crucial in the global energy transition. For applications that cannot be easily electrified, green hydrogen forms the bridge between renewable electricity and carbon neutral fuels. We have no doubt that clean hydrogen will be essential to power our world in the future,” said Bielinski.
“As a company with a strong portfolio along the energy value chain, Siemens Energy can provide the expertise and innovative technologies that will advance Australia’s hydrogen future and lead the nation’s status as a major energy leader.”
Both winners will receive S$50,000 (US$38,000) each to fund, test and implement their innovations at selected CapitaLand properties worldwide, as well as mentorship by a CapitaLand business leader.
Climatech won the Most Innovative Award for their water treatment process to treat cooling water without the use of chemicals or power, while Inovues won the High Impact Award for their insulating glass retrofit technology.
Climatech’s solution, known as the ClimaControl Quantum Resonance Water, is a novel solution that allows cooling water to be recycled for other uses in buildings, such as plant irrigation or toilet flushing. Based in Singapore, the company’s solution uses photon vibration frequency technology to treat cooling tower, achieving 60 to over 90 per cent of water savings, and one to over five per cent of energy savings.
From the United States, Inovues’ insulating glass technology reduces energy consumption to heat or cool buildings by up to 40 per cent without compromising on the luminosity indoors. The smart glass technology can be retrofitted on to existing windows, and reduces noise and heat gain inside a building by up to 10 times. Windows are the Achilles’ heel of the built environment, said one of the judges, Rushad Nanavatty, managing director or urban transformation at RMI.
The two winners will also have the chance to showcase their innovations to senior global business leaders, investors and policymakers at the annual Ecosperity Week sustainability event organised by Temasek.
“Research and innovation leading to commercialisation is a space where public and private sectors must collaborate. Research can be long-dated and involves high risk. Governments must support and fund it. Innovation and commercialisation of products of research require entrepreneurial acumen and nimble responses. This is where many enterprises have strengths,” said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment of Singapore, Grace Fu, who was the guest-of-honour at the grand finale.
Lee Chee Koon, CapitaLand’s group chief executive officer announces the CapitaLand Innovation Fund at the CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge grand finale. Image: CapitaLand
The themes for the inaugural challenge were low carbon transition, water conservation and resilience, waste management and circular economy, and healthy and safe buildings.
The winning solutions emerged from a shortlist that included a portable, self-powered energy generator cum chiller, a thermal insulation curtain wall, a smart waste bin which uses artificial intelligence to sort waste, and an indoor air disinfection solution. All six finalists and selected participants will have a chance to pilot their innovations at selected CapitaLand properties worldwide.
At the grand finale, CapitaLand also announced a S$50 million innovation fund to support the test-bedding of sustainability and other high-tech innovations in the built environment.
Lee Chee Koon, CapitaLand’s group chief executive officer said: “The inaugural CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge has allowed us to uncover promising innovations that we can potentially implement at our properties across the globe, and help us achieve our ambitious targets set out in our 2030 Sustainability Master Plan.”
The palm oil certifier, which is soon to unveil a new five-year strategy, has experienced a number of staff changes.
Dan Strechay, the global director of outreach and engagement for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the palm oil industry’s largest eco certifier, has switched to consumer goods giant Mars.
Strechay moves on after close to five years with the Kuala Lumpur-headquartered organisation to take on a role as director of sustainability communications and engagement at the maker of M&M’s, Snickers, and the Mars bar, based in the United States.
Also leaving RSPO is head of human resources Shailaja Sharma at a period of transition for the organisation. Fay Richards is currently acting head of marketing and communications, based in London, while Preethi Jain is Asia Pacific head of outreach and engagement, based in India. Sara Cowling, global head of communications, is on maternity leave.
The RSPO logo on Cabbage brand vegetable oil in NTUC Fairprice supermarket in Singapore. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Business
Beverley Postma was appointed chief executive of RSPO a year ago, replacing outgoing CEO Darrel Webber. Postma, who will soon to unveil a new five-year strategy for the certifier, is still based in Singapore ahead of a move to KL.
RSPO said that while it has experienced staff changes in the past few months, the organisation is expanding personnel in the region, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia. “We are confident in our five-year strategy which details ambitious milestones and how we will achieve them,” a spokesperson said.
In 2018, RSPO unveiled new standards that ruled out deforestation and growing on peat for its members. A report by Greenpeace last month found that while RSPO had strong standards and a solid approach to stakeholder engagement and transparency, implementation was an issue. RSPO emerged as the strongest of the certification bodies in the study.
The Strategic Programme to Empower the People and Economy (Pemerkasa) will support the country’s sustainability agendas, especially towards achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Prime Minister said the government, and the United Nations in Malaysia would set up the MySDG Trust Fund as a platform that allows funding from a variety of sources for SDG-compliant projects.
Muhyiddin, in unveiling Pemerkasa, also announced that the government would launch a Sustainable Sukuk, worth at least US$1 billion (RM4.121 billion).
“The proceeds from the sukuk will fund programmes and projects with sustainable elements, in addition to addressing the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak,” he said in his special address today.
The government’s RM20 billion additional economic stimulus package under the Program Strategik Memperkasa Rakyat dan Ekonomi (Pemerkasa) will provide some support to overall consumption spending affected by the pandemic, analysts said.STR/MOHD ADAM ARININ
The MySDG Trust Fund and the Sukuk Lestari are both listed in Focus Three – Strengthening the Country’s Competitiveness under Pemerkasa.
Muhyiddin said the government would increase the Market Development Grant ceiling from RM300,000 to RM500,000 for every company that participated in international exhibition platforms.
He also said to generate new sources of national wealth, a matching grant of RM50 million will be provided to develop the aerospace and medical devices industries.
Meanwhile, the International Trade and Industry Ministry, he added, would continue to explore new export potentials and encourage the use of automisation and mechanisation among industry players.
“As such, among the measures to be implemented include the eBizLink initiative, an online and hybrid digital marketing platform, and the Globepreneur initiative, which aims at enabling more high potential SME companies to access the international market,” he added.
