https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/518865/feed Biomass energy is one of the less-produced renewable energy, but its growth has immense potential. Generating electricity from plant wastes and food wastes is increasingly being adopted by governments and industries to achieve climate mitigation and environmental protection objectives, while generating returns. Proliferation of biomass energy production is a key solution for the world to cut energy-related emissions and fight climate change. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Haining Gao Haining Gao China unveiled its 15th five-year plan for the power sector on August 3. Below are key targets of the blueprint, which was released jointly by the National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration. See original document in Chinese: 新型电力系统建设“十五五”规划 by scmp https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/economy/china-economy/article/3363503/chinas-five-year-road-map-power-sector?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/economy/china-economy/article/3363503/chinas-five-year-road-map-power-sector?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Aug 2026 07:43:22 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng EcoCeres, a Hong Kong-based renewable biofuel producer, expressed strong interest in investing in a regional industry supply chain for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), contingent on the right conditions, according to the company’s CEO. In his policy address on Wednesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu outlined ambitious plans to develop an SAF supply chain in the Greater Bay Area. However, EcoCeres CEO Matti Lievonen said demand clarity, critical infrastructure, feedstock security... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3326154/ecoceres-keen-build-green-aviation-fuel-hub-hong-kong-depending-conditions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3326154/ecoceres-keen-build-green-aviation-fuel-hub-hong-kong-depending-conditions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Sep 2025 01:30:08 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Hong Kong can become a regional trading hub for green marine fuel and help augment China’s influence on supply and pricing, according to an industry player. “Hong Kong’s advantages lie in its roles as an international free port, shipping and financial hub, and the government’s willingness to support energy transition and green finance,” said Leo Yang Xiaohu, president of CIMC Enric Holdings, which built the city’s first hydrogen refuelling station and related infrastructure in 2023. By boosting... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/commodities/article/3315926/hong-kong-has-potential-become-green-marine-fuel-hub-beijings-backing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/commodities/article/3315926/hong-kong-has-potential-become-green-marine-fuel-hub-beijings-backing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Jun 2025 03:32:48 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin A study led by Chinese researchers has challenged the foundations of classical thermodynamics, showing that a heat engine can achieve both maximum power output and high efficiency – something previously considered impossible. Published last month in Physical Review Letters, their research broke the traditional barrier requiring engines to sacrifice efficiency for power, paving the way for potentially revolutionary advances in energy conversion technologies that could lead to more efficient heat... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3297427/no-more-engine-trade-chinese-led-design-breaks-power-efficiency-deadlock?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3297427/no-more-engine-trade-chinese-led-design-breaks-power-efficiency-deadlock?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Feb 2025 02:00:08 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Chinese power companies installed a record amount of generation capacity in overseas markets covered by Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, with nearly half of them using fossil fuels. They completed 24 gigawatts (GW) of projects in more than 150 countries with which China has signed cooperation agreements, the highest level since the initiative was launched in 2013, UK-based consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in a report on Monday. That compared with 10GW installed in 2023 and 22GW in 2022. Some... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3296451/belt-and-road-chinese-power-firms-install-record-capacity-reliance-fossil-fuels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3296451/belt-and-road-chinese-power-firms-install-record-capacity-reliance-fossil-fuels?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jan 2025 09:15:13 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng EcoCeres, a unit of Hong Kong and China Gas – also known as Towngas – would invest in a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in the Greater Bay Area if the right supportive policies are in place, according to top executives. EcoCeres’ plant in Zhangjiagang in China’s Jiangsu province can convert waste cooking oil to biofuel at a rate of 350,000 tonnes a year. It came online in 2021 and is operating at full capacity, executive chairman Matti Lievonen said in an interview. Its output, which has a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3287584/towngas-unit-ready-build-sustainable-jet-fuel-plant-near-hong-kong-if-policy-place?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3287584/towngas-unit-ready-build-sustainable-jet-fuel-plant-near-hong-kong-if-policy-place?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Nov 2024 00:30:13 +0000 Yujie Xue Yujie Xue China has the potential to drive decarbonisation in the global maritime industry because it has the ability to produce electric ships and vessels in addition to green shipping fuels at the lowest costs, according to shipping industry experts. They said China is a step ahead of other countries in terms of electric vessels and green shipping fuels because it is a world leader in making electric vehicles (EVs), producing renewable energy and running battery supply chains. “The truth is that 95 per... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3287346/china-dominance-evs-clean-energy-helps-shipping-industrys-green-transition-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3287346/china-dominance-evs-clean-energy-helps-shipping-industrys-green-transition-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2024 06:20:03 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng HSBC has signed Hong Kong’s first deal for the direct corporate purchase of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to cut its travel-related carbon emissions, ahead of government policies aimed at driving the use of the fuel to help the city meet its climate goals. In a three-party agreement announced on Tuesday, the city’s largest bank agreed to a one-time deal to buy 3,400 tonnes of SAF from EcoCeres, a biofuel maker spun off in 2021 from the city’s dominant piped gas supplier, Hong Kong and China... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/companies/article/3287260/hsbc-cathay-pacific-ecoceres-join-forces-hong-kong-sustainable-aviation-fuel-push?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/companies/article/3287260/hsbc-cathay-pacific-ecoceres-join-forces-hong-kong-sustainable-aviation-fuel-push?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Nov 2024 11:15:36 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Hong Kong’s ambition of becoming a hydrogen-fuel supply hub for marine and air transport depends on policies and strategic investments to secure supply, according to experts. The government has to take bold steps to provide favourable conditions to create demand and entice companies with the best technologies to invest in pilot projects and infrastructure in the city to foster the use of zero-emission hydrogen, methanol and ammonia made from renewable feedstocks, said Leo Yang Xiaohu, president... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3273748/hong-kongs-green-fuel-transport-hub-vision-needs-policy-support-investments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3273748/hong-kongs-green-fuel-transport-hub-vision-needs-policy-support-investments?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Aug 2024 00:30:09 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has surpassed a goal for financing climate-change projects two years ahead of schedule and will continue to ramp up such lending, focusing on projects with private sector participation and in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) region, according to its president. Around 20 per cent of the more than US$50 billion of financing AIIB has approved to date went to the Asean, the union of 10 states that is home to more than 600 million people,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3272564/asian-infrastructure-bank-aiibs-president-looks-fund-climate-linked-projects-asean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3272564/asian-infrastructure-bank-aiibs-president-looks-fund-climate-linked-projects-asean?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Jul 2024 03:45:08 +0000 Despite its ambitious plans to become carbon neutral and energy self-sufficient by 2060, China remains dependent on the import of fossil fuels. But China - unlike the European Union, which has begun an “energy divorce” from Russia since the invasion of Ukraine - can still rely on inexpensive Russian natural gas and oil. Cut off from Western markets, Russia – whose oil and gas income accounts for nearly 30 per cent of its national budget – desperately aims to find new customers for its energy.... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3271667/russia-needs-chinas-market-more-china-needs-russian-gas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3271667/russia-needs-chinas-market-more-china-needs-russian-gas?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Jul 2024 12:30:10 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Global governments must incentivise low-carbon steel production and consumption, while construction, automotive and shipping firms should partner with climate-conscious clients to jointly pay for the higher cost of green hydrogen-produced steel which will help shrink the carbon footprint of the metal, according to a new report. Such partnerships should particularly be pursued in the construction and automobile sectors, because the price premium of green hydrogen-produced steel over fossil... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3271826/climate-change-new-study-shows-green-steel-adoption-should-focus-buildings-and-cars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3271826/climate-change-new-study-shows-green-steel-adoption-should-focus-buildings-and-cars?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jul 2024 06:00:20 +0000 Asia’s wealth of natural resources puts the region in prime position to advance the goals and benefits of the bioeconomy by balancing ongoing production needs with farsighted care for the environment. In doing so, the basic aim is to create fully functioning models of sustainable development in different sectors, using science and technology to understand and manage biological resources and steadily move the world towards a more circular, low-carbon economy. Taking this approach makes it... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/native/news/people-culture/environment/topics/sustaining-asias-bioeconomy/article/3259953/protect-natural-resources-drive-bioeconomy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/native/news/people-culture/environment/topics/sustaining-asias-bioeconomy/article/3259953/protect-natural-resources-drive-bioeconomy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Apr 2024 08:00:40 +0000 China, a major biofuel exporter, can do more to fight climate change by using low-carbon fuel in Chinese ocean-going vessels instead of exporting it, according to Holland-based 123Carbon. Doing so would allow the global shipping industry to cut the emissions and costs arising from the shipping of biofuels, said Jeroen van Heiningen, managing director and co-founder of the transport carbon emissions reduction registry operator. Cargo owners could use digital technology to account and pay for... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/china-business/article/3242779/greener-shipping-china-can-bolster-global-climate-change-fight-using-biofuel-ships-instead-exporting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/china-business/article/3242779/greener-shipping-china-can-bolster-global-climate-change-fight-using-biofuel-ships-instead-exporting?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Nov 2023 06:30:08 +0000 A group of biotechnology graduates from Hong Kong has come up with a novel idea to capture carbon that can help slow down the impact of climate change. Having come across microalgae and its immense carbon capture storage properties during a class on entrepreneurship in biotechnology in their final year at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2021, they went on to launch AlGreen. Now the start-up is seeking to commercialise their solution. “We have worked hard to design and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3242572/hong-kong-biotech-graduates-come-microalgae-solution-capture-carbon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3242572/hong-kong-biotech-graduates-come-microalgae-solution-capture-carbon?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Nov 2023 02:00:35 +0000